UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State softball team welcomes the Rutgers Scarlet Knights for a three-game conference series, April 12-14 at Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field. Due to forecasted rainfall Friday evening, Friday's first pitch time is now scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday are still slated for 5 p.m. and noon, respectively, however, University officials are evaluating the forecast for Sunday and will come to a decision Friday morning prior to the start of game one.
FOLLOW ALONG
Live Stats: All games
Watch: Friday | Saturday | Sunday – Big Ten Network
Listen: Friday | Saturday | Sunday
SERIES HISTORY
- Penn State holds the all-time series edge over Rutgers, 31-23.
- Last season Rutgers won the series in Piscataway, N.J., 2-1.
SATURDAY PARKING
- Fans attending Saturday's game are encouraged to arrive on campus earlier than normal in order to assist traffic flow and parking from the Blue-White Game presented by Highmark.
- Softball fans without reserved parking should park in the grass parking just past the outfield fence between Nittany Lion Softball Park and the Intramural Building.
- Full traffic and parking advisory for baseball and softball Saturday
SCOUTING THE SCARLET KNIGHTS
- Rutgers is 17-19 overall and 1-8 in Big Ten conference play.
- Jess Hughes leads the Scarlet Knights at the plate with a .394 batting average and a team-high 43 hits.
- Katie Wingert leads the team with 10 home runs and 31 RBI.
- In the circle, Corah Price and Whitney Jones have both made 25 appearances this season, holding ERAs of 3.40 and 4.60, respectively.
DINGER CITY TURNED PROGRAM RECORD
- Penn State has hit 36 home runs in the 2019 season so far, setting a new program record for total home runs in a single season. The previous record was 31 set in 2006.
- Nine games this season have been multi-home run performances by the Nittany Lions, including a single-game program record six against Saint Francis on April 3.
- Penn State has had three games this season where multiple home runs in the same inning, including three in the second inning against Saint Francis on April 3.
- Freshman Melina Livingston's two home runs against Saint Francis in game two of the doubleheader on April 3 marked the first multi-home run game for a Penn State hitter since the 2016 season when Macy Jones did so against Michigan State (4/2/16).
- Chelsea Bisi and Toni Polk lead the Nittany Lions with nine home runs each.
- Penn State's 36 home runs is fourth-most in the conference behind Wisconsin (45), Minnesota (43) and Illinois (41).
NO WALK ZONE
- Junior transfer pitcher Hannah Shields leads the nation in walks allowed per seven innings.
- The State College area native has given up just six free bases in 55.1 innings pitched.
MAGIC NUMBER 3
- Penn State is 18-4 this season when scoring three or more runs.
10 RUNS IS A LOT
- Penn State has scored 10 or more runs in four games this season, the most double-digit scoring games since the 2016 season.
- The Nittany Lions' 10 runs in the third inning against Robert Morris on March 20 is the most in a single inning in the Amanda Lehotak era.
FRESHMEN DUO COMBINES FOR SHUTOUTS
- The Penn State pitching staff has shut out three opponents in 2019 via the work in the circle by freshmen Kylee Lingenfelter and Bailey Parshall.
- Lingenfelter and Parshall combined to shut out Duke, 6-0, in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Feb. 15, Florida A&M, 2-0, in the Madeira Beach Invitational on March 3, and Saint Joseph's, 6-0, in the USF Tournament Series on March 9.
- Parshall also picked up her first career complete-game shutout against Michigan State on March 23. It marked the first shutout against a conference opponent since the 2017 season when Penn State shutout Rutgers, 7-0 (4/22/17).
- Junior transfer Hannah Shields also owns a complete shutout this season against Robert Morris on March 20.
- The five shutouts this season is the most since the 2017 season, when the team also had five that year.
WE'RE PARSHALL TO BAILEY'S STRIKEOUT SUCCESS
- Freshman left-handed pitcher Bailey Parshall has made an immediate impact in the circle for Penn State.
- The Belle Vernon, Pa., native leads the team in total strikeouts (144) and has three games with 10+ strikeouts.
- Parshall struck out 15 Detroit Mercy batters on March 2 to tie the program record for most strikeouts in a single game.
- Parshall is fourth in the conference and 31st in the nation in total strikeouts as of April 8.
- The freshman is averaging 8.5 strikeouts per seven innings.
- Parshall also has five saves on the season, the most in the conference and seventh in the nation.
SENIOR CLASS AWARD CANDIDATE
- Senior Tori Dubois was named one of 30 candidates for the 2019 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate softball.
- To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
ON DECK
Penn State hits the road for a three-game conference series at Maryland, April 19-21 in College Park, Md. First pitch times are set for 6 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday, and 1 p.m. Sunday.
Be sure to follow Penn State softball on Twitter and Instagram at @PennStateSB and Facebook at /pennstatesoftball for all the latest news, including important weather and game time updates for the weekend.