COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The Penn State softball team (22-24, 6-10 Big Ten) picked up two big wins on the road at Maryland (19-23, 3-11 Big Ten), 12-1 and 9-3, Saturday afternoon at Maryland Softball Stadium.
With the two wins, the Nittany Lions clinched the series for their second series win of the season.
Game 1: Penn State 12, Maryland 1
Penn State picked up a much-needed win in the series opener, played as the first game of a doubleheader due to inclement weather in the area Friday evening.
Junior Delaney Elling had a season-best outing in the contest, going 2-for-3 at the plate with three RBI.
Penn State got off to a quick start in the opening frame, taking the early 2-0 lead with singles by Claire Swedberg and Destiny Weber and a sacrifice fly by Ally Kurland.
Maryland countered with a solo home run in the bottom half of the inning to make it 2-1 Penn State after one.
The Nittany Lions then ran away with the rest of the game offensively, while the defense and junior Hannah Shields and freshman Kylee Lingenfelter combined to allow just three hits while walking no one in the circle.
In the top of the second, Dani Fey had a well-hit ball to deep center field that was misfielded by Maryland to get to second. Toni Polk then singled up the middle to score Fey and give Penn State the 3-1 advantage.
Haley Vallejos and Elling both singled in the top of the third to keep the offensive momentum before things really got going the next time the Nittany Lions got to the plate.
Polk led off with a double to right center before advancing to third on a wild pitch and scoring on a subsequent poor throw to make it 4-1 to start the fourth inning.
Swedberg then reached on an error before classmate Chelsea Bisi batted her in with a single to right field. Vallejos was walked with two outs to put two Nittany Lions on with two outs for Elling who stepped up and blasted one over the fence for her third home run of the season.
After quiet fifth and sixth innings for the Penn State offense, they loaded the bases in the seventh with hits from Melina Livingston and Polk while Elling was hit by a pitch before Maryland walked Swedberg and Weber.
Anna Deshaies then pinch hit and put the icing on the cake for Penn State with a two-RBI double down the left field line for the eventual 12-1 winning line.
Lingenfelter picked up her ninth win of the season in the circle, striking out a Big Ten career high five batters.
Game 2: Penn State 9, Maryland 3
Penn State continued the momentum from the first game into the second half of the doubleheader for the 9-3 victory and guaranteed series win.
Freshman Melina Livingston went 2-for-3 at the plate with a team-high three RBI while classmate Chelsea Bisi went 3-for-5 including a two-run home run.
Building on her 3-for-5 performance from game one, senior Toni Polk started game two off with a solo home run to center field for the quick 1-0 Penn State lead.
Claire Swedberg was then walked before Chelsea Bisi singled up the middle and both runners advanced after a wild pitch to put runners in scoring position with no outs.
Back-to-back singles by Destiny Weber and Ally Kurland and then a sacrifice fly by Haley Vallejos quickly made it 3-0 Penn State before three straight walks scored Kurland and gave the visitors a four-run advantage after one.
A lead-off walk drawn by Swedberg in the top of the second and then a two-run home run by Bisi made it 6-0 with no outs. The offense was able to draw another three straight walks to load the bases but Maryland got out of the jam to keep within distance.
In the bottom of the third, Maryland cut Penn State's lead in half with three runs on three hits.
Penn State responded to go back up four in the next half inning after Elling walked and Dani Fey and Melina Livingston hit back-to-back singles.
The Nittany Lions clinched the 9-3 final score in the top of the sixth after nearly duplicating the fourth inning with a walk by Elling and back-to-back doubles by Fey and Livingston.
Elling drew four of the offense's 10 walks in the game, tying the program single-game record.
Freshman Bailey Parshall picked up her ninth win of the season in the circle.
The series concludes Sunday at 1 p.m. at Maryland Softball Stadium. Penn State will look for its first series sweep of the season and the first since 2016, which last came against Maryland.
Game Notes:
- Penn State scored double-digit runs for the fifth time this season.
- The 12 runs scored in the first game of the series marks the most runs scored for Penn State in a conference game this season.
- Freshman Kylee Lingenfelter struck out a Big Ten career high five batters in game one.
- Penn State drew a season-high 10 walks in game two.
- Home runs by Toni Polk and Chelsea Bisi in game two marks Penn State's 10th multi-home run game of the season. The duo leads the team in home runs with 10 each.
- With four strikeouts in game two, freshman Bailey Parshall totals 157 on the season, five away from tying the No. 10 single-season strikeout record.