UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State softball team (24-31, 7-16 Big Ten) picked up a victory in the regular season finale to send its seniors out on a high note, shutting out Indiana (35-20, 10-13 Big Ten), 2-0, Sunday afternoon at Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field.
"I am really happy with how our kids bounced back," said head coach Amanda Lehotak. "We fought hard all three games, it was a great series. It was really special to get that win for our seniors on senior day. The seniors have set the pace for us all year and I think it is one of the best classes we have ever had and it was great to see them get that win."
After determining the field could be prepped to play with all the rain in the early morning, play was delayed from the originally scheduled 1 p.m. start and the first official game pitch was thrown at 2:07 p.m.
The first half of the game was slow for both teams. Penn State and Indiana traded hits in the third inning but both teams stranded a runner.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Nittany Lions got their first two runners on via walks before senior Meghan Williams advanced them both to scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Ally Kurland then drew the third walk of the inning to load the bases before senior Tori Dubois was also walked to score a run.
In the next at-bat, Dani Fey's infield fly ball was dropped by an Indiana defender which allowed Destiny Weber to cross the plate and give Penn State the two-run lead after four.
Indiana threatened with a lead-off double in the top of the seventh but the defense finished the clean game for the 2-0 winning score.
Williams and Fey had the only two hits in the game for the Nittany Lions.
Freshman lefty pitcher Bailey Parshall picked up her 11th win in the circle this season and her second complete-game shutout.
Penn State has earned the No. 10 seed in next week's 2019 Big Ten Softball Tournament in Bloomington, Ind. The Nittany Lions will face the No. 7 seed hosts in Indiana for the fourth-straight game in the first round of the tournament on Thursday, May 9 at 4:30 p.m. The winner will move on to play No. 2 seed Northwestern in the quarterfinals.
Game Notes:
- Penn State recorded its sixth shutout of the season, the most since the 2011 season.
- Bailey Parshall recorded her second career complete game shutout, the first coming against Michigan State on March 24.
- Penn State sends out its senior class of Tori Dubois, Paige Johnson, Toni Polk, Madison Shaffer and Meghan Williams on a winning note, the second-consecutive Senior Day win after also doing so last season.