Penn State to Face Big Ten Tournament Host Indiana in First RoundPenn State to Face Big Ten Tournament Host Indiana in First Round
Mark Selders

Penn State to Face Big Ten Tournament Host Indiana in First Round

Opens in a new window SB Big Ten Tournament Notes

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State softball team heads to Bloomington, Indiana for the 2019 Big Ten Softball Tournament, May 9-11, on the campus of Indiana University. The No. 10 seeded Nittany Lions will face No. 7 seed and tournament host Indiana in the first round on Thursday, May 9 at 4:30 p.m. at Andy Mohr Field. The entirety of the Big Ten Tournament will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network.

FOLLOW ALONG
Live Stats: All games
TV: Big Ten Network | First Round

PENN STATE IN THE BIG TEN TOURNAMENT

  • Penn State returns to the Big Ten Softball Tournament after missing the field in the 2018 season.
  • The Nittany Lions are 13-17 overall in the tournament and 3-4 in the Amanda Lehotak era.
  • Penn State enters the tournament as the No. 10 seed, its highest seed since the 2016 season when it was No. 4.

SERIES HISTORY

  • Indiana holds the all-time series advantage, 42-32.
  • The Nittany Lions and the Hoosiers will match up for the fourth-straight game after concluding the 2019 regular season with a three-game series in Happy Valley.
  • Penn State and Indiana are meeting for the first time in the conference tournament since it started in 1999.

SCOUTING THE INDIANA HOOSIERS

  • Penn State is familiar with Indiana after concluding the regular season with a three-game conference series with the Hoosiers at Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field.
  • Indiana finished the regular season at 35-20 overall and 10-13 in Big Ten play, and remain in the top-50 in RPI standings at 48.
  • They boast wins over two top-10 teams this season in Georgia and LSU and were ranked as high as No. 16 in the NFCA poll.
  • Maddie Westmoreland leads the Hoosiers at the plate, batting .320, while Taylor Lambert is batting .291 and leads the team with 51 hits.
  • The Hoosiers hold a team ERA of 2.22 while Tara Trainer is the ace in the circle with a 1.79 ERA of her own with 225 strikeouts in 207.0 innings.

TRIO GARNERS BIG TEN SEASON ACCOLADES

  • Three members of Penn State softball earned Big Ten postseason accolades as announced by the conference office on May 8.
  • Senior Toni Polk was named Second Team All-Big Ten, freshman Chelsea Bisi earned a spot on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team, and senior Madison Shaffer picked up Penn State's Sportsmanship Award.

DINGER CITY TURNED PROGRAM RECORD

  • Penn State has hit 48 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.
  • 13 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 five 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).

LEAD-OFF LEGEND

  • Toni Polk is having a fantastic senior season batting in the lead-off position for the Nittany Lions, currently leading the team with a .324 average.
  • The Niagara Falls, N.Y., native has hit a tied team-high 13 home runs after having only hit one each of the previous three seasons.
  • Polk also has a .325 batting average and .610 slugging percentage in conference play, showing her strength of taking on even the best pitchers in the Big Ten.
  • Polk earned her first career Big Ten season honors for her efforts as she was named Second Team All-Big Ten.

AIN'T NO PARTY LIKE A HOME RUN PARTY

  • Senior Toni Polk and freshman Chelsea Bisi continue to pace the Nittany Lions with 13 home runs each.
  • The duo has combined for eight of Penn State's 13 multi-home run games.
  • Their 13 home runs each ties the No. 3 spot on Penn State's single-season home run record Alyssa VanDerveer (2015).

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 seven free bases in 69.0 innings pitched.

MAGIC NUMBER 3

  • Penn State is 21-7 this season when scoring three or more runs.

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 (182) and has three games with 10+ strikeouts.
  • Parshall's 182 strikeouts is enough for No. 9 in the program's single-season strikeout list, passing Ashley Esparza who struck out 166 in 2007.
  • Parshall struck out 15 Detroit Mercy batters on March 2 to tie the program record for most strikeouts in a single game.
  • Parshall is sixth in the conference and 38th in the nation in total strikeouts as of May 6.
  • The freshman is averaging 7.7 strikeouts per seven innings.
  • Parshall also has five saves on the season, the most in the conference and 12th in the nation.

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 owns two complete-game shutouts in conference play against Michigan State (March 23) and Indiana (May 5).
  • Junior transfer Hannah Shields also owns a complete shutout this season against Robert Morris on March 20.
  • The six shutouts this season is the most since the 2011 season.

ON DECK
The winner of the first round game will move on to play No. 2 seed Northwestern in the Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals on Friday, May 10 at 4:30 p.m.