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Mark Selders

Penn State Hosts Ohio State for First Home Series in Nearly Two Years

Opens in a new window Game Notes

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State softball team, under first-year head coach Clarisa Crowell, hosts the Ohio State Buckeyes this weekend in a four-game series, April 3-5, at Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field. It marks the home opener for the Nittany Lions and the first home game in 699 days. All the games will be streamed live on Big Ten Network+.

GAME INFORMATION

SERIES HISTORY

  • Playing a Big Ten-only schedule in 2021, Penn State will face familiar opponents all season long.
  • The Nittany Lions are set to play a four-game series against the Buckeyes. Due to colder temperatures in Happy Valley expected Friday evening, the series will start on Saturday with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. Single games will then be played Sunday and Monday, at noon and 4 p.m., respectively.
  • Penn State trails Ohio State in the all-time series, 33-57. The two teams face off every year in conference play due to their proximity. With no Big Ten season in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the last time the Nittany Lions and Buckeyes faced off was in 2019 in a doubleheader at Beard Field. Penn State won game one, 6-4, before Ohio State took game two, 12-1, in five innings.

SCOUTING OHIO STATE

  • Ohio State is 9-7 through the first three weeks of the 2021 season. The Buckeyes are on a two-game win streak after taking three of four from Maryland in their home opener in Columbus last weekend.
  • Sophomore Tegan Cortelletti is pacing the Buckeyes offensively, batting .400 with an impressive 22 hits, good for third in the league. Five other Ohio State players also have double-digit hits, including senior Niki Carver who leads the team with 12 RBI on 12 hits.
  • In the circle, the Ohio State pitching staff holds a 2.23 team ERA. Senior Payton Buresch has a team-low 1.70 ERA in 49.1 innings for a 3-1 record. Freshman Allison Smith has pitched the most innings for the Buckeyes at 55.0 with 57 strikeouts and a 2.29 ERA.

HOME SWEET HOME

  • After playing the first 16 games of the 2021 season on the road, Penn State finally gets to play within the friendly confines of Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field when it hosts the visitors from Ohio State, April 3-5.
  • It marks the first home games for the Nittany Lions in 699 days as they did not have a home game before the 2020 season was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Penn State is scheduled for three more four-game home series this season.

10 YEARS OF NITTANY LION SOFTBALL PARK AND BEARD FIELD

  • Penn State is celebrating 10 years of its beautiful stadium and facility, Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field, in 2021.
  • The state-of-the-art facility was dedicated and first utilized during the 2011 season after the generous support of many.
  • It is widely considered one of the best softball-only facilities in the Big Ten Conference and across the country.
  • Head coach Clarisa Crowell and the current roster will honor former Penn State student-athlete and assistant coach Jen McIntyre with a ceremonial first pitch on Sunday. McIntyre was the associate head coach in 2011 and was an integral piece of the new facility. She is now an associate head coach with Ohio State.

COOMBS' CAREER DAY

  • Freshman Melody Coombs had a career day in the series finale at Nebraska last weekend, going 4-for-5 at the plate to lead Penn State to its first victory of the season.
  • The Mechanicsville, Md., native hit her first career home run in the top of the fourth.
  • Coombs' four hits is the most hits in a single game by a Nittany Lion since the 2018 season when Delaney Elling had four against Ohio State (4/11/18).
  • Coombs is now batting a team-high .316 with six hits and three RBI. She also has a team-high .526 slugging percentage.

LEAN ON LEONE

  • Sophomore Michelle Leone has been steady on both sides of the ball for Penn State.
  • The Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., native has a team-high eight hits, including a team-high three doubles.
  • Leone also leads the team in walks drawn with seven and has only struck out twice in 32 at-bats, making her the fifth toughest to strikeout in the conference.

ON DECK
Penn State stays in Happy Valley to host another home series at Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field. The Nittany Lions will welcome the Rutgers Scarlet Knights to town for a four-game series, April 9-11.