UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State softball team, under first-year head coach Clarisa Crowell, returns to the field at Maryland for a four-game series in College Park against the Terrapins, April 23-25. Due to the likelihood of inclement weather, the series has been adjusted to a doubleheader on Friday and single games Saturday and Sunday. All the games will be streamed live on Big Ten Network+.
GAME INFORMATION
- Game 1 (DH): Friday, April 23 | 4 p.m. ET | Live Stream ($)
- Game 2 (DH): Friday, April 23 | approx. 6:30 p.m. ET | Live Stream ($)
- Game 3: Saturday, April 24 | 1 p.m. ET | Live Stream ($)
- Game 4: Sunday, April 25 | 1 p.m. ET | Live Stream ($)
- Live Stats for all games available via maryland.statbroadcast.com
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 Maryland Terrapins, with a Friday doubleheader starting at 4 p.m. and then single games on Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.
- Penn State leads Maryland in the all-time series, 18-9. With no Big Ten season in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the last time the Nittany Lions and Terrapins faced off was in 2019, also in College Park, in a traditional three-game series at Maryland Softball Stadium. Penn State won the series, 2-1.
SCOUTING MARYLAND
- Maryland is 11-17 so far in 2021 with just about four weeks left in the regular season. The Terrapins are coming off a road weekend in Ann Arbor where they were swept by No. 22 Michigan in four games.
- Freshman Jaeda McFarland is pacing Maryland offensively, batting .322 with 29 hits and 12 RBI. She was named Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week on April 13 after a big weekend at the plate in the Terrapins' series win over Michigan State.
- Junior Taylor Okada is also batting over .300 at .313 with 26 hits and five RBI. Five other Terrapins also have double-digit hits on the season.
- In the circle, the Maryland pitching staff holds a 3.50 team ERA. All four pitchers have seen at least 20.0 innings, with sophomore Trinity Schlotterbeck with the most frames at 66.0. She is 5-4 with a 3.39 ERA and 27 strikeouts.
LAST TIME OUT
- Penn State had to postpone its series last weekend at Michigan State out of an abundance of caution surrounding the health and safety of the student-athletes, coaches and staff.
- The weekend prior, the Nittany Lions hosted Rutgers for a four-game series at Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field. After dropping the first game, Penn State won the next three in a row to win the series.
- It marked the first time Penn State won three-straight conference games since the 2017 season and the first time winning three straight against the same opponent since 2016.
KURLAND POWER AT THE PLATE
- Junior Ally Kurland had a powerful weekend at the plate, both offensively and defensively, against Rutgers.
- Kurland totaled five hits and four RBI in the series, holding a .500 batting average and impressive 1.300 slugging percentage. Three of the five hits were multi-base hits, including two home runs in the same game.
- The catcher hit two home runs in game one of Saturday's doubleheader that scored three of the four total runs in the game. It marked the first multi-home run game for an individual player since Destiny Weber hit two at Alabama last season (2/22/20). It also ties a program record.
- The Burke, Va., native also made 19 putouts through the series, and made a critical play at the plate to keep Rutgers from scoring another run in game three.
CLUTCH CROUTHAMEL
- Junior Lilia Crouthamel is having the best season of her collegiate career so far, totaling career bests of 11 hits and 10 RBI, including three multi-hit games and three multi-RBI games.
- The outfielder from Allentown, Pa. had a single game career-high three RBI against Rutgers in the final game of the series as she went 2-for-4 at the plate with the eventual game-winning two-out two-RBI double in the bottom of the sixth.
RECORD WATCH
- Lefty ace Bailey Parshall has 68 strikeouts so far this season to total 381 in her career.
- The junior from Belle Vernon, Pa. is seven strikeouts shy of moving into sixth all-time in the Penn State record books for career strikeouts.
ON DECK
Penn State returns to Happy Valley to host a ranked Michigan Wolverines team in a four-game series, April 30-May 2, at Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field.