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Mark Selders

Penn State Back Home to Host No. 19 Michigan

Opens in a new window Game Notes

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State softball team, under first-year head coach Clarisa Crowell, is back home at Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field to host the 19th-ranked Michigan Wolverines in a four-game series, April 30 – May 2.

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 No. 19 Michigan Wolverines, starting with a single game Friday at 5 p.m. A doubleheader will then be played Saturday starting at 1 p.m., while the series will conclude with a single game Sunday at noon.
  • Penn State trails Michigan in the all-time series, 7-70. The Nittany Lions are looking for their first win over the Wolverines since the 2007 season when they beat a ranked Michigan squad, 5-2, in a non-conference game in Fullerton, Calif.
  • The last time Penn State beat Michigan in a Big Ten game was on April 23, 2006 by a score of 4-2 at home.

SCOUTING MICHIGAN

  • Michigan, led by 37-year head coach Carol Hutchins, is at the top of the Big Ten standings with a 24-5 record heading in to the final three weeks of the regular season. The Wolverines are coming off a two-weekend homestand where they swept Maryland, 4-0, and took the series over Northwestern, 3-1, after dropping the first game.
  • Junior Lexie Blair is pacing Michigan offensively, batting an impressive .433 with 42 hits and 16 RBI. Senior Lou Allan leads the Wolverines with 25 RBI thanks in part to a team-high seven home runs. Allan and five other players also have at least 20 hits on the season.
  • In the circle, the Michigan pitching staff holds just a 1.01 team ERA, the lowest team ERA in the country. Junior Alex Storako has pitched the most innings for the Wolverines at 100.0. She has an impressive 0.49 ERA with 177 strikeouts and six shutouts. Storako has been named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week four times this season. Senior Meghan Beaubien has been just as dominant, with a 1.41 ERA in 94.1 innings, including 136 strikeouts and three shutouts of her own.

LAST TIME OUT

  • Penn State hit the road last weekend for a four-game series at Maryland. The Terrapins took the series, 3-1.
  • Game one of the series Friday was a pitchers' duel between junior Bailey Parshall and Maryland's Jennifer Brann. Both had six strikeouts and stranded five runners on base, but the Terrapins pulled through with the lone run of the game in the bottom of the sixth for the win. They then took game two by a five-inning score of 11-1.
  • Game three Saturday was another defensive battle, but this time the Nittany Lions won, 1-0, for their first shutout of the season. Lefties Vanessa Oatley and Parshall combined for the shutout in the circle with Oatley earning the win and Parshall the save.
  • Junior Chelsea Bisi batted in the eventual game-winning run in the top of the fourth with two outs, her second game-winning hit of the season.
  • Maryland won by walk-off in the final game Sunday to take the series.

WE'RE PARSHALL TO BAILEY'S STRIKEOUT SUCCESS

  • Lefty ace Bailey Parshall has 77 strikeouts so far this season, including two double-digit strikeout performances.
  • She now totals 390 career strikeouts to move into sixth all-time in the Penn State record books, passing Marisa Hanson (388; 2001-04). She is 10 strikeouts away from 400 career Ks.
  • The Belle Vernon, Pa., native ranks fourth in the conference and 50th nationally with a 5.13 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
  • Parshall was credited with a save in game three against Maryland on April 24 for her first of the season and seventh in her career. She now moves into third alone all-time for career saves, passing Jackie Hill (6; 2007-11).

TWO HOT BATS

  • Both redshirt senior Kennedy Legg and junior Ally Kurland currently carry four-game hit streaks into the Michigan series after registering at least one hit in each game at Maryland last weekend.
  • Kurland is now tied for a team-high 12 hits, including three doubles, one triple, and two home runs.
  • Legg has nine hits with the same amount of multi-base hits as Kurland.

ON DECK
Penn State hits the road for the final time in the 2021 season for a total of six games. The Nittany Lions will first play a four-game series at Indiana in Bloomington, May 7-9. They will then head straight to East Lansing for a rescheduled doubleheader against Michigan State on May 11.