Softball Tops No. 23 Minnesota on Senior DaySoftball Tops No. 23 Minnesota on Senior Day
Craig Houtz

Softball Tops No. 23 Minnesota on Senior Day

Opens in a new window Game 41: PSU 4, MINN 1 Opens in a new window Head Coach Clarisa Crowell Postgame Presser
Box Score

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State softball team (7-34, 7-34 Big Ten) truly showcased its "never give up" attitude with a huge Senior Day victory over No. 23 Minnesota, 4-1, Sunday afternoon at Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field. This was the first win for the program over a ranked team since the 2017 season.

"I just want to say how awesome it is to get that win and send our seniors out on such a high note," said head coach Clarisa Crowell. "Our team and those seniors have worked incredibly hard all year so for us to go out and get that win over a great Minnesota team, just a great day. Had a lot of fun too honoring our three seniors at the beginning of the game. Just an awesome day for our team for sure."

The day began with a pregame Senior Day ceremony for Logan Black, Dani Fey and Kennedy Legg, presented by the Penn State Alumni Association.

Minnesota started the scoring off in the opening frame as MaKenna Partain hit a lead-off home run to give the visitors an early 1-0 lead. The Golden Gophers were then able to load the bases with two walks and a single before senior starting pitcher Logan Black was able to work out of the jam to keep the Nittany Lions within one.

Penn State countered in the bottom of the first with a lead-off single up the middle by junior Melina Livingston and then a double to the center field wall by redshirt senior Kennedy Legg to put Livingston on third. The Golden Gophers were able to get the next two outs before sophomore Kaitlyn Morrison came to the plate and hit a huge two-out two-RBI double to center field to give the Nittany Lions a 2-1 lead after one.

After a three up, three down inning for Minnesota's offense, Penn State's offense took that momentum from the defense to score two more runs on more timely hitting. Sophomore Lexie Black started the frame with a stand-up double and classmate Maggie Finnegan came in as a pinch runner. Junior Lilia Crouthamel then advanced Finnegan to third on a sacrifice bunt. Senior Dani Fey then battled through a full count to draw a walk and stole second to put two runners in scoring position for the Nittany Lions.

Junior Ally Kurland then came up huge with two outs with a two-RBI single that dropped in shallow right center to score Finnegan and Fey and get the scoreboard to the eventual 4-1 winning scoreline.

Sophomore pitcher Vanessa Oatley and the Penn State defense held a really good offensive team in Minnesota scoreless for the remainder of the game playing fundamental softball.

In the top of the fourth, the Golden Gophers loaded the bases, but Oatley was able to get one of the biggest strikeouts of her career to end the frame and leave the bases juiced.


The Golden Gophers only registered one more hit on Oatley in the final three innings as the defense took care of business to guarantee a win for the home team.


This marked the final game for Penn State in the 2021 season as there will be no Big Ten Tournament after the conference-only schedule.

GAME NOTES

  • Penn State picked up its first win over a ranked opponent since the 2017 season with the victory over No. 23 Minnesota. The last time the Nittany Lions beat a ranked team was on April 25, 2017 when they beat No. 25 Ohio State.
  • Junior Ally Kurland recorded her team-high fourth multi-RBI game of the season. Sophomore Kaitlyn Morrison had her second multi-RBI game of the season.