UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State softball senior pitcher Bailey Parshall and junior catcher Cassie Lindmark earned National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Region accolades Thursday. Parshall earned a spot on the first team, while Lindmark claimed third team laurels. The pair are the first NFCA All-Region selections for Penn State since 2016 when Macy Jones (1st) and Lexi Knief (3rd) earned honors.
Parshall became the first Penn State pitcher to earn first-team All-Big Ten honors since Ashley Esparza in 2005. She was dominant in the circle for the Nittany Lions this season, posting a 22-9 record with a 1.68 ERA and nine shutouts in 212.1 innings. She held opponents to a paltry .199 batting average. She ranks seventh in Division I in innings pitched and shutouts, 16th in wins and strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.59), 25th in walks per seven innings (1.05), 30th in strikeouts (211) and 34th in ERA.
Parshall name is sprinkled throughout the Penn State record books after her tremendous season. She tied the school record for wins in a season, equaling the mark set by Kelly McCann in 2001. She also became the third player (fifth occurrence) in Penn State history to have 200 strikeouts in a season, she finished ranked tied for third with Jackie Hill's 2010 performance. Parshall's nine shutouts are tied for third in school history and her 212.1 innings pitched are fourth in season history.
The gem of Parshall's season is her perfect game against FIU Feb. 18. The perfect game was the fifth in program history and second to be a seven-inning perfect game. Parshall's perfect effort is the first for Penn State since Missy Beseres had a five-inning perfect game against St. Francis (Pa.) in 2005. In addition, Parshall was named Big Ten Co-Pitcher of the Week on March 21 after going 4-0 with two complete game shutouts. It was the second Big Ten weekly award of her career with her other honor coming in March 2020. Parshall was also named to the Big Ten All-Tournament team for her efforts. She was the only member of the team to be from a team that did not reach the semifinals.
Lindmark provided immediate pop the Nittany Lion lineup, hitting .400 from the leadoff spot with a .508 on-base percentage. She is the sixth Nittany Lion (seventh occurrence) to hit .400 in a season and is tied for sixth on the program's single-season charts. Her 64 hits on the season are tied for ninth in school history, while her 16 doubles are tied for fifth. She is also tied for eighth with 101 total bases on the year.
An efficient hitter, Lindmark had more walks (17) and hit by pitches (19) than strikeouts (14) this season. The junior catcher ranked 19th in the country in doubles, 13th in hit by pitches per game (0.35) and 33rd in on-base percentage. Her .400 career batting average as a Nittany Lion places her atop the program's career batting charts.
Lindmark is the first Penn State catcher to earn NFCA All-Region accolades since Hollee Haines (first team) in 2005.
