UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- Penn State softball (5-0) aims to continue their best start since 1974, as it travels to Charlotte, N.C. for the Queen City Classic. The Nittany Lions are slated to face Charlotte, Kent State, Georgia Tech, and Boston University twice.
SERIES HISTORY
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Penn State is facing Charlotte for the first time this weekend.
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The Nittany Lions are quite familiar with Kent State, holding a 28-20 record all-time against the Golden Flashes. The last matchup took place in 2019 where Penn State fell 9-2 in Fort Myers, Fla.
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Georgia Tech and Penn State have split the all-time series at 5-5. Penn State dropped both ends of last year's doubleheader 2-0 and 6-4 played in Atlanta, Ga.
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Penn State is 6-1 all-time against Boston University, last meeting during the 2008 season in Clearwater, Fla. where the Nittany Lions edged out a 3-2 win.
SCOUTING THE FIELD
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Charlotte enters the tournament fresh off a comeback win against No. 13 Georgia, 6-5, on Sunday. The 49ers have two tournaments under their belts with a 6-3 record. Two of their three losses came at the hands of No. 19 Stanford.
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After starting 0-5 in the Texas State Tournament, Kent State went 4-0 in the Retriever Round Robin. Entering the weekend at 4-5, the Golden Flashes' Emily Lippe leads the way with three home runs this season.
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Georgia Tech its season 5-5 and will meet Penn State on the top end of a day two doubleheader. The Yellow Jackets' 38-18 overall record last season was the most wins by the team since 2011.
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Boston University will close out the tournament with the Nittany Lions. The Terriers have posted a 7-2 record and rank 21st in the country in scoring and 16th in batting average.
HOT START
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The Nittany Lions began the season last week in Jacksonville, sweeping their competition while outscoring opponents 28-1.
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Penn State left Jacksonville on Sunday by beating Memphis 10-0 in five innings. Kylee Lingenfelter fanned the first 10 batters of the game while Lexie Black got the job done on offense with two extra-base hits and four RBI.
CONTROL IN THE CIRCLE
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The team's 0.00 ERA through five games leads the country. The pitching staff has only given up one run and seven hits in its first five games. The Nittany Lions also lead the country in strikeout-to-walk ratio (10.75), striking out 43 while only walking four.
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Paige Maynard, in her first collegiate start, no-hit Bethune-Cookman while striking out four batters and not allowing a free pass. Maynard earned Penn State Softball its first ever Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor for her performance.
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Bailey Parshall earned Big Ten Pitcher of the Week after a dominant weekend, pitching 15 innings for the Nittany Lions, allowing no runs and only four hits. Opponents were held to an microscopic .078 batting average against Parshall as she struck out 22 batters.
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Kylee Lingenfelter sat down 12 in the Nittany Lions' last game against Memphis. She enters the second weekend with a 2-0 record, while opponents are hitting a mere .087 against Lingenfelter.
SWINGING HOT BATS
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Liana Jones leads the Nittany Lions on offense hitting.438, with seven hits. Black put together a 3-RBI game in the season opener against Cleveland State and a 2-for-3 game against Memphis to close out the tournament on opening weekend.
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Maggie Finnegan and Lexie Black are tied for the team lead in RBIs with seven. Black has two homers and three doubles while Finnegan sports a pair of doubles and a triple.
THEY LOVE FREE BASES
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Melody Coombs is a perfect 5-for-5 on stolen bases so far, with three coming in Penn State's opener against Cleveland State. The Nittany Lions are 14-for-15 on the bath passes this season, ranking 12th nationally in stolen bases per game.
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Maggie Finnegan has drawn six walks this season, ranking seventh in the country in walks per game. Lauren Marcotte is right behind her with four walks.
WHAT'S NEXT
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The Nittany Lions travel to Virginia next weekend to take on George Washington, Hampton, Norfolk State and Delaware.
--NITTANY LIONS--