MINNEAPOLIS – Penn State softball continues Big Ten play and hits the road for the first time in conference action, as the Nittany Lions get set for a three-game series against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium on March 31-April 2.
GAME INFORMATION
The series opener on Friday, March 31, was moved up by six hours due to forecasted inclement weather in Minneapolis. An updated outline of game information for the weekend series is listed below.
Penn State at Minnesota | Friday, March 31 | 1 p.m. ET | B1G+ | Live Stats | Tickets
Penn State at Minnesota | Saturday, April 1 | 2 p.m. ET | B1G+ | Live Stats | Tickets
Penn State at Minnesota | Sunday, April 2 | 1 p.m. ET | B1G+ | Live Stats | Tickets
QUICK HITS
Penn State moved to 19-6 overall on the 2023 season after splitting a quartet of games last week, defeating Pittsburgh in extra innings, 1-0, before taking the first of three games against Iowa, 3-2, also in extras. After last week's results, the Nittany Lions now rank 10th in the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.74), 11th in doubles per game (1.68) and 12th in earned run average (1.76). Additionally, the Blue & White lead the Big Ten in ERA, clearing the next-best team in Wisconsin by 0.23 points.
Junior leftfielder Liana Jones opened Big Ten play with a bang, launching the game-winning walk-off home run deep to left in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat the Hawkeyes. Jones hit the first walk-off home run for Penn State since then-senior Toni Polk launched one to defeat Saint Francis in extra innings, 8-7, on April 3, 2019. Junior designated player Emily Maddock lit up the box score last week, going a whopping 9-for-14 (.643 BA) with four RBI. The Kempton, Pennsylvania, native now leads the team with a .483 average this year.
FEELIN' EXTRA
PSU defeated the in-state rival Pittsburgh Panthers in eight innings on March 21 by a 1-0 score, followed the next game by a 3-2 win over Iowa on March 24 in nine innings of play. Penn State competed in back-to-back extra-inning games for the first time since dropping a pair to Iowa on March 11 and 12, 2021. The Nittany Lions won consecutive games in extras for the first time since defeating Illinois and Minnesota back-to-back on April 29 and May 4, 2018.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
On an individual basis, Penn State senior first baseman Lexie Black ranks first in the Big Ten Conference and third nationally in doubles, taking two bases a total of 13 times so far this season. Black trails Tennessee's Mackenzie Donihoo and Bradley's Grace French, who have both hit 14 doubles. In terms of doubles per game, Black ranks first in the B1G and paces Division I with 0.52. As a team, the Nittany Lions have cranked 42 doubles in total, good for seventh in the Big Ten and 55th nationally. In terms of doubles per game, however, PSU stands at third in the B1G and 11th in the country with 1.68.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN GOPHERS
Under the direction of third-year head coach Piper Ritter, Minnesota enters the weekend series boasting a 19-13 overall record despite an 0-3 start to Big Ten competition on the road at Northwestern last week. Less than four years removed from a Women's College World Series appearance in 2019, the Golden Gophers have appeared in each of the last nine NCAA Tournaments dating to 2013. Minnesota is led in the box by Taylor Krapf, who owns a .367 average coupled with a team-best 10 homers this season. In the circle, Autumn Pease serves as the team leader in ERA at 1.79 while maintaining a 12-5 individual record.
SERIES HISTORY
In the all-time series against the Golden Gophers, Penn State maintains an impressive 40-26 overall record dating to the first meeting of the two programs in 1989. PSU and Minnesota will meet for the first time since the 2021 campaign, with the Golden Gophers taking three-of-four contests on Beard Field before dropping the series finale to Penn State in a 4-1 outing. This weekend's series marks the first contests between the two schools in Minneapolis since May 4-6, 2018, when UMN took two-of-three games.
FOLLOW THE NITTANY LIONS
Visit GoPSUSports.com for more information on Penn State softball. Fans can keep up to date with the Nittany Lion softball team on Facebook at /pennstatesoftball as well as Twitter and Instagram @PennStateSB.
