Penn State Softball 2023 Season Preview
Following its most successful campaign since 2016, Penn State softball returns to the diamond looking to sustain that success in 2023.
The Nittany Lions posted a 32-22 record in 2022, their first winning season since 2016, and made the Big Ten Tournament for the first time since 2019. In the tournament, the Nittany Lions advanced to the second round after defeating Indiana before falling to the eventual champion Nebraska.
In just her second season in University Park, Clarisa Crowell led her team to a NCAA best 25-win improvement that in part led to her being named ECAC Coach of the Year. As she enters her third season at the helm, Crowell will have a roster full of key veteran pieces at her disposal.
18 of the 25 players on the roster return from a year ago with none being more vital to the success than Bailey Parshall. Parshall collected 22 of Penn State’s victories last season as she made 40 appearances and pitched over 200 innings.
The Pennsylvania native posted a 1.68 ERA, .87 WHIP and 211 strikeouts, and her best season to date. Parshall’s prominence last season now has her sitting in the top 10 in program history in strikeouts, wins, shutouts, complete games, appearances, innings pitched and saves.
Fellow fifth-year senior Kylee Lingenfelter also puts on the blue and white uniform for one final time in 2023. Lingenfelter, who is just behind Parshall in the top 10 for appearances by a Penn State player, carved out the role as the number two option in 2022.
Lingenfelter pitched in 96.1 innings throughout her 29 times in the circle and posted a 4.21 ERA, 1.37 WHIP along with 90 strikeouts.
Vanessa Oatley and Lydia Spalding also return to the staff this season as Penn State completes a four-for-four in terms of its pitching staff coming back. The quarter of pitchers helped the Nittany Lions improve their ERA from 4.57 to 2.79 going from next to last in the Big Ten to sixth in the conference in the span of a year.
Two new arms add to those four as Lilian Berry and Paige Maynard begin their collegiate careers for the blue and white. Berry, a West Virginia native, was a first-team All-State pitcher in 2022. Maynard was ranked as the No. 25 pitcher and No. 66 overall players in the 2022 class by extra Innings.
Pitching was the name of the game for the Nittany Lions last season as the lineup was hit-or-miss for much of the season. The lineup will be without one of its best hitters from a season ago as Ally Kurland is completing her graduate year with Georgia.
Kurland thrived in the number two hole behind Cassie Lindmark. Lindmark, who led the team with a .400 batting average and .508 on-base percentage, set the tone for Kurland. Kurland racked up 16 home runs and 44 RBIs, many of which came with her fellow backstop on base.
Lindmark, who enters her second season at Penn State after transferring from Kentucky, will look for more help from the rest of the lineup this season. Outside of the aforementioned duo, the Nittany Lions offense struggled, ranking last in the Big Ten in batting average and on-base percentage.
Early in the season, it looked like Lexie Black would form a trio at the top of the lineup with Kurland and Lindmark. While she finished the season with a .250 batting average and nine home runs, the first baseman’s production fell off in conference play as she batted .175 with three round-trippers.
The lineup, which includes many other returners including Michelle Leone and Lauren Marcotte, who both saw career years in 2022, looks to be helped by five new bats.
Jenna Nelson, Jillyan Jochims, Jordyn Jochims and Madison Sediel round out the 2022 recruiting class for Penn State along with Berry and Maynard, while transfer Morgan Farrah looks to have an impact in her last season of collegiate action.
Penn State’s season was delayed a week after the cancellation of the Coastal Carolina Tournament due to inclement weather, but the Nittany Lions’ season will begin on Friday at 2:30 p.m. in the JU/UNF Tournament.
Justin Ciavolella is a second-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jtc5751@psu.edu.
