Penn State Softball Look to Stay on Top in Queen City Classic
Off to its best start since 1974 at 5-0, Penn State will take the diamond looking to continue its opening weekend success this weekend in the Queen City Classic.
The Nittany Lions, who are coming off of their best season since 2016, beat Cleveland State, North Florida, Bethune Cookman, Jacksonville and Memphis by a combined score of 28-1 in the JU/UNF Tournament.
In a full-team effort, the pitching staff, in similar fashion to last season, stole the show. Led by ace Bailey Parshall, the pitching staff yielded just one unearned run and joins Quinnipiac as the only two teams in the nation with a 0.00 ERA.
Parshall pitched 15 innings in three appearances including two complete game shutouts. The Belle Vernon, Pa. native, moved 22 strikeouts closer to becoming Penn State’s all-time strikeout leader as she now sits 117 strikeouts away.
The fifth-year southpaw earned Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors as she allowed four hits and three walks as she pitched to a .47WHIP and held opposing hitters to a .078 batting average.
The fifth-year pitcher was joined in the Big Ten honors by Freshman of the Week Paige Maynard. Maynard made an instant impact when she took the circle against Bethune Cookman for her first collegiate appearance.
In seven innings pitched, the No. 25 pitcher in the 2022 class according to Extra Innings struck out four hitters and only allowed a batter to reach by way of error en route to a no-hitter.
Before either of those two toed the rubber, it was another fifth-year pitcher in Kylee Lingenfelter setting the tone for the staff. Lingenfelter was given the nod against Cleveland State in the first game of the blue and white season.
Lingenfelter pitched six innings while allowing two hits, striking out five and allowing the only unearned run of the weekend. The Punxsutawney, Pa., native was credited a five-inning complete game when she pitched the other bookend game of the weekend and struck out 11 of Memphis’ hitters.
While the three-player rotation caused problems for opposing lineups, three hitters caused problems for the opposing pitchers batting .280 and averaging 5.6 runs per game.
A trio of hitters batted .385 or higher while getting 10 or more at-bats with Liana Jones leading the way.
Jones hit .438 with one home run, five RBIs and an on-base percentage of .526. The junior outfielder led off in four of the five games while batting in the three-hole for the final game.
Batting behind the Pennsylvania native in the second lineup spot was Maggie Finnegan. Finnegan hit .385 and drew six walks for a .589 on-base percentage in the opening weekend while recording 7 RBIS.
The last member of the trio, Lexie Black, hit .400 over the course of the weekend and slugged two home runs to take the early-season team lead. Black got off to a hot start last season before cooling down against conference opponents, but this early season production is something she’ll look to keep going.
One other aspect that led to the success on the scoreboard was the ability to put runners in scoring position by way of stolen bases. After recording 34 stolen bases last season, the Nittany Lions swiped 14 bags in 15 attempts in the opening weekend to rank 11th in the nation with 2.80 stolen bases per game.
Jones and Finnegan combined for four of those stolen bases while infielder Melody Coombs recorded five in five attempts.
Penn State will travel to Charlotte, N.C., looking to keep its success going this weekend for another five-game slate this time against Charlotte, Kent State, Georgia Tech and two games against Boston University.
Justin Ciavolella is a second-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jtc5751@psu.edu.
