Bailey Parshall Dominates in Penn State’s Shutout Win Over Indiana
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State’s (24-15) impressive defensive performance gooseggs Indiana (22-11) 6-0 in the first game of a three game series.
The defensive effort falls back to the pitcher Bailey Parshall as she picks up her eighth shutout this season. Parshall now leads the Big Ten in shutouts.
“I was just working on the game plan,” Parshall said. “Not really pitching for strikeouts, just pitching for contact.”
Parshall finished with seven strikeouts and had a perfect game through the first three innings until freshmen Brianna Copeland made contact for a single.
Indiana has eight batters batting over .300 but showed no signs of life today. On the other hand, Penn State racked up 11 hits throughout the game including a home run from Maggie Finnegan.
“Offensively, it really was just the entire lineup contributing at some point or another,” head coach Clarisa Crowell said. “We saw good pitches and our kids stuck to their plans.”
Indiana only saw Parshall while Penn State saw three different pitchers from the Hoosiers’ bullpen.
Starting pitcher for Indiana, Macy Montgomery, had an early exit after allowing two runs and the first four batters to get on base. Heather Johnson pitched well until the fifth inning before she was replaced by Natalie Foor who finished the game.
“It makes our kids more confident going into tomorrow,” Crowell said. “The more you see pitchers the better, just another positive from tonight.”
Indiana also struggled fielding the balls cleanly. The Hoosiers had three errors in today’s loss including a few dropped foul balls. It is proven hard to come back against a strong defensive opponent like Penn State with that many mistakes.
The Nittany Lions had efficient hitting from Cassie Lindmark as she recorded two doubles and a single, going 3-for-4 on the day. Ally Kurland also bounced back after a rough Michigan series and got on base two of her three times at bat.
Finnegan recorded her second home run of the year, widening the scoring gap to 5-0. Penn State continued to swing confidently throughout the game.
“It’s really easy to build confidence knowing that if I don't get my job done the person next to me will get the job done,” Finnegan said. “It’s a great feeling. It lets you be confident up there no matter what.”
Penn State will have game two of the series against Indiana on Saturday, April 16 at 3 p.m. This game is the first of five games in five days for the Nittany Lions.
Penn State is starting to catch fire late in the season and everybody can feel it.
“We all got to be confident today,” Finnegan said. “We’re on a roll and I don’t think it’s going to stop.”
Kyle Schmidt is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email kyle.schmidt1025@gmail.com.
