Penn State softball (4-20, 1-2 Big Ten) opened Big Ten play at home against Maryland — taking the opener before dropping the next two games of the three-game set.

The Terrapins (12-20, 2-1 Big Ten), who haven’t qualified for the conference tournament in each of the past two seasons, earned a pair of crucial wins to give them a leg-up over the Nittany Lions in qualifying for the 12-team postseason event.

How It Happened

Game One

Penn State went through the order in the first inning — putting up five runs off six hits, highlighted by a two-RBI double from Destiny Weber. The Nittany Lions continued their hitting prowess in the second inning with a pair of doubles from Tori Dubois and Kennedy Legg that led to another two runs.

Starting pitcher Jessica Cummings was cruising through the first three innings, retiring all nine batters and striking out four. The Terrapins finally got to the Penn State senior in the fourth, putting up three hits to lead off the inning, but Cummings shut down the next three batters to limit the damage to just two runs.

All nine Penn State batters in the starting order notched a hit and Cummings conceded just two more hits for a run in the seventh as the Nittany Lions held on for a 8-3 win.

Game Two

The Nittany Lions didn’t get off to the same strong start in the latter half of the doubleheader. Maryland rallied after a Dani Fey error in right field to put up four runs in the second inning against the Penn State starter Madison Shaffer. The Terrapins tacked on another four runs in the fourth, highlighted by a double off the wall by Anna Kufta to score two.

Penn State finished with just two hits, while the Terrapins road the wave from their two big innings to grab the 8-0 mercy-rule win after five innings.

Game Three

The Terrapins opened the scoring in the second inning with a Kufta RBI single, then tacked on two more runs in the fourth inning after a misplayed ball by Dubois in left field allotted for a bases-clearing triple from Kassidy Cross.

Penn State struggled with Maryland pitcher Sydney Golden, who was the winning pitcher in game two, through the first five innings. The junior held a shutout through a game-and-a-half, but the Nittany Lions rallied in the bottom of the sixth — using three hits to put up three runs and tie the game.

The tie game was short lived. Maryland’s Skylynne Ellazar rocked a pitch over the right-field fence in the top of the seventh put the Terrapins back up 4-3. Penn State put a runner in scoring position in the bottom of the inning, and Delaney Elling looked like she might’ve won it with a shot to center. It was caught at the warning track, however, and Meghan Williams grounded out to the pitcher to end the game.

Player of the Series

Skylynne Ellazar | Second Base | Senior

The Terrapins leading hitter was 5-6 in their two wins, and she capped it off the weekend with what would be the game-winning home run in the final inning of game three.

What’s Next

The Nittany Lions are back in action Wednesday for a doubleheader against Robert Morris (6-20). First pitch is at 5 p.m. and can the games can be seen live on LionVision.