Penn State softball (18-4) hosted in-state rival Pitt (14-11) for a single game Tuesday which resulted in a walk-off 1-0 win for the Nittany Lions.

The game was a pitcher’s dual as no runs were scored until the bottom of the eighth inning. Nittany Lion Bailey Parshall was the shining star of the game and earned the 700th strikeout of her career.

How It Happened

The game started off with Penn State’s ace Bailey Parshall in the circle, where she allowed one hit and one runner to reach second base. Despite that, the Panthers couldn’t score. Emily Maddock got on base by way of a catcher’s interference at the bottom of the first, but couldn’t manage to score.

The Panthers and Nittany Lions came close to scoring in the second inning, but the score remained locked at zero.

No runs were scored in the third, but Pitt got infielder Yvonne Whaley to make her way to third base, but huge strikeouts from Parshall left her stranded.

Penn State did its best to bounce back from the momentum Parshall provided, but it couldn’t get it done and the score remained 0-0.

The fifth inning also had no action from either side, but the bottom of the sixth finally held some promise for the Nittany Lions as Melody Coombs manufactured her first triple of the season, but was left alone on third base.

During the bottom of the seventh inning, Kaitlyn Morrison roped a ball over the fence, but a foul call brought her back to the plate and ended in a ground ball. Ultimately, no runs crossed the plate.

Heading into extra innings, left fielder Liana Jones started it off for the Nittany Lions with a slow ground ball, which beat the throw and allowed her to steal second base.

Lilia Crouthamel then walked to put runners on both first and second base. Coombs followed up with a choppy ground ball to second and beat the throw, loading the bases.

Maddock then handled the pressure and hit a ground ball up the middle, but the Panthers’ defense couldn’t get the out at home in time and the Nittany Lions walked it off 1-0.

Takeaways:

• Another day, another strong outing from Bailey Parshall. Penn State’s ability to rely on a graduate player with so many accomplishments throughout her career proved its importance in this game.
• After losing over 10 games by one run last season, getting timely hits similar to Maddock’s today will prove critical in the remainder of Penn State’s season.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will host their first Big Ten series of the season against the Iowa Hawkeyes. First pitch is set for 5:30 p.m. on Friday, March 24, at Beard Field.