Penn State softball (30-15, 11-11 Big Ten) finished off its Big Ten regular-season schedule with two wins over Purdue (23-30, 6-17 Big Ten) in a three-game series.

Kylee Lingenfelter was the star of the weekend, racking up 12 strikeouts. The pair of victories helped the Nittany Lions close the season with a .500 conference win percentage.

How It Happened

Game One

Kicking off the series, Penn State earned a 4-3 win.

The Nittany Lions started off the weekend hot with three runs in the top of the first inning. Lexie Black and Kaitlyn Morrison both had RBIs to give Penn State the early advantage. But Purdue quickly closed the gap with a two-run home run in the bottom of the inning.

Purdue scored again in the bottom of the second inning, but Kylee Lingenfelter entered the game and got the Nittany Lions out of trouble.

Lingenfelter continued to keep the score locked up 3-3, and the Nittany Lions finally broke through in the top of the seventh inning with an RBI double from Emily Maddock to up the score to 4-3.

The Boilermakers couldn’t get a run across in the bottom of the seventh and the Nittany Lions secured the win.

In the circle, Lingenfelter also finished the game with six strikeouts and only one hit through five innings of work.

Game Two

After a 12-inning game, Penn State once again won 3-1.

Both sides came out hot at the plate, but no runs were scored through the top of the fourth inning. This changed in the bottom of the fourth when Purdue’s Alex Echazarreta blasted a solo home run to left field, putting the Boilermakers up 1-0.

Penn State then had its first run of the game after Maggie Finnegan had a sacrifice fly to right field to tie up the game in the top of the fifth inning.

Lingenfelter then came into the game for the second time of the weekend and put on a clinic, keeping the game tied through regulation.

The game continued on with no runs scored until the 12th inning when Morrison had an RBI double to score two and put the Nittany Lions up 3-1 and ultimately seal the game.

Lingenfelter kept the intensity high and pitched what would’ve been a perfect game after entering the game in the fifth inning and facing a minimum of 18 batters.

Game Three

For the final game of the regular season, Penn State dropped the matchup by a score of 2-1.

Penn State started off on top for the second time in the series thanks to a sacrifice fly from Morrison that scored Finnegan.

Starting off with another dominant performance in the circle, Bailey Parshall had four strikeouts through three innings and held Boilermakers scoreless. She continued on with eight strikeouts through five innings.

The Nittany Lions’ defense held on through the top of the seventh inning, but the Boilermakers tied up the game with a solo home run and scored another in the bottom of the seventh to get a walk-off win.

Takeaways:

• For the second season in a row, Penn State has reached the 30-win mark. This is also the first time since the 2005-2006 season that this has happened in back-to-back seasons, which is yet another huge milestone under head coach Clarisa Crowell.
• The pitching staff once again came out and led the charge for the team. This kind of stellar performance will only catapult the Nittany Lions heading into postseason play.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will open up the first round of the Big Ten Tournament on Wednesday, May 10, in Champaign, Illinois. The opponent and time will be announced at a later date.