Lexie Black leads way for Penn State softball in Maryland series

College Park, Md. — The Penn State Nittany Lions softball team came into the weekend riding a four-game winning streak after wins against Rutgers and Bucknell last week. The Lions traveled across the Mason-Dixon line to take on the Maryland Terrapins in a competitive three-game series. Although the winning streak was broken, a strong weekend from Lexie Black won Penn State softball the overall series two games to one. 

Lexie Black leads the way in extra-inning drama

In a tight ballgame, Maryland took a 1-0 lead in the third inning off a sacrifice fly. Lexie Black responded in the fifth inning with a two-run home run to give Penn State softball a 2-1 advantage. But the Terrapins quickly turned around and tied the game in their half of the fifth. 

Ultimately, this game needed additional frames to be decided. In the top of the eighth inning, Black struck again. Black’s second home run of the day gave Penn State the 3-2 victory in extra innings. 

AIN'T NO PARTY LIKE A PENN STATE PARTY. Lexie Black blasts her SECOND bomb of the GAME to put us up in the top of the eighth??

T8 | PSU 3, UMD 2#WeAre pic.twitter.com/8cB6eXIy6z

— Penn State Softball (@PennStateSB) April 22, 2023

Bailey Parshall picked up her fifteenth win of the season after pitching 4.1 strong innings in relief of Kylee Lingenfelter. She allowed three hits while striking out three in the effort.

Lions drop game two

Penn State took an early 1-0 lead off an RBI double from Melody Coombs in the third inning. However, that would be all the runs the Lions could find in this game. Maryland tied the game with an RBI single in the third inning and took the lead in the fifth after a sacrifice fly.

With the 2-1 win, the Terrapins evened the series at one game apiece. Bailey Parshall once again pitched in relief of Kylee Lingenfelter, but this time earned her ninth loss of the season after allowing the crucial Maryland run, which won them the game.

Penn State softball rallies late for series win

All good things come in threes. And this weekend, it was competitive softball, as all three games in this series were decided by one run. A solo homer gave the Terrapins a 1-0 lead in the third inning. Maryland’s lead would hold until the Lions finally responded in the sixth inning. 

The hero of the series for Penn State, Lexie Black, struck once again with an RBI single to tie the game. Maddie Gordon proceeded to knock in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly. 

This time, Kylee Lingenfelter would shut down the Maryland offense in relief of Parshall for the 2-1 victory. Lingenfelter got her eighth win of the season, pitching three innings, allowing one hit and striking out four batters. 

Coming home

With the wins this weekend, Penn State softball is now 26-14 on the year and 7-10 in Big Ten play. The Nittany Lions return to Happy Valley to play a three-game series against the Illinois Fighting Illini starting on Friday.

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