Lady sluggers gear up for season with scrimmage

Though there is still snow on the ground and wind chills are in the teens, line drives and strikeouts could be found on campus. The Penn State softball team took advantage of the confines of Holuba Hall and scrimmaged Robert Morris yesterday afternoon.

The scrimmage basically gave the Lady Lions a chance to play someone other than their teammates. Penn State coach Robin Petrini was pleased with the first look at her club in competition.

"They we're pretty excited about playing someone else today," Petrini said. "We played really good defense and had a good effort from our pitchers."

The Lady Lions put eight runs on the board during the three-hour, 11-inning scrimmage. Petrini said the running game might be Penn State's strength right now, but much improvement is still needed offensively.

"I'd like to see us hit the ball a little more, but we ran the bases very well," she said. "When we get a little bit more offensive production at the plate we'll be in good shape."

Communication between player and coach was not as cohesive as Petrini needs it to be. She said she was a bit rusty relaying signs, but she added by the time the regular season starts Feb. 28 missing signs will not happen.

All four Lady Lion pitchers saw action yesterday. Anje Schwab got into the most trouble with runners in scoring position but was bailed out by a great sliding catch by left fielder Susannah Forde. Petrini said Penn State showed quality defensive ability, but the atmosphere at Holuba Hall is very different from a real softball field.

"With playing on turf instead of dirt, you get all good bounces. You don't get any bad ones like you would on dirt," Petrini said. "You get a false sense of fielding technique when you're in here, where when you get outside you've got to make some adjustments."

Starting first baseman Shannon Salsburg did not play yesterday because of ankle and elbow injuries. She said she should be available Sunday when the Lady Lions scrimmage Bloomsburg.

"It's all looking good to get back to practice, which I'm excited about," Salsburg said. "As much as I would like to have been out there, it made more sense to make everything healed."