Lady sluggers battle freezing temperatures

The members of the Penn State softball team huddled in the dugout trying to protect themselves. They weren't dodging a foul ball or avoiding a diving member of the opposing team.

They were doing their best to stay warm. They battled freezing temperatures and gusting winds yesterday as they took on St. Francis in a doubleheader at Lady Lion Field.

The Lady Lions have been spoiled up to this point playing in tournaments in the south.

"It's definitely a change coming from Florida and South Carolina where it was in the 70s everyday but we're adjusting pretty well," Lady Lion Jen McIntyre said. "Keeping your hands warm, that's what's important."

The Lions practiced outside Tuesday but it couldn't have prepared them for yesterday's biting cold. Many members of the squad said the weather didn't affect them because they are used to playing in it.

"Everybody knows when you play in the Midwest and the East you're going to play in brutal weather," Penn State coach Robin Petrini said. "When you start your season you just hope you get one good weekend in May that you get to bring your shorts out for."

The team said they stretched a little longer than usual and made sure they warmed up before taking the field. Once they took the field they said the hard part was behind them.

"You just hustle off the field and get a jacket on," Lions' first baseman Shannon Salsburg said. "Once you get in the game you don't think about it."

Salsburg agreed with McIntyre saying the key to staying warm was keeping her hands warm. If she could keep those heated up her bat would follow.

Warming up was even more of a challenge for those players who played in the second half of the doubleheader but watched the first game. Freshman pitcher Jaci Kalp faced this problem -- after freezing in the dugout for the first game she was the starting pitcher in the next game.

"I was afraid I wasn't going to get warmed up because I was so cold in the first game," Kalp said. "But once I started loosening up I was fine."

Kalp also broke out the long sleeve shirt to wear under her jersey. She said she doesn't like to pitch with sleeves but after pitching her first collegiate perfect game yesterday, she may be reconsidering this.