The Penn State softball team made the basepaths its personal merry-go-round last night.

The Nittany Lions (22-15, 4-4 Big Ten) dominated St. Francis at Nittany Lion field, winning both ends of the doubleheader in shutout fashion, 11-0 and 8-0.

The Lions' bats came awake as they pounded out 20 hits in the series. Senior center fielder Gina Bianchini was on base throughout the night and scored four runs on 3-for-4 hitting. Senior Kelley Galigher continued her hot hitting, going 4-for-4 with six runs batted in on the evening.

Junior Marisa Hanson (11-7) pitched a gem for the Lions in game one as she was just one out away from a perfect game when third baseman Sarah Rebar broke it up with a bloop single into right field. The Red Flash (9-24) were outmatched from the beginning as the Lions put runs on the board in seven of nine innings. Both games went just five innings as the eight-run rule came into effect.

Sophomore Shana Riggleman (5-2) picked up the shutout victory in the second game. She recorded seven strikeouts, tying the career high she set earlier this year against Northwestern. Even though St. Francis only managed three hits against Riggleman, Penn State softball coach Robin Petrini said there is still room for her to improve.

"Shana is getting the ball up a little bit," Petrini said. "In the Big Ten, she gets the ball up and we are going to be in trouble."

This series was just what Penn State needed for its hitting troubles. The Lions were hitting .265 coming into the game and left hitting .273 after going 20-for-47 in the two games.

Hitting will be the key to the rest of the Big Ten season for Penn State. This series gave them a much-needed lift.

"Basically, I think a lot of it is confidence," Bianchini said.

"The past Big Ten weekends we haven't been hitting very well, so we use these games to build confidence and to get momentum going into a Big Ten weekend."

Bianchini added that it helped the team to play a game in the middle of the week. Many of the team's mid-week games have been cancelled this season due to inclement weather.

With a tough weekend ahead -- Michigan State and Michigan both come to Penn State -- the Lions can look for things to take from this game that could help propel the team up the Big Ten ladder.

"Hopefully our offense and our strong pitching performance [can carry over]," senior first baseman Erin Norton said. "If we continue our offense and our defense holds up, I figure no one can stop us."