It's kind of like what every retired war-veteran has preached a million times before -- utilize every option possible.

That's what Penn State softball coach Robin Petrini did in the Lions two-game sweep during last night's doubleheader against St. Francis.

Senior pitcher, Marisa Hanson, who is currently on the prowl to tie the Penn State record for most career wins, hit a minor wall in game two of yesterday's doubleheader.

In her first three innings of the game, Hanson gave up no runs and struck out three St. Francis batters. But the wheels would eventually fall off for Hanson and the defense in the fourth inning. From the first pitch of the fourth inning up until the last, St. Francis took total control of Hanson.

Hanson gave up a crucial three-run home run. The home run did more than just give up the 2-0 lead that the Lions currently had; it gave St. Francis confidence and a bolt of momentum to give the Red Flash reason to believe that they could take down the Lions. Petrini responded to this fourth inning letdown by taking out Hanson and replacing her with Missy Beseres.

And why not?

Petrini was willing to utilize every option she had, and on this night, in order to stop the bleeding, she would have to take out her star-pitcher and put in Beseres. The Lions have a deep pitching team, and when push comes to shove, Petrini has proven she is willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done.

"We have a staff for the past couple years, so that is nothing new for us. It's nice to have somebody to turn to if somebody else is struggling a little bit," Petrini said. "This team is used to relying on each other. That is nothing new for this pitching staff."

Beseres made sure that St. Francis' successful fourth inning was the last bit of success they would see for the rest of the night. In three innings of play, Beseres gave up no runs, zero hits and while striking out eight of the nine batters she faced. Beseres got her part done and shutdown St. Francis.

In her three innings, Beseres was stellar, and it was her fine-hitting offense that gave her late inning runs that she needed to earn the save.

In game one, pitcher Shana Riggleman proved that stellar pitching might indeed be the Lions key to consistent and solid victories.

In the five-inning bashing of the Red Flash in game one of the doubleheader, Riggleman gave up only two hits and struck-out five batters. Riggleman displayed confidence in her game-one shutout of the Red Flash.

It was apparent that her confidence had spread to the Lions offensive hitting game as the team recorded eight runs on eight hits in game one's 8-0 slaughtering bashing of the Red Flash. "As far as confidence is concerned, the offense and I were able to feed off of eachother in the win," Riggleman said.