"We had it until the last inning," freshman pitcher Ashley Esparza said. "It's not that we gave up or anything, they just got the hits when they needed them."
What impressed Penn State coach Robin Petrini most was her team's ability to bounce back from the difficult loss.
"You've got to give our team credit for recovering," Petrini said.
"We were all pretty down after that game ... but the team regrouped and exploded in the second game so there wasn't even a question with that one," she added.
The Wisconsin doubleheader wasn't the only nailbiter for the Lions, as Penn State also played the Minnesota Golden Gophers in a two-game set earlier in the weekend.
In the first contest against Minnesota Friday night, Penn State rallied from an early deficit in the top of the fifth inning. Taking advantage of two errors from the Golden Gophers, Jen Williams, Jen Acunto and Katie Wolfer all reached home to tie the score, 3-3.
But the Golden Gophers' offense exploded in the bottom of the inning for six runs to put the game out of reach.
"The first day was a very uncharacteristic game for us, we had 10 errors and left 12 people on base," Petrini said.
"But we came out the next day and played tough."
And play tough they did -- in a sign of things to come, the Lions took the role of the comeback kids and recovered nicely in the back end of the Minnesota series.
With the help of some clutch hits from veteran outfielder Leigh Murray and freshmen Hollee Haines and Jenn Reynolds, the Lions rallied for three runs in the bottom of the sixth for a come-from-behind 3-1 victory.
As a result, Penn State ended its first Big Ten road trip with a respectable record of 2-2.
And with a team that features five freshmen in its starting lineup, the up-and-down, back-and-forth nature of the weekend was a fitting introduction to conference play.
"It was a learning experience," said Esparza, who picked up the Lions' win yesterday but was also on the mound for part of the Badgers' stunning comeback in the earlier contest. "This is what the Big Ten is all about. All of the upperclassmen told us that games in the Big Ten always come down to the last inning, and this proved that it was true."
One constant for the Lions so far this season has been strong play at the plate.
The only game in which Penn State was out-hit by an opponent this weekend was Wisconsin's last-minute comeback -- and even then, it was by just a 12-11 margin.
Esparza hopes that other Big Ten foes are becoming aware of the team's offensive power.
"Hopefully we've proved to everyone in the conference that we can hit," Esparza said. "And hopefully we can keep it going the next couple weeks."
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