Jen Acunto, Ashley Esparza and Danielle Kinley represent the winners of Penn State's Offensive Player of the Year award for the past two years.

The fact that all of those names are still in this year's lineup shows a lot of promise for the Penn State softball team.

In the Big Ten last season, the Nittany Lions' offense placed eighth in batting average, but this year's veterans have provided steady-enough offense to balance the team's reliable defense.

Facing some quality pitching last weekend at the Carolina Classic, the Lions were able to get a good glimpse into different aspects of their game. The Lions went 3-1 and scored a combined of 21 runs at the Classic, playing top programs like No. 2 Tennessee and No. 22 N.C. State.

"I was very impressed with our offense and that the kids who did hit, hit very well against some top caliber teams," Penn State coach Robin Petrini said. "We played four solid teams at that tournament. I was very impressed that our team came out and produced against that caliber of pitching."

Last year's top hitters produced big over the weekend. Esparza, last year's home run leader, led the squad with two dingers and three RBI. She also walked five times, which allowed Kinley, who bats behind Esparza, opportunities to drive in runs. The sophomore ended the weekend with six RBI on eight hits, making her this year's first Big Ten player of the week.

"Kinley really came up big for us behind Esparza," Petrini said. "All weekend long, once Ashley opened up and hit some home runs, people started pitching around her, and Kinley was right behind her and picked up quite a few RBI."

Acunto also didn't disappoint in her first weekend at the plate. In Saturday's game against N.C. State, the Lions came up to bat in the bottom of the sixth inning down 3-2. After a hit and three walks, the game was tied and Acunto followed with the game-winning single to bring home the final two runs of the game.

The Lions played small ball this weekend, bringing the runners around the diamond with several singles, eight doubles and 17 walks.

"Aside from our three home runs, we were going station to station to score most of our runs," Petrini said. "We'd get some base hits through, we'd hit some flares, we generated a lot of runs.

"... But the potential to have big innings with big hits is definitely there. As we get more at bats under our belts, more people are going to be able to generate that kind of offense."

The combination of Esparza, Kinley and Acunto will definitely be a huge staple in this year's offense. Petrini doesn't plan on having a set lineup, but she is sure that those three would be in there barring injuries. Petrini may change the batting order to benefit to keep her offense on its toes and ready to go.

"My team doesn't even bat an eye when I start shaking up the lineup," Petrini said. "They're just 'OK, this is where I'm batting, this is what I need to do, and this is how I need to get it done' and that's a very valuable tool when you can do that with a lineup card."