The three balls that sailed over the outfield fence at Nittany Field provided all the offense the Penn State softball team needed for a sweep of Kent State (17-13, 4-0 MAC) last night.

The Nittany Lions (18-12, 2-0 Big Ten) used the offensive onslaught to shut out the Golden Flash, 3-0, in the opener and take the nightcap, 3-1.

Third baseman Shauna Madura and catcher Hollee Haines combined for a pair of jacks in the first game. Madura's fourth-inning, two-run blast broke a scoreless tie and provided Lion starting pitcher Ashley Esparza with all of the offense she would need.

Pitching with the lead, Esparza said she felt confident and showed her comfort in the circle as she silenced the Kent State bats throughout the game. Esparza only surrendered one walk while giving up six hits and striking out seven to earn the shutout.

"I feel in charge, which is nice," Esparza said. "Toward the end of the season, usually you get tired, but we've had a nice break off. At the beginning of the season, we were sharing [pitching duties], which is usually when you're stronger and at the end of the season you're weaker. [But this year] it's been different."

In the second outing, Esparza played the role of giver as her first-inning two-run blast put Penn State ahead for good. The screaming line drive left the park in a hurry and cleared the left-center fence by about 15 feet. Left fielder Ashley Griffith said she knew the ball was gone from the moment it touched Esparza's bat.

"Everybody knew [Esparza's was gone," Griffith said. "All three of them today, you knew, you just saw the contact and knew [they were gone]."

The two-run dinger erased a 1-0 Lion deficit and allowed Penn State starting pitcher Jenn Reynolds to settle down.

Reynolds followed Esparza's stellar first game with an almost equally impressive gem of her own. The leadoff run was the only blemish on the scoring line of her complete-game victory.

Coming off a week-and-a-half layoff because of canceled games, assistant coach Jen McIntyre said she didn't know what to expect from the Lions, but said she was more than happy with the results.

"Both Ashley and Jenn Reynolds had great games today," McIntyre said. "They both had complete games in weather like this and facing a very tough team, I give credit to the both of them. [After being off because of the weather] they were obviously well rested and very hungry to get after it. They both pitched really well, very solid.

"We are where we need to be this time of year. Coming off the layoff, we're hungry and ready to get after it."