The Penn State softball team pounded the ball around Maryland's Robert E. Taylor Stadium last night and was able to hit its way out of a late-inning deficit to capture a pair of games from the host Terrapins in a Big Ten/ACC showdown.

The Nittany Lions (26-20, 8-9 Big Ten) controlled the opener for a 6-0 win and battled from behind to earn a 4-3 victory in the nightcap to sweep Maryland (30-23, 6-11 ACC).

Penn State blasted 15 hits on the day, but the most important may have come early, during the top of the first inning of the first game. Sophomore center fielder Danielle Kinley set the tone for the day when she homered over the right-center-field fence to give Penn State a 2-0 lead before ever taking the field.

The lead was more than enough for Lion starting pitcher Ashley Esparza. After getting into trouble in the early innings, Esparza pitched her way out of trouble and cruised through the later innings to earn her third complete-game shutout of the season.

Penn State head coach Robin Petrini said Esparza was in early trouble because her breaking pitches were moving so much that it was difficult to throw strikes. She added that being staked to a two-run lead before throwing a pitch allowed Esparza to work through her early location troubles.

"[The lead] was huge," Petrini said. "Ashley was on her stuff today, but it helps when you have a two-run lead from the start. Her stuff was really moving today; she was on her game."

Esparza surrendered four hits and struck out seven during her seven innings of work.

Sophomore third baseman Shana Madura added a two-run dinger -- her fifth of the year -- in the top of the fifth to clinch the opener for the Lions.

With as relatively smooth as the opener went for Penn State, the second game tested the Lions' resiliency.

Penn State found itself down twice, and each time, the Lions rallied behind the bat of junior catcher Hollee Haines.

She was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the fourth inning to erase a 1-0 deficit.

Then, with the Lions down 3-1 in the top of the sixth, Haines' two-run double tied the game again.

"I was just trying to get the ball out of the infield to score some runs and keep the inning going," Haines said.

Her double continued the inning, and after advancing to third on a Kayce Zielinski single, Haines scored on pitcher Jenn Reynolds' sacrifice fly. Haines' run proved to be the game winner and sweep protector.

With everyone in the lineup getting a hit on the day-- except Reynolds, who earned the game-winning RBI -- Kinley said that can do wonders for the team's confidence.

"It's pretty important because once we get some runs on the board and people hitting, it's easier to relax and hit like we can," Kinley said. "It makes it a lot easier to get the offense going."

And although her team ran away with the first game in impressive fashion, Petrini said she was as impressed with the team's attitude to never panic and let the second game slip away.

"It was late, we came back and scored," Petrini said. "We played to play today, and that was really great to see."