The Smaller Side Of Penn State Sports 5.1.12

Late-game heroics seemed to be the theme of the weekend with multiple teams bringing home victories in crunch time. All those and a tournament championship in this week's "Hey, Thanks For Footing Our Bills, Football!"

Softball (17-27, 8-10)

The Lady Lions went 4-1 last week, starting off with a split against Kent State on Wednesday and followed by three walk-off wins in their series sweep of Minnesota over the weekend. Cassidy Bell, Kaylin Johnson and Lauren Yao all provided walk-off hits to clinch 6-5, 4-3 (8 innings) and 4-3 victories for the ladies. Next up is a weekend series at Illinois.

Baseball (22-22, 8-7)

The men also went 4-1 last week, evening up their record on the season at 22-22 and getting above .500 in the Big Ten. They took games from Mt. Saint Mary's and Kent State during the middle of the week before taking two of three from Ohio State over the weekend. After splitting the first two games, Sean Deegan drilled a three-run homer in the tenth inning on Sunday to give Penn State a walk-off 8-7 win. They head to Minnesota this weekend for a three-game set.

Men's Lacrosse (9-5, 5-1)

A sophomore came up huge on Senior Day as Shane Sturgis put in the game-winning goal in double overtime on Saturday to give the Nittany Lions a 9-8 victory over CAA rival Hofstra. They host Drexel in the semifinals of the CAA Tournament at 7 p.m. tomorrow.

Men's Volleyball (23-5)

While they didn't have as an exciting ending as the teams listed above, the men's volleyball team did win the EIVA Tournament this weekend by beating Princeton and George Mason at Rec Hall. It was their 14th straight league championship and earned them an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

Penn State earned the No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will take on top-seeded UC Irvine on Thursday while USC and Lewis will face off in the other semifinal. Brackets and TV information can be found here.

Women's Lacrosse (11-5)

Senior Day was not as kind to the women's lacrosse team as they dropped a heartbreaking 13-12 decision to Princeton. Freshman Maggie McCormick was honored as Rookie of the Week in the conference for her four goal, two assist performance in the game.

They now head to Florida for the ALC Championships this weekend. After earning the three-seed, they will take on sixth-seeded Johns Hopkins on Thursday with 16-1 Northwestern waiting in the wings if they advance.

Tennis

Both the men's and women's tennis teams fell in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament this past weekend by counts of 4-2. Great seasons, everyone!

Track and Field

Penn State visited the historic Penn Relays this past weekend and brought up multiple event winners. On the women's side, Lauren Kenney brought home gold in the javelin while Melissa Kurzdorfer placed first in the hammer throw.

For the men, Joe Kovacs won the shotput competition while the spring medley and the 4X800 teams brought back gold from the finals.

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