PHILADELPHIA- The University of Pennsylvania softball team is set to open the 2024 season on the road, traveling to Virginia for the Liberty Classic. The three-day Classic will take place at Liberty in Lynchburg, Virginia. The Quakers will play five games over three days beginning on Friday, February 23 at 4:30 p.m.
The Field
The Red and Blue will open the season with a doubleheader against Morgan State, will take on Saint Francis and host Liberty, and will close out the weekend against Penn State.
Previewing Penn
The Quakers will spend the first two weeks of the season on the road, beginning with the Liberty Classic and a trip to Texas. In the Lone Star State, Penn will face Lamar in a three-game series, Houston Christian for a pair of games, and will close out the trip against Prairie View A&M.
The Red and Blue will have their home opener on March 9, beginning a weekend three-game series against Coppin State.
Penn will play 19 home games this season, including hosting Ivy opponents Cornell, Columbia, Yale and Dartmouth.
Penn softball enters a new chapter with head coach Christie Novatin at the helm. Two new faces will be joining Novatin in the dugout this season, Christina Biggerstaff and Kristin Hallam. Prior to her arrival in University City, Biggerstaff spent the 2023 season at the John Cooper School in Woodlands, Texas. In addition,Biggerstaff foundedMBM Pitching where she coached young pitchers 7-18 years old from 2021-23. Through the2019-2021 seasonsBiggerstaff served as the pitching coach at Charleston Southern University. Hallam spent the 2023 season with the University of Missouri as a graduate assistant coach under Larissa Anderson. The Tigers went 35-26 that season, making the NCAA Championship and beating California in their first game at the Norman Regional before being eliminated. While at Missouri, Hallam also got her Med in Educational Leadership and Administration. In addition to Biggerstaff and Hallam, Lauryn Brooks enters her second season as an assistant with the team. Brooks is currently a PennPREP student working in a bioengineering lab in the McKay Department of Orthopedic Research. Her research interest is Mechanisms of Skeletal Muscle Repair in Diseased or Injured Tissues.As a student-athlete, Brooks was a four-year member of the softball team at Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia.
The Returners
The Quakers will return six players who played in at least 35 games last season, including Dana Anderson, Brianna Brown, Sammy Fenton, Madison Bauerle, Danica Larwill and Delaney Smith. Brown led the team in hits with 38, in runs with 21 and was second in the Ivy League with 20 stolen bases. Fenton led the team with 21 RBIs, while Fenton and Anderson were second on the team with three homeruns each.
As far as pitching, Penn will welcome back Kelly Zybura, Rachel Riley and Payton Bean. Zybura made 32 appearances and 16 starts and led the staff in innings pitched, wins, strikeouts and complete games with nine. Riley made 21 appearances and nine starts, while Bean made 16 appearances and 14 starts.
The Newcomers
Five freshmen have joined the Red and Blue; Maia Hartley, Chloe Lesko, Megan Huang, Dakota Farmer and Ella Utschig will look to make an impact this season.
New Era
A highly respected coach with championship experience at the University of Connecticut and in the Ivy League, Novatin was named the University of Pennsylvania's head softball coach in June 2023. Novatin arrived in University City following four years as the Associate Head Coach at UConn, where she helped lead the Huskies to back-to-back regular-season Big East championships for the first time since 1997.
Novatin began at UConn in 2019, and with head coach Laura Valentino turned around a program that had 10 straight losing seasons into one of the top programs in the region. The Huskies compiled a 110-58 record during her last four seasons, including an impressive 51-18 mark in the Big East. In 2022 and 2023, UConn was 72-33 (39-9 Big East) and won the Big East regular-season titles both seasons.
As the team's hitting coach, Novatin's offense broke team records for most runs scored, RBI, stolen bases and walks during her four years. In 2023, UConn was seventh nationally in stolen bases per game and 17th in on-base percentage, and ranked in the top 50 in batting average and doubles per game. She recruited and developed Big East Freshman of the Year Grace Jenkins and coached players who set program marks in RBI, doubles, walks, total bases, and stolen bases.
Previewing the Bears
Penn (0-0, 0-0 Ivy League) vs Morgan State (6-0, 0-0 MEAC)
Feb. 23, 2024 | 4:30 p.m. | Kamphuis Field at Liberty Softball Stadium | Lynchburg, Va.
Live Stats
Penn (0-0, 0-0 Ivy League) vs Morgan State (6-0, 0-0 MEAC)
Feb. 23, 2024 | 6:30 p.m. | Kamphuis Field at Liberty Softball Stadium | Lynchburg, Va.
Live Stats
Morgan State is coming off a midweek sweep of Lincoln, last Wednesday. The Bears took down the Lions 8-0 (five innings) and 6-0. Morgan State has shut out its opponents in four games this season and is averaging eight runs per game. Victoria Fletcher leads the Bears with eight hits, eight runs and two homeruns and Chandler Mitchell and Gianna Ettore have six hits apiece. In the circle, Anaya Hunte is 2-0, has thrown eight innings and has struck out 11. Ellie Bostedt has tossed eight innings and struck out ten.
Friday's doubleheader will be the first meeting between the Bears and Quakers.
Previewing Saint Francis
Penn (0-0, 0-0 Ivy League) vs Saint Francis (9-1, 0-0 NEC)
Feb. 24, 2024 | 10:00 a.m. | Kamphuis Field at Liberty Softball Stadium | Lynchburg, Va.
Live Stats
Saint Francis is coming off a trip to South Carolina at the Wofford Invitational last weekend. Throughout the invitational, the Red Flash went 4-0, taking down Rhode Island and Wofford in a pair of games and picking up a win against Northern Kentucky. In 10 games, Savannah Nash has recorded 11 hits, seven runs and three doubles. Olivia Ulam has 11 hits, nine runs and six doubles. Kaylie Walters has scored 10 runs and has eight stolen bases. Rachel Marsden has struck out 24 batters across 28 innings, starting off the season 4-1. Grace Vesco is 4-0 and has struck out 26 in 29 innings.
Saturday's meeting will be the second all-time between the Quakers and Red Flash. The teams have not met since the 2001 season, where Saint Francis won 8-0 (five innings).
Previewing Liberty
Penn (0-0, 0-0 Ivy League) vs Liberty (2-7, 0-0 Conference USA)
Feb. 24, 2024 | 2:30 p.m. | Kamphuis Field at Liberty Softball Stadium | Lynchburg, Va.
Live Stats
Liberty is coming off a trip in Leesburg, Florida, at the Spring Games, where the Flames went 1-2. In a 4-2 loss against Iowa, Liberty recorded seven hits with Savannah Jessee picking up a pair and an RBI. Rachel Roupe recorded a double and a run scored. In 6.2 innings of relief work, Elena Escobar struck out three and surrendered seven hits.
Saturday's meeting will be the fifth all-time between the Quakers and Flames. Penn won the first two meetings, but Liberty has won the most recent two, including an 8-1 win in 2020.
Previewing Penn State
Penn (0-0, 0-0 Ivy League) vs Penn State (7-0, 0-0 Big Ten)
Feb. 25, 2024 | 10:00 a.m. | Kamphuis Field at Liberty Softball Stadium | Lynchburg, Va.
Live Stats
Penn State is also coming off a trip at the Spring Games, where the Nittany Lions went 2-0. Penn State took down Kansas, 5-4 and beat Coastal Carolina, 6-2, on Friday. Emily Maddock and Haylie Brunson lead the team with nine hits, while Gaby Garcia has four doubles. Bridget Nemeth is 5-0 in the circle in seven appearances and three starts. Nemeth has struck out 28 across 28.1 innings and has pitched a complete game and picked up two saves.
Sunday's meeting will be the second all-time between the Quakers and Nittany Lions. Penn State has won the first and only matchup, 2-1 in 2019.
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