UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Despite wielding a five-run lead through two innings of play, the Penn State softball team was unable to overcome a late surge by the Pittsburgh Panthers, as the visitors took home a 16-8 decision in six innings of play Tuesday night from Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field.
Sophomore designated player Brooke Klosowicz continued her climb in the Penn State record book on Tuesday night, amassing a trio of RBI on a home run in the second inning of play that brought her within four runs batted in of the single-season program record. Klosowicz, a native of Johnsburg, Illinois, now owns 45 RBI on the 2025 campaign to rank fifth in a single season in school history, with the second-year Penn Stater needing four to match and five to surpass the record of 49 set by Jennifer Tripken and Nan Sichler in the 2002 and 1988 seasons, respectively. Klosowicz also owns 11 home runs this season, tying for ninth place in the program record book alongside four individuals, including senior right fielder Haylie Brunson.
In total, Penn State’s offense amassed 11 hits on Tuesday night highlighted by a quartet of multiple-hit performances. Senior third baseman Maddie Gordon finished the night 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored an RBI and a double in addition to a hit-by-pitch and stolen base. Freshman left fielder Natalie Lieto booked a 2-for-3 final line with two runs, an RBI and a walk. Fifth-year first baseman Meagan Ricks booked a 2-for-4 performance with a double and an RBI on the night in addition to a stolen base, while sophomore shortstop Kaylie Walters finished the game 2-for-3 with a run scored to round out the four Nittany Lion multi-hit outings.
Pitt got out to an early three-run lead with a shot to left-center powering the Panther offense in the early going, but Penn State was able to snap back with eight unanswered tallies to take the lead. Lieto lifted a bloop single to short-left field on the second pitch of her at-bat, but back-to-back popups resulted in a pair of outs on the scoreboard. Gordon smacked a double into right field moments later to bring the speedy Nittany Lion rookie around, and a double off the center field wall from Ricks brought Gordon in to cut the Panther lead back to one.
With one down in the home half of the second, Nelson drew a walk on five pitches and Walters laid down a bunt single along the first base line to place runners on the right side of the infield. Another bunt single down the first base line from Lieto gave Nelson the requisite time to complete her journey home while Walters utilized her speed to advance to third. A single to right center by Brunson plated Walters while Lieto moved to second, and moments later, Klosowicz clobbered her 11th home run of the season over the fence in left center to tack on three more. A Panther pitching change preceded a hit-by-pitch drawn by Gordon, and Ricks executed a bunt single to place a pair of runners on. PSU executed a double steal to move both runners into scoring position, and Barbanente sent a single through the left side to add another pair of tallies. Despite PSU leading by an 8-3 differential through two, Pittsburgh rattled off 13 unanswered to close the book on Tuesday night’s contest.
Following the 28th meeting of the two programs on Tuesday night, Pittsburgh picked up its ninth all-time victory and improved to 9-19 against the Blue & White since the inaugural fixture in 2000. Pittsburgh picked up its 15th win of the season after the midweek result and rose to 15-26 overall with a 4-14 ledger against Atlantic Coast Conference foes heading back into league competition against Virginia Tech this weekend in Pittsburgh. Penn State dropped to 20-21 overall and will carry 6-7 mark against Big Ten Conference challengers into a road weekend series against Iowa, beginning Saturday and concluding Monday, April 19 through 21.
TOP NITTANY LION PERFORMERS
Brooke Klosowicz | 1-for-3, R, 3 RBI, HR, BB
Maddie Gordon | 2-for-3, 2 R, RBI, 2B, HBP, SB
Natalie Lieto | 2-for-3, 2 R, RBI, BB
KEY INNINGS
T1 | Kylie Griggs and Kaitlyn Brannstrom registered back-to-back walks to open the game, and after a brief delay followed by a passed ball that bumped both runners 60 feet further, Tieley Vaughn hit a three-run shot to left center to get the Panthers on the board. PITT 3, PSU 0
B1 | Lieto lifted a bloop single to short-left field on the second pitch of her at-bat, but back-to-back popups resulted in a pair of outs on the scoreboard. Gordon smacked a double into right field moments later to bring the speedy Nittany Lion rookie around, and a double off the center field wall from Ricks brought Gordon in to cut the Panther lead back to one. PITT 3, PSU 2
B2 | With one down, Nelson drew a walk on five pitches and Walters laid down a bunt single along the first base line to place runners on the right side of the infield. Another bunt single down the first base line from Lieto gave Nelson the requisite time to complete her journey home while Walters utilized her speed to advance to third. A single to right center by Brunson plated Walters while Lieto moved to second, and moments later, Klosowicz clobbered her 11th home run of the season over the fence in left center to tack on three more. A Panther pitching change preceded a hit-by-pitch drawn by Gordon, and Ricks executed a bunt single to place a pair of runners on. PSU executed a double steal to move both runners into scoring position, and Barbanente sent a single through the left side to add another pair of tallies. PSU 8, PITT 3
T3 | Camryn Murphy led the top of the third off with a double down the left field line, and Ana Hernandez reached first via a fielding error on Penn State’s third baseman to place runners on the right side of the infield. Desirae Martinez booked a groundout to the pitcher that advanced both runners, and Amanda Ramirez singled toward the PSU shortstop to bring Murphy in to score. From there, KK Esparza hit a three-run homer to left that brought the Panthers within one run of the lead. After a groundout put two away, Griggs reached on a throwing error by the PSU pitcher attempting to field her infield ground ball, advancing to third in the ensuing commotion. Griggs was able to tie the game with an unearned tally on a passed ball. After that, Brannstrom gave the Panthers the lead with a solo shot to right. PITT 9, PSU 8
T5 | Ahmari Braden singled through the right side to lead things off and stole second following a popout that put one away. Braden advanced to third on a flyout to right that marked the second out of the inning. Vaughn followed that up with a hard-hit single and advanced to second on a throwing error by the Nittany Lion second baseman while Braden came in to score. Murphy homered shortly thereafter to tack on another pair of tallies. Hernandez kept the inning alive with a walk, and after a PSU pitching change, Martinez drew a walk to place runners on the right side. Shortly thereafter, Frazier homered to left to drive in three more runs and close the book on the six-run inning. PITT 15, PSU 8
T6 | Vaughn drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on a sac bunt before reaching third on a wild pitch. Hernandez logged an RBI groundout that brought Vaughn in for the final run of the game. PITT 16, PSU 8
UP NEXT
Penn State softball kicks off a six-game road trek over the next two weeks, with the Nittany Lions prepared to enter the home stretch of Big Ten Conference play in a three-game weekend series against the Iowa Hawkeyes from Bob Pearl Field. Action runs Saturday through Monday, April 19 through 21, with the first two games set to stream to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via B1G+ and the B1G+ app, with the weekend finale on Monday evening slated for national broadcast via Big Ten Network.
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