COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Powered by a season-high 16 walks and a trio of multi-run home runs from three different student-athletes, the Penn State softball team completed its weekend road sweep of the Maryland Terrapins in style with a strong 12-8 victory in Sunday’s finale from the Maryland Softball Stadium.
The Blue & White’s dominant performance against the Terrapins this weekend marked the team’s second Big Ten Conference sweep of the 2025 campaign and first since thumping the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in three games three weeks ago. Penn State tallied double digit runs in all three games of the B1G weekend, marking just the second instance of three-straight 10-plus run games against a Big Ten opponent in program history. The only other series prior to this weekend’s showing against Maryland that featured three-straight double-digit scoring performances was a 2015 series at Wisconsin that the Nittany Lions took by a 2-1 differential, marking the only instance of a sweep with double-digit scoring in every game in school history. The Nittany Lion sweep of Maryland marked the first such performance against the Terrapins since the 2016 campaign when PSU took all three games in Happy Valley.
Penn State’s offense was able to rack up a striking run total despite finishing the game with a mere four hits, with senior third baseman Maddie Gordon setting the tone for Penn State’s attack. Gordon, a native of Shenandoah, Virginia, booked the only multi-hit performance of the game for PSU, with the veteran hitting 2-for-3 with a three-run home run in the top of the first inning and a single later in the contest, adding a pair of runs scored and two walks to her final stat line. Senior right fielder Haylie Brunson went 1-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI on a home run in the top of the third, while sophomore second baseman Michela Barbanente turned in one of her most efficient performances by going 1-for-2 with a three-run homer and a pair of walks drawn. In total, Penn State’s offense accumulated 16 walks, with all nine Nittany Lion starters drawing at least one in an all-around impressive display of plate discipline.
In the circle, the Blue & White called on a three-pitcher platoon to work through Sunday’s getaway game against the Terrapins, with rookie right-hander Abigail Britton booking the start and 1.0 inning of work. Senior southpaw Lydia Spalding entered in relief of Britton and tossed one of her best games of the 2025 campaign, working through 3.0 innings with five hits scattered and a single earned run against her. The Austintown, Ohio, native Spalding earned credit for the victory, improving to 4-1 overall in her final year of college softball. Senior righty Mady Volpe tossed the final 3.0 innings and earned credit for her first save of her senior season after allowing two hits and two earned runs with a pair of strikeouts over the final trio of frames.
PSU began Sunday’s game in earnest with a seven-run inning, setting the tone early in a pivotal Sunday matchup. Ricks drew a leadoff walk, and despite a strikeout putting one away, Klosowicz was able to draw a walk of her own moments later. A passed ball bumped both runners up 60 feet, but Gordon made the passed ball a moot point with a no-doubter off the bat for a three-run homer to give the Nittany Lions an early edge. Three-straight walks saw Lieto, Barbanente and Seidel load the bases, but the Terrapins were able to put another out on the board with a 4-2 force out at home on a fielder’s choice that saw Nelson take over at first. Back-to-back walks drawn by Walters and Ricks plated two more tallies, and a wild pitch saw Nelson score while runners remained on the left side of the infield. A walk by Brunson juiced the bases once again, and another wild pitch brough Walters aboard to close out the seven-run inning.
Maryland managed a four-run reply in the home half, and neither team mustered a reply in the second inning, culminating in a 7-4 PSU edge heading into the top of the third. In that frame, Nelson drew a leadoff walk to spark the Blue & White in the top half of the third, but back-to-back strikeouts put a pair away. In response, Brunson seized the momentum right back for the Nittany Lions, pelting a two-run bomb off her bat to left center field, nearly hitting the same spot as Gordon’s three-run shot from the first frame. The Terrapins booked one run apiece in the bottom of the third and fourth innings before the Blue & White bats roared to life once again in the visitor’s half of the sixth. Gordon and Lieto drew back-to-back walks to open the inning, and after a quick Terrapin pitching change, Barbanente entered the batter’s box and launched a merciless three-run shot that sailed high into the Maryland sky to put the Nittany Lions ahead by six runs. Maryland managed a couple more runs in the sixth and seventh innings, but the Terrapins were ultimately unable to overcome the Nittany Lion onslaught as PSU came away with the 12-8 victory and series sweep in College Park.
Penn State’s second Big Ten Conference sweep of the season saw the Nittany Lions improve to 23-24 overall and 9-10 against league foes heading into the final three games of the 2025 campaign in University Park against the Big Ten-newcomer Washington Huskies next weekend. With the series defeat in hand, Maryland dropped to 17-28 and 3-16 in Big Ten matchups with their final regular season series scheduled on the road next weekend at Nebraska. Following the 44th all-time meeting between the Terrapins and Nittany Lions on the diamond, Penn State picked up its seventh win in the last 10 matchups and improved to 27-17 against Maryland since the first all-time meeting in 1999.
TOP NITTANY LION PERFORMERS
Maddie Gordon | 2-for-3, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR, 2 BB
Michela Barbanente | 1-for-2, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR, 2 BB
Lydia Spalding | 3.0 IP, 5H, 2R, 1ER, 0BB, 1K, WIN
Mady Volpe | 3.0 IP, 2H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 2K, SAVE
KEY INNINGS
T1 | Ricks drew a leadoff walk, and despite a strikeout putting one away, Klosowicz was able to draw a walk of her own moments later. A passed ball bumped both runners up 60 feet, but Gordon made the passed ball a moot point with a no-doubter off the bat for a three-run homer to give the Nittany Lions an early edge. Three-straight walks saw Lieto, Barbanente and Seidel load the bases, but the Terrapins were able to put another out on the board with a 4-2 force out at home on a fielder’s choice that saw Nelson take over at first. Back-to-back walks drawn by Walters and Ricks plated two more tallies, and a wild pitch saw Nelson score while runners remained on the left side of the infield. A walk by Brunson juiced the bases once again, and another wild pitch brough Walters aboard to close out the seven-run inning. PSU 7, UMD 0
B1 | Mazie MacFarlane and Sammi Woods drew back-to-back walks, and Sydney Lewis sent a single down the right field line to plate MacFarlane and drive Woods to third. Taylor Borovac entered to pinch run for Lewis at first, but a popup put the first out on the board for the Terrapins. Sam Bean kept the offense going with a bases-clearing double down the left field line. A strikeout put two away, but a Julia Shearer infield single brought one more Terrapin across to complete the four-run frame. PSU 7, UMD 4
T3 | Nelson drew a leadoff walk to spark the Blue & White in the top half of the third, but back-to-back strikeouts put a pair away. In response, Brunson seized the momentum right back for the Nittany Lions, pelting a two-run bomb off her bat to left center field, nearly hitting the same spot as Gordon’s three-run shot from the first frame. PSU 9, UMD 4
B3 | With one down, Bean reached on an error by the Nittany Lion first baseman and was able to advance to second on a flyout that put a second out on the board. From there, Shearer smacked a bloop single into left center field and advanced to second on the throw while Bean made her way around to score, unearned. PSU 9, UMD 5
B4 | MacFarlane booked a leadoff double off the wall in right field, and Woods executed a sacrifice bunt that moved the runner over to third. From there, Lewis sent a far-flying ball into right field that Coleman corralled for the second out of the inning, but MacFarlane was able to venture home following the sacrifice fly. PSU 9, UMD 6
T6 | Gordon and Lieto drew back-to-back walks to open the inning, and after a quick Terrapin pitching change, Barbanente entered the batter’s box and launched a merciless three-run shot that sailed high into the Maryland sky to put the Nittany Lions ahead by six runs. PSU 12, UMD 6
B6 | MacFarlane led the inning off with a double to center field and advanced to third shortly thereafter on a passed ball. A popup put one away, but an RBI grounder by Lewis drove MacFarlane in to make it a five-run Penn State lead. PSU 12, UMD 7
B7 | Bean drew a leadoff walk, and Gracelyn Solarz entered to pinch run for her at first base. A Terrapin flew out moments later to put the first out on the board, but Shearer was able to turn on an RBI double to left center field that brought Solarz around to tally. PSU 12, UMD 8
UP NEXT
Penn State softball prepares to close out its 60th anniversary season with its final Big Ten Conference series of 2025 over the weekend of Friday through Sunday, May 2 through 4. The Nittany Lions welcome the B1G-newcomer Washington Huskies to Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field, with all three games set to stream via B1G+ and the B1G+ app on connected devices. Sunday’s regular season finale at 1 p.m. (ET) will serve as the Nittany Lions’ Senior Day presented by the Penn State Alumni Association.
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