UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Powered by a trio of home runs from three different student-athletes, Penn State softball closed out its home-opening tournament with a bang on Sunday afternoon, as the Nittany Lions turned in a 15-5, five-inning result against the Binghamton Bearcats at Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field.
The win brought Penn State's overall record to 20-6 on the season, extending its home-opening win streak to five consecutive games in the early portion of the 2024 campaign. The Nittany Lions have still yet to surrender a home game in the last 11 opportunities, one of the longest home winning streaks in the Big Ten Conference. In defeat, Binghamton concluded its stay in Central Pennsylvania with a 3-1 ledger, moving to 14-8 overall on the year following the weekend's performances. PSU improved to 2-0 in the all-time series with the Bearcats, adding its first win over Binghamton since March 26, 2004.
In the batter's box, PSU cranked three home runs in a game for the first time since logging a 9-0 result at Beard Field against the Bucknell Bison on April 18 of last season. A trio of different Nittany Lions cranked a long ball in the weekend finale, with junior right fielder Haylie Brunson, junior second baseman Maddie Gordon and senior first baseman Amanda Mack leading the way. With a homer to left center in the bottom of the fourth inning, Mack recorded her first collegiate dinger that went for two RBI. In total, Penn State's offense hit 15-for-26 as a unit, good enough for a .577 batting average coupled with the most runs scored in a single game by Penn State since booking a 15-7 win over Indiana on April 9, 2016.
Brunson's electrifying offensive season continued with her second four-hit game of the 2024 campaign Sunday, joining a 4-for-5 effort against Penn on February 25. The Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, native went 4-for-4 with a pair of runs scored, five RBI, a double and a homer. Her five RBI are tied for the seventh-most runs batted in in a single game in Penn State softball history. Elsewhere in the lineup, senior designated player Kaitlyn Morrison, senior third baseman Emily Maddock, senior center fielder Liana Jones, freshman shortstop Jiselle Hernandez and Gordon each tallied a pair of runs scored in the contest.
In the circle, junior left-handed pitcher Lydia Spalding secured her first winning decision of 2024 after tossing 3.1 effective innings in relief of junior righty Mady Volpe, who secured her 12th start of the campaign. Spalding scattered a pair of hits and yielded just one earned run en route to her first victory since the 2022 season. The Youngstown, Ohio, native recorded her third collegiate victory in the weekend finale, improving to 3-0 overall in her career. On the defensive side of things, PSU turned in yet another error-free outing, bringing its tally of cleanly-fielded contests to eight this year.
Morrison opened the home half of the first with a quality at-bat, ultimately reaching first base thanks to a hit by pitch. A Maddock single to left center put a pair of runners on first and second, and an emphatic homer from Brunson to right center on a 1-2 count brought three runs in. Gordon kept the party going with a walk, and Barbanente reached on a fielder's choice while Gordon continued her stay on the bases thanks to a throwing error by the Binghamton third baseman. Jones then doubled to right center, plating Gordon while Barbanente advanced to third. Seidel reached on a fielder's choice that bumped Jones to third as Barbanente was thrown out at the dish. In the next at-bat, Hernandez singled to left, plating Seidel and Jones, and Poletti doubled to left center to score Seidel and Hernandez. After multiple defensive changes for Binghamton, Morrison kept things going with a double to left center in her second at-bat of the inning, scoring Poletti. After a grounder moved Morrison to third with two outs, Brunson doubled to right center to score her, and Gordon zipped a two-run homer over the wall in left to close out the 11-run frame.
Binghamton was quick to respond with a four-run inning in the top of the second, cutting into PSU's significant early advantage, but the Blue & White battled back in the home half. Jones got the inning started with a triple to center on a 3-2 count, and Seidel flew out to center to plate Jones via the sacrifice fly. In the bottom of the third, the lead ballooned to eight runs after Maddock cranked a leadoff double to right center to open the inning, and Brunson singled up the middle to bring Maddock around for the only score of the frame. The Bearcats tallied one more in the fourth, but PSU snapped back moments later. With one out on the scoreboard in the bottom of the frame, Mack demolished her first collegiate home run over the fence in left center, bringing Hernandez around on the two-run bomb that finalized the 10-run Nittany Lion win.
TOP NITTANY LION PERFORMERS
Haylie Brunson | 4-for-4, 2 R, 5 RBI, HR, 2B
Maddie Gordon | 1-for-2, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR, BB
Lydia Spalding | WIN, 3.1 IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER, 3BB, 4K, 68TP
KEY INNINGS
B1 | Morrison opened the home half of the first with a quality at-bat, ultimately reaching first base thanks to a hit by pitch. A Maddock single to left center put a pair of runners on first and second, and an emphatic homer from Brunson to right center on a 1-2 count brought three runs in. Gordon kept the party going with a walk, and Barbanente reached on a fielder's choice while Gordon continued her stay on the bases thanks to a throwing error by the Binghamton third baseman. Jones then doubled to right center, plating Gordon while Barbanente advanced to third. Seidel reached on a fielder's choice that bumped Jones to third as Barbanente was thrown out at the dish. In the next at-bat, Hernandez singled to left, plating Seidel and Jones, and Poletti doubled to left center to score Seidel and Hernandez. After multiple defensive changes for Binghamton, Morrison kept things going with a double to left center in her second at-bat of the inning, scoring Poletti. After a grounder moved Morrison to third with two outs, Brunson doubled to right center to score her, and Gordon zipped a two-run homer over the wall in left to close out the 11-run frame. PSU 11, BING 0
T2 | With one away, Elisa Allen walked and Shelby Carvalho was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. After a Bearcat strikeout, Emma Lawson walked to load the bases and Bella Farina booked an RBI walk to plate Allen. Carvalho scored on a wild pitch while Farina and Lawson both advanced, with both runners scoring moments later after a two-RBI double from Brianna Santos. PSU 11, BING 4
B2 | Jones got the inning started with a triple to center on a 3-2 count, and Seidel flew out to center to plate Jones via the sacrifice fly. PSU 13, BING 4
B3 | Maddock cranked a leadoff double to right center to open the inning, and Brunson singled up the middle to bring Maddock around for the only score of the frame. PSU 12, BING 4
T4 | Maddy Dodig walked and advanced to second after Farina drew a walk of her own. With two outs on the board, Lindsey Walter singled to the shortstop and brought Dodig around for Binghamton's final run of the game. PSU 13, BING 5
B4 | Mendoza booked a leadoff single to the shortstop and advanced to second on a throwing error, but was thrown out after Hernandez reached on a fielder's choice. With one out on the scoreboard, Mack demolished her first collegiate home run over the fence in left center, bringing Hernandez around on the two-run bomb that finalized the 10-run Nittany Lion win. PSU 15, BING 5
UP NEXT
Penn State softball renews a classic Keystone State rivalry next Tuesday, March 19, with the Nittany Lions set to square off against the Pittsburgh Panthers in midweek non-conference competition. First pitch from Vartabedian Field is slated for 5 p.m. (ET), with streaming available to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via ACCNX and the ESPN app.
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Visit GoPSUSports.com for more information on Penn State softball. Fans can keep up to date with the Nittany Lion softball team on Facebook at /pennstatesoftball as well as Twitter and Instagram @PennStateSB.
