UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Junior second baseman Maddie Gordon hit her first home run in Happy Valley in 2024 and senior designated player Kaitlyn Morrison finished 2-for-4 at the dish as the Penn State softball team registered an 8-2 victory over the Canisius Golden Griffins Saturday evening at Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field.
PSU continued its dominant stretch of performances at home, extending its streak of consecutive victories at Beard Field to 10 dating to a 1-0 win over Rutgers in Big Ten play last season. The Nittany Lions rose to 19-6 overall in the 2024 campaign on Saturday, booking its fourth consecutive win as a team dating to the squad's last loss on March 8. The result brought Penn State to 4-1 against the Golden Griffins all-time, with the Blue & White winning each of the last four meetings including back-to-back wins at the Penn State Softball Invitational dating to last year. In defeat, Canisius falls to 5-9 overall this season.
On the offensive side of things, PSU registered its eighth double-digit hit performance of the 2024 campaign and second consecutive, going 10-for-28 as a squad en route to a .357 batting average. Gordon and Morrison led the way, with both student-athletes turning in 2-for-4 outings at the plate. Gordon booked a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning in addition to a single and a stolen base with a pair of runs scored, while Morrison booked a pair of RBI knocks in the contest and a run of her own. Six additional Nittany Lions tallied hits as well, with senior third baseman Emily Maddock and freshman left fielder Michela Barbanente each logging RBI hits. Additionally, thanks to Maddock's RBI triple in the bottom of the third, PSU's 2024 roster moved into fifth all-time in Nittany Lion history for triples in a season with 13.
In the circle, freshman phenom Bridget Nemeth continued her early-season dominance on Saturday, with the Glendora, California, native turning in her fourth collegiate complete-game victory. In her 7.0 innings of work, Nemeth tossed 112 total pitches and utilized those to register nine strikeouts. She scattered a trio of Golden Griffin hits and yielded just two runs, with both going in the scorebook unearned. Nemeth is now 10-0 in the 2024 season, making her the only pitcher in the Big Ten Conference to record 10 victories without being saddled with a loss this year.
Penn State got the game started with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third, as freshman shortstop Jiselle Hernandez led the inning off with a single to the pitcher and advanced to second after Poletti executed an ideal sacrifice bunt. A batter's interference call put two away, but Hernandez was able to advance to third following a Canisius passed ball. Morrison pelted an RBI single to center field, plating Hernandez, and Maddock closed the frame out with an RBI triple that brought Morrison in.
The Nittany Lions continued the offensive onslaught in the next inning, as Gordon led the bottom of the fourth off with a single to the shortstop, but a popup put an out on the board moments later. Gordon proceeded to steal second and ultimately advanced to third after a Canisius error on the successful stolen base attempt. A Jones walk put runners on the corners, and she immediately stole second at the next opportunity. Hernandez reached first after the third baseman fielded her ground ball and chucked the softball deep into foul territory, giving Jones and Gordon time to scratch unearned runs on the board while Hernandez trotted to third. Poletti walked but was caught on her attempt to steal second base, putting two outs away. Barbanente stepped up and singled through the left side, bringing Hernandez in, and a Morrison double plated Barbanente to close out the scoring. Canisius added a pair of unearned tallies in the fifth, but the Nittany Lions were able to answer back with two more scores in the home half to complete the 8-2 scoreline.
TOP NITTANY LION PERFORMERS
Maddie Gordon | 2-for-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, SB
Kaitlyn Morrison | 2-for-4, R, 2 RBI, 2B
Bridget Nemeth | WIN, CG, 7.0 IP, 3H, 2R, 0ER, 3BB, 9K, 112TP
KEY INNINGS
B3 | Hernandez led the inning off with a single to the pitcher and advanced to second after Poletti executed an ideal sacrifice bunt. A batter's interference call put two away, but Hernandez was able to advance to third following a Canisius passed ball. Morrison pelted an RBI single to center field, plating Hernandez, and Maddock closed the frame out with an RBI triple that brought Morrison in. PSU 2, CAN 0
B4 | Gordon led the bottom of the fourth off with a single to the shortstop, but a popup put an out on the board moments later. Gordon proceeded to steal second, and ultimately advanced to third after the Canisius shortstop erroneously fielded the catcher's throw to stop Gordon's advance. A Jones walk put runners on the corners, and she immediately stole second at the next opportunity. Hernandez reached first after the third baseman fielded her ground ball and chucked the softball deep into foul territory, giving Jones and Gordon time to scratch unearned runs on the board while Hernandez trotted to third. Poletti walked but was caught on her attempt to steal second base, putting two outs away. Barbanente stepped up and singled through the left side, bringing Hernandez in, and a Morrison double plated Barbanente to close out the scoring in the fourth. PSU 6, CAN 0
T5 | After a Golden Griffin retired via strikeout, Alyssa Cloutier reached on a throwing error by the Nittany Lion third baseman and stopped at second after the ball rolled into the PSU dugout. Ella Johel pinch hit for Canisius and singled through the left side, advancing to second on the throw that stopped Cloutier at third base. Farris reached via a fielder's choice to the third baseman, and Cloutier was thrown out at home 5-2. Farris promptly stole second, and Fazzolari and Farris booked a pair of unearned scores. PSU 6, CAN 2
B5 | Brunson started the frame off for PSU with a single toward the second baseman, and Gordon crushed her first home run at Beard Field this season over the wall in center to add two more runs for the Blue & White. PSU 8, CAN 2
UP NEXT
Penn State softball concludes its home-opening tournament on Sunday, March 17, as the Nittany Lions complete the Penn State Softball Invitational against the Binghamton Bearcats. First pitch from Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field is scheduled for 3 p.m. (ET), with the game set to stream live to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via B1G+ and the B1G+ app. Live stats are available at the Penn State softball schedule webpage at GoPSUsports.com.
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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.
