UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State softball head coach Clarisa Crowell earned her 100th victory at the helm in Happy Valley, and the Nittany Lions booked their fourth-consecutive Big Ten series victory with a 6-3 result against the Michigan State Spartans Saturday evening at Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field.
The Nittany Lions booked their third consecutive season with at least 30 victories following Saturday evening's performance, accomplishing three straight 30-win campaigns for the first time since the Blue & White recorded five such seasons from 1999 to 2003. PSU rose to 30-8 overall and 9-2 in Big Ten Conference competition, recording four-straight B1G series wins for the first time since the 2016 team finished league action with five series victories and a 14-9 conference ledger. In the all-time series against Michigan State, PSU improved to 43-31 overall and secured its sixth win in the last seven meetings. The defeat saw MSU's record fall to 14-25 and 1-11 in the Big Ten.
For Crowell, the fourth-year Nittany Lion skipper became the fourth head coach in program history to meet the 100-win threshold, joining Sue Rankin, Robin Petrini and Amanda Lehotak in that category. Crowell is just the third head coach in Penn State history to accomplish that feat in four seasons, with Rankin and Petrini leading the Blue & White to quick success in their respective careers. Rankin, a three-time Atlantic 10 Conference championship coach, joined PSU on Saturday to throw out the game's ceremonial first pitch before the milestone-laden game.
Penn State tallied six hits on the day, hitting for an effective .286 average with a trio of extra-base hits. Six different student-athletes contributed knocks in the game, highlighted by senior catcher Gaby Garcia's two-run home run and junior right fielder Maddie Gordon's 1-for-2 performance that included a pair of runs scored. Gordon and Garcia led the Blue & White to their third-straight game with multiple home runs, the first stretch of that nature for Penn State in the 2024 campaign. Elsewhere in the lineup, senior second baseman Kaitlyn Morrison contributed a double en route to a 1-for-3 outing, while freshmen Audree Mendoza, Jiselle Hernandez and Brooke Klosowicz each worked their way onto the stat sheet with timely singles, including a two-RBI knock from Klosowicz in the fourth.
The Nittany Lions called on the one-two punch of freshman Bridget Nemeth and junior Mady Volpe, with the latter tossing the majority of Saturday afternoon's innings on her way to her eighth victory of her 2024 season. Volpe, a native of Lansdale, Pennsylvania, tossed 4.1 innings while scattering three hits and allowing zero earned runs. The junior north paw mustered five emphatic strikeouts and yielded just three walks in her second victory of Big Ten regular season action. Nemeth booked Saturday's start and re-entered the game in the waning moments, recording her fourth save of the year. The Glendora, California, native continues her climb in the Penn State career save leaderboard, moving into a tie with 2017 graduate Marlaina Laubach for fifth all-time in Nittany Lion history following her fourth career save.
Michigan State looked to respond to Friday afternoon's defeat with an impressive offensive performance, as the Spartans recorded a solo home run and RBI double in the top of the first to take a 2-0 lead in Happy Valley. Penn State weathered the early storm and called on Gordon to start the home half of the inning off with a walk. With two outs on the scoreboard, a merciless two-run bomb from Garcia that soared over the scoreboard in left field deadlocked the game at two runs apiece. An uneventful second inning saw Gordon return to the dish to lead off the bottom of the third frame. After taking three balls and a strike in her leadoff at-bat in the third inning, Gordon clobbered a homer over the wall in right center to give the Nittany Lions a 3-2 advantage.
Volpe's impressive work in the circle kept MSU off the board once again in the top of the fourth, giving way to another successful offensive frame for the Nittany Lions. Senior center fielder Liana Jones started the bottom of the fourth off with a walk on four pitches but was thrown out at second after senior third baseman Emily Maddock reached on a fielder's choice. Mendoza came into the game to pinch hit, sending the first pitch of her at-bat through the left side of the infield for a single. A groundout allowed Mendoza and Maddock to advance, and Klosowicz came in to pinch hit moments later. The freshman worked a 2-1 count and sent the next pitch up the middle for a two-ribbie single to make it a three-run game in Penn State's favor. The Spartans cut into the lead once again with a run scored in the fifth, but a sac fly from junior Haylie Brunson brought Morrison in for the game's final run in the home half, closing the book on the 6-3 Nittany Lion victory.
TOP NITTANY LION PERFORMERS
Maddie Gordon | 1-for-2, 2 R, RBI, HR, BB
Gaby Garcia | 1-for-3, R, 2 RBI, HR
Mady Volpe | WIN, 4.1 IP, 3H, 1R, 0ER, 3BB, 5K, 84TP
KEY INNINGS
T1 | Hannah Hawley led the game off with a homer over the fence in left field, giving MSU an early 1-0 advantage. After a quick popup, Macy Lee kept the frame going with a single to left, and Hailey Bila entered to run for Lee at first. After Bila moved to second on a wild pitch, Britain Beshears doubled to right center to close out the Spartan scoring in the first. MSU 2, PSU 0
B1 | Gordon started the inning off with a walk on seven pitches, and promptly stole second base following a Nittany Lion flyout in the next at-bat. A popup put two Penn Staters away, but a high-arching home run over the scoreboard in left field from Garcia deadlocked the game through the opening frame. PSU 2, MSU 2
B3 | After taking three balls and a strike in her leadoff at-bat in the third inning, Gordon clobbered a homer over the wall in right center to give the Nittany Lions a 3-2 advantage. PSU 3, MSU 2
B4 | Jones started the bottom of the fourth off with a walk on four pitches but was thrown out at second after Maddock reached on a fielder's choice. Mendoza came into the game to pinch hit, sending the first pitch of her at-bat through the left side of the infield for a single. A groundout allowed Mendoza and Maddock to advance, and Klosowicz came in to pinch hit moments later. The freshman worked a 2-1 count and sent the next pitch up the middle for a two-ribbie single. PSU 5, MSU 2
T5 | With one out on the board, Hawley continued her solid day at the dish with a single to left center, ultimately stealing second moments later. A strikeout from Volpe put two away, but Lee walked in the next plate appearance to put runners on first and second. Beshears reached first on a throwing error moments later that afforded Lee time to reach third while Hawley plated an unearned score. PSU 5, MSU 3
B5 | Morrison led off the bottom of the fifth with a double to left center and advanced to third on a throwing error by the Spartan left fielder. In the next plate appearance, Brunson stepped up and delivered a sacrifice fly to left field that brought Morrison around to close out the scoring. PSU 6, MSU 3
UP NEXT
Penn State softball concludes its B1G Blue-White Weekend series against the Michigan State Spartans on Sunday, April 14. The final contest in the three-game set is scheduled for a 1 p.m. (ET) start at Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field. PSU's third game of the series will stream live to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via B1G+ and the B1G+ app, with live stat links available at the Penn State softball schedule webpage.
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