UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The 2024 Penn State softball team put an end to a 13-year NCAA Tournament drought, earning the No. 3 seed in the Bryan-College Station Regional of the NCAA Division I Softball Tournament following the announcement of the field of 64 from the NCAA Selection Committee Sunday night. PSU booked its first national postseason appearance since earning the right to host a regional in 2011.
Penn State heads to Bryan-College Station for the second time in program history, joining the ninth-ranked and 16th seeded Texas A&M Aggies, the regional second-seeded Texas State Bobcats and the region's fourth-seeded UAlbany Great Danes. The Blue & White will square off in the opening round of the tournament against the Bobcats, marking the fourth meeting of the two programs this season. Texas State took the first three contests by narrow margins in San Marcos, with the Nittany Lions notably missing the services of B1G Freshman of the Year and Tucci/NFCA National Freshman of the Year finalist Bridget Nemeth for all three games.
The Nittany Lions secured their 11th NCAA Tournament appearance and 13th national postseason appearance overall following the selection committee's announcement on Sunday, with PSU's 11 NCAA bids joining a pair of appearances in the EAIAW Tournament in 1978 and 1982. Penn State owns 12 wins in the tournament dating to their first postseason victory over Texas A&M in the 2000 Tempe Regional, with the Nittany Lions maintaining a 12-20 mark in the event all-time. Penn State's best finish in the current NCAA Tournament format came in the 2005, 2006 and 2011 seasons in which the Blue & White battled their way to respective regional finals.
Penn State's 2024 roster has cemented its place as one of the most successful and decorated teams in the program's 60-year varsity history, with the Nittany Lions boasting a 34-18 overall record in addition to a 12-11 finish in Big Ten Conference competitions this year. The Blue & White have recorded the fourth-most overall victories in school history in addition to the fourth-most B1G wins in a single year, finishing at or above .500 in conference play for the third-straight season. PSU has booked three consecutive 30-win seasons for the first time since rattling off five straight from 1999 to 2003, while recording three-straight B1G campaigns at or above .500 for the first time in school history.
On the field, PSU is led by the 2024 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Top-10 Finalist for the Tucci/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year Award, Bridget Nemeth. The Glendora, California, native is tied for the program record in single-season victories with a 22-6 individual record while boasting the ninth-most strikeouts and appearances in a season by a Penn Stater all-time. At the plate, PSU boasts a trio of Second Team All-Big Ten honorees in senior infielder Kaitlyn Morrison, junior utility Maddie Gordon and senior catcher Gaby Garcia. Morrison is one double shy of the single-season program record in the category, while Garcia and Gordon both boast the eighth-most home runs in a single season in program history with 11 apiece.
The Nittany Lions are under the direction of fourth-year skipper Clarisa Crowell, who booked both her 300th career victory and 100th win at PSU earlier this season. Crowell prepares for her second career NCAA Regional appearance and first as an at-large selection, with her first tournament bid coming as the automatic qualifier out of the Mid-American Conference during her stint at Miami of Ohio in 2016. In 12 seasons as a head coach and four seasons at the helm in University Park, Crowell boasts a pair of NCAA Regional bids, two conference titles, six 30-win seasons, 10 All-Big Ten selections and 132 conference wins.
The Big Ten placed four programs in the national field of 64, the fifth most among all 32 NCAA Division I conferences. The 2024 B1G Tournament Champion Michigan Wolverines garnered the No. 3 seed in the Stillwater Regional, while the regular season B1G champion Northwestern Wildcats landed the No. 2 seed in the Austin Regional. Rounding out the four Big Ten programs were the B1G Tournament finalist Indiana Hoosiers, who picked up the No. 3 seed in the Columbia Regional. The Big Ten Conference joined five additional leagues with multiple bids, including the Southeastern (13), Pac 12 (seven), ACC (five), Big 12 (five) and American Athletic (two).
Texas picked up the national No. 1 seed while defending national champion Oklahoma garnered the No. 2 placement. Tennessee, Florida, Oklahoma State, UCLA, Missouri and Stanford rounded out the national top eight seeds with the potential to host a Super Regional. The 2024 Nittany Lions squared off against 10 different NCAA regional teams, including Michigan, Liberty, Morgan State, Saint Francis, Texas State, Texas, Arkansas, Baylor, FAU and Indiana. PSU picked up a 9-9 overall record against NCAA Tournament teams, highlighted by a win over Fayetteville Regional host Arkansas in the opening week of the 2024 campaign.
The 2024 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament begins with 16 four-team double-elimination Regionals hosted on the campus sites of the top 16 seeded teams beginning Friday and concluding Sunday, May 17 through 19. Eight three-game Super Regional series will be contested between Thursday, May 23, and Sunday, May 26, on the campus sites of the higher remaining seed, with the winners of each series earning a placement in the Women's College World Series. The WCWS begins on Thursday, May 30 at Devon Park in Oklahoma City, with the three-game National Championship series set to run Wednesday through Friday, June 5 through 7. Every game of the 2024 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament will be contested on the ESPN family of networks, with each game available for live streaming via the ESPN app.
2024 NCAA DIVISION I SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION REGIONAL
Davis Diamond – Bryan-College Station, Texas
Friday, May 17, 2024
G1 | No. 2 Texas State (45-13) vs. No. 3 Penn State (34-18) | 4 p.m. (ET) | ESPNU
G2 | No. 1 Texas A&M (40-13) vs. No. 4 UAlbany (33-12) | 6:30 p.m. (ET) | ESPN+
Saturday, May 18, 2024
G3 | Winner of Game One vs. Winner of Game Two | 3 p.m. (ET) | Broadcast TBD
G4 | Loser of Game One vs. Loser of Game Two | 5:30 p.m. (ET) | Broadcast TBD
G5 | Loser of Game Three vs. Winner of Game Four | 8 p.m. (ET) | Broadcast TBD
Sunday, May 19, 2024
G6 | Winner of Game Three vs. Winner of Game Five | Time TBD | Broadcast TBD
G7 | Rematch of Game Six (IF NECESSARY) | Time TBD | Broadcast TBD
PENN STATE AT THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
TEAM APPEARANCES…………..11 (1983, 85, 2000, 01, 02, 03, 05 ,06, 07, 11, 24)
ALL-TIME TEAM RECORD………12-20
BEST FINISH……………………….Regional Finalist (2005, 06, 11)
HIGHEST NATIONAL SEED…….N/A
HIGHEST REGIONAL SEED…….No. 2 (2005, 11)
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