UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State softball freshman pitcher Bridget Nemeth added to her impressive array of national recognition Tuesday afternoon, as the rookie right-hander landed Freshman All-America distinction from both D1Softball and Softball America following both organizations' release.
Nemeth added a pair of Freshman All-America accolades to her first career NFCA First Team All-Great Lakes Region honor earlier this month. The freshman phenom from Glendora, California, became the 16th First Team All-Great Lakes Region choice in PSU program history, and remains a candidate for NFCA All-America distinction later this week. Over the course of the regular season, Nemeth also snagged a pair of D1Softball National Freshman of the Week honors.
With her distinction as the Big Ten's Freshman of the Year as announced on May 8, Nemeth became the first student-athlete in Penn State history to earn an individual award from the conference office since PSU joined the B1G in the 1991-92 academic year. Nemeth also became the first student-athlete to win a conference individual award since Nan Sichler was named the Atlantic 10 Conference Most Valuable Player and Most Valuable Pitcher in 1988. Nemeth additionally became PSU's 17th selection to the All-Big Ten First Team in program history, earning that acclaim by unanimous vote of the league's coaches, and became the third Nittany Lion to achieve those honors in the last three seasons. PSU earned First Team All-Big Ten recognition in three consecutive seasons for the first time in program history following Nemeth's appointment to the team.
The rookie star finished first in the Big Ten and 15th nationally with a 23-7 overall record, setting the single-season Penn State program record for wins in a campaign. Nemeth led all Big Ten Conference pitchers and ranked ninth nationally in innings pitched, logging 210.0 innings in the circle over the course of the 2024 campaign. She also ranked tied atop the Big Ten leaderboard in saves this year with four, moving into fifth all-time at PSU for saves in a pitching career behind Missy Beseres, Bailey Parshall, Ashley Esparza and Jackie Hill.
Nemeth logged a 4.12 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 2024 and became just the fourth woman in program history to surpass 200 strikeouts in a single season, finishing with 202 K's in her debut season. Nemeth finished third in the Big Ten Conference in the category and 17th among all Division I pitchers. She finished with 40 appearances in the circle this season, marking the seventh-most among all Nittany Lions in program history, while turning in 25 starts to mark the 16th most in a single season in PSU history.
Thanks in large part to Nemeth's impressive accomplishments in the circle, the Penn State softball program booked its first national postseason appearance in 13 years at the 2024 NCAA Bryan-College Station Regional. PSU finished the season with a 35-20 overall record, marking the third consecutive 30-win season and the first stretch of three or more 30-win seasons at Penn State since logging five from 1999 to 2003. The Blue & White also finished 12-11 in B1G play, churning out three consecutive seasons of .500-or-better softball against Big Ten opposition for the first time in school history.
FOLLOW THE NITTANY LIONS
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 Instagram and X @PennStateSB.
