UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State softball saw a pair of student-athletes add to their individual trophy cases with yet another preseason accolade, as sophomore pitcher Bridget Nemeth and senior utility Maddie Gordon both hauled in D1Softball D100 Player Rankings according to the organization’s release Monday morning.
The Blue & White’s duo of Gordon and Nemeth add to an already decorated list of preseason honors with their appointments as D100 Players on Monday, with Nemeth earning the No. 32 national ranking while Gordon clocked in at No. 99. Both of Penn State’s stars from last year’s NCAA Tournament run have already secured preseason top 100 rankings from Softball America, with an additional Second Team Preseason All-America appointment for Nemeth coming last week. Both players were instrumental in guiding the Nittany Lions to a 35-win campaign a year ago, the fourth-winningest season in PSU’s 60 years, in addition to the program’s first national postseason berth in 13 seasons.
Nemeth enters her second season in University Park following the winningest single season in Penn State history, as the then-rookie posted a 23-8 individual record a year ago. She added five saves in her inaugural campaign with the Blue & White, already sitting in fifth place all-time at PSU for saves in a career. Nemeth led the B1G and ranked 10th nationally with 210.0 innings pitched, logged the second-best ERA in the league with a 1.77 mark, registered the third-most strikeouts in the conference and 17th-most strikeouts in Division I with 202, and tallied the third-most complete games in the B1G with 17. She also appeared at the plate as a hitter for PSU in 2024, totaling four hits with five RBI and a pair of home runs, highlighted by the game-tying home run in the series finale at Nebraska that helped PSU secure the two-win weekend in Lincoln.
Gordon, a native of Shenandoah, Virginia, prepares for her fourth and final season with the Blue & White fresh off one of the most statistically dominant seasons in Penn State history. Gordon climbed multiple single-season leaderboards in the PSU record book, finishing with the fourth-most home runs in a campaign in Happy Valley after leaving the yard 13 times a year ago. She also booked the third-most runs scored, fourth-most total bases, sixth-most doubles and eighth-most RBI in a single campaign by a Nittany Lion softball athlete. In recognition of her dominant junior season, Gordon was named an NFCA All-Great Lakes Region Second Team selection as well as a Second Team All-Big Ten designee. Earlier this preseason, Gordon hauled in the No. 92 national ranking as an individual according to Softball America.
Penn State, recently tabbed as the No. 25 team in the nation according to Softball America’s release Monday morning, enters its 60th anniversary season in 2025 with a bevy of nationally significant programs on the schedule. The Nittany Lions will square off in 16 contests against 11 opponents that reached the 2024 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament, with four of those challengers advancing to the Super Regional round and an additional pair of teams reaching the 2024 Women’s College World Series.
Anchored by its pair of top 100 players, Penn State will travel to Clearwater, Florida, and the Eddie C. Moore Complex to open its take part in the NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic. PSU will battle against the defending Women’s College World Series participant Duke Blue Devils on opening night, a 5 p.m. (ET) contest slated for Friday, February 7. The Nittany Lions will conclude the weekend with games against Mississippi State, Missouri, Kennesaw State and Notre Dame. All games will stream live via the Gamechanger app, with the complete 2025 Penn State softball schedule available on the team’s webpage.
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