NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Penn State softball saw a pair of student-athletes garner preseason Top 100 individual rankings from Softball America in the organization’s release Monday morning. Sophomore pitcher Bridget Nemeth secured the No. 28 individual placement, while senior utility Maddie Gordon secured the No. 92 selection in SA’s preseason rankings.
Nemeth and Gordon were both pivotal in a record-breaking season for Penn State in the 2024 campaign, the first national postseason run in Happy Valley in 13 years. The pair of Nittany Lions powered the Blue & White to a 35-20 overall record, the team’s third consecutive Big Ten Tournament appearance and a selection to the 2024 NCAA Bryan-College Station regional. Both student-athletes picked up All-Big Ten accolades and NFCA All-Great Lakes Region honors in the postseason after publishing dominant individual seasons statistically.
A native of Glendora, California, Nemeth returns to University Park after becoming the first Big Ten Conference individual postseason award winner in PSU history, logging Big Ten Freshman of the Year laurels in addition to appointments to the All-Big Ten First Team and All-Big Ten Freshman Team. She was named the Penn State Female Athlete of the Year, became the first Freshman All-American in Nittany Lion history with a pair of selections from both Softball America and D1Softball, hauled in placements on the Top 25 and Top 10 Watch Lists for the NFCA National Freshman of the Year Award and was tabbed as a First Team NFCA All-Great Lakes Region athlete. Nemeth set a single-season Nittany Lion record for victories in the pitcher’s circle, mustering a Big Ten-leading 23-8 overall record paired with a 1.77 earned run average, the second-best mark in the conference.
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.
The Blue & White joined nine additional Big Ten Conference member institutions with at least one selection to Softball America’s Preseason Top 100 player rankings and was one of just five Big Ten programs with multiple student-athletes selected. Nemeth’s No. 28 ranking makes her the second-highest rated student-athlete in the conference behind Nebraska pitcher Jordy Bahl, who brought home the No. 9 ranking nationally. League newcomer UCLA led the Big Ten and sat tied for the most selections in the nation with six, matching defending national runner-up Texas. Defending national champion Oklahoma joined in-state rival Oklahoma State and fellow SEC foe Florida with five nationally ranked athletes.
Penn State softball opens its 60th anniversary season in just over one month’s time, as the Blue & White travel to Clearwater, Florida, and the Eddie C. Moore Complex to take part in the NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic. PSU will battle against defending the 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.
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