BATON ROUGE, La. – Penn State softball continued its weekend at the LSU Invitational on Saturday afternoon with a split performance at Tiger Park, as the Nittany Lions started the day with a 4-1 victory over the Southern Miss Golden Eagles before dropping a 6-4 decision to the Nicholls Colonels.
Following Saturday afternoon’s twin-bill against the Golden Eagles and Colonels, the Nittany Lions move to 5-9 overall on the 2025 campaign and 2-2 through the team’s first four games of the LSU Invitational with one game left to play. After dropping their first decision of the day to Penn State, Southern Miss dropped to 4-9 overall while Nicholls improved to 6-8 after Saturday’s finale. In the all-time series with USM, Penn State remained unbeaten against the Golden Eagles and improved to 4-0 since the first all-time meeting in 2001. The Nittany Lions and Colonels are now split, 1-1, following the first two meetings this weekend in Baton Rouge.
On the offensive end, senior third baseman Maddie Gordon had a dominant day, leading all Nittany Lion student-athletes with a .571 batting average after registering four hits on seven at-bats across both games. Gordon hit a home run apiece in each game, logging two runs scored and four runs batted in with an eye-popping 1.429 slugging percentage against the Golden Eagles and Colonels. Sophomore designated player Brooke Klosowicz delivered a 3-for-6 day with a pair of doubles and five total bases while extending her team-leading reached-base streak to 13 consecutive games. Fifth-year first baseman Meagan Ricks rounded out the major offensive highlights on the day for the Blue & White, hitting her first home run as a Nittany Lion while chipping in with a pair of runs scored.
Senior right-handed pitcher Mady Volpe led the way for the Nittany Lions in the pitcher’s circle on Saturday, tossing 5.0 innings across both games while holding both opponents without a run. Her 0.00 ERA was paired with a meager two hits allowed, zero walks and one strikeout while limiting opposing batters to a .111 batting average-against. Volpe, a native of Lansdale, Pennsylvania, improved to 2-2 overall after securing the winning decision against Southern Miss. Freshman righty Abigail Britton mustered her first collegiate save in the victory over the Golden Eagles, allowing just a pair of earned runs across both games.
Despite trailing by an early 1-0 differential in the first game of the day against Southern Miss, the Nittany Lions were able to climb back into the contest with a sacrifice fly from Lieto in the home half of the third. Klosowicz worked a quality at-bat as Penn State’s leadoff hitter in the bottom of the fourth, seeing six pitches and a full 3-2 count before sending a double off the wall in left field. In the next at-bat, Gordon stepped up to the dish and sent her first home run of the 2025 season over the fence in right center to give the Nittany Lions the lead. Hunting for an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth, The Nittany Lions had one out on the scoreboard with Klosowicz headed to the dish, and the second-year designated player delivered in her at-bat with a double down the left field line. A single to left center field by Gordon helped generate runners on the corners, and a throwing error by the Colonel defense allowed Brunson to reach first while Klosowicz completed her journey home. Penn State’s defense held on strong in the top of the seventh, closing the book on the 4-1 victory.
In the second game of the day, Ricks got the offense started with a solo home run to right field in the top of the third inning, but the Colonels replied with a six-run home half to carry a 6-1 advantage through the first three frames. All was quiet for both teams in the fourth and fifth innings, but the Nittany Lions attempted to mount a comeback in the top of the sixth with a one-run frame. Ricks singled toward the Colonel pitcher to give the Blue & White life in the top of the seventh inning. A wild pitch brought Ricks to second base, and a flyout to right from Klosowicz allowed Ricks to travel to third. Gordon attempted to lift the Nittany Lions on her back and delivered with a two-run homer pulled dead left, but the Blue & White were ultimately unable to overcome the deficit following an inning-ending groundout later in the frame that closed out the 6-4 ballgame.
TOP NITTANY LION PERFORMERS (VS. SOUTHERN MISS)
Maddie Gordon | 2-for-3, R, 2 RBI, HR
Brooke Klosowicz | 2-for-3, 2 R, 2 2B
Mady Volpe | 2.0 IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 0K, 25TP, WIN
Abigail Britton | 3.0 IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 5K, 51TP, SAVE
TOP NITTANY LION PERFORMERS (VS. NICHOLLS)
Maddie Gordon | 2-for-4, R, 2 RBI, HR
Meagan Ricks | 2-for-4, 2 R, RBI, HR
Mady Volpe | 3.0 IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 1K, 47TP
KEY INNINGS (VS. SOUTHERN MISS)
T1 | Hannah Christian led the game off with a single to left field, and after a pair of flyouts, proceeded to steal second base. A single up the middle from cleanup hitter Ryanna Valdivia gave Christian ample time to complete her trip around the bases for the only Golden Eagle run. USM 1, PSU 0
B3 | With one out on the board, Walters legged out an infield single that was sent to the Golden Eagle shortstop. Nelson kept the small ball rolling with a bunt single that afforded Walters the time to take 120 feet and reach third base. Nelson stole second to place runners on the left side of the infield, and a sacrifice fly from Lieto plated Walters to tie the game. PSU 1, USM 1
B4 | Klosowicz worked a quality at-bat as Penn State’s leadoff hitter in the bottom of the fourth, seeing six pitches and a full 3-2 count before sending a double off the wall in left field. In the next at-bat, Gordon stepped up to the dish and sent her first home run of the 2025 season over the fence in right center to give the Nittany Lions the lead. PSU 3, USM 1
B6 | The Nittany Lions had one out on the scoreboard with Klosowicz headed to the dish, and the second-year designated player delivered in her at-bat with a double down the left field line. A single to left center field by Gordon helped generate runners on the corners, and a throwing error by the Colonel defense allowed Brunson to reach first while Klosowicz completed her journey home. PSU 4, USM 1
KEY INNINGS (VS. NICHOLLS)
T3 | After taking the first pitch of her at-bat for a ball, Ricks delivered her first home run as a Nittany Lion over the fence in right field to give the Blue & White an early one-run advantage. PSU 1, NICH 0
B3 | Brynne Songy started the inning with a single to left, and Kayleigh Lugowski kept things going with a single to shortstop. Claire Sisco drew a walk to load the bases following a Nittany Lion pitching change, and a single down the left field line by Ally Mooneyham allowed the first run to come across for the Colonels. A flyout to right put one away, but a Reagan Heflin bases-clearing double brought three more runs across. A strikeout marked the second out of the inning, but an RBI triple to right center from Erin Krause followed by a fielding error in Molly VandenBout’s at-bat resulted in two more runs. NICH 6, PSU 1
T6 | Brunson singled to center on the first pitch of her at-bat, and Barbanente entered to pinch run for her at first. A groundout allowed Barbanente to reach second, and a single to left from Seidel placed the Nittany Lion baserunner on third. Chamberlin entered to pinch hit and delivered an RBI fielder’s choice that brought Barbanente around. NICH 6, PSU 2
T7 | Ricks singled toward the Colonel pitcher to give the Blue & White life in the top of the seventh inning. A wild pitch brought Ricks to second base, and a flyout to right from Klosowicz allowed Ricks to travel to third. Gordon attempted to lift the Nittany Lions on her back and delivered with a two-run homer pulled dead left, but the Blue & White were ultimately unable to overcome the deficit following an inning-ending groundout later in the frame. NICH 6, PSU 4
UP NEXT
Penn State softball concludes its weekend in Louisiana tomorrow, Sunday, February 23, as the Nittany Lions square off against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles in a rematch of Saturday’s contest. First pitch in Sunday’s weekend finale from Tiger Park on the campus of LSU is scheduled for Noon (ET), with live stats available via the link on the Penn State softball schedule webpage at GoPSUsports.com. Fans are also encouraged to follow along with live updates via the PSU softball social media channels at @PennStateSB.
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.