Nittany Lions Travel to Oklahoma City for B1G Softball x Devon Park
Penn State visits Women’s College World Series site to battle Northwestern, Minnesota
OKLAHOMA CITY – Penn State softball travels to college softball’s field of dreams this week, Thursday through Sunday, March 13 through 16, as the Blue & White prepare to open their 34th season of Big Ten Conference competition at B1G Softball x Devon Park from the home of the Women’s College World Series. The Nittany Lions will challenge defending B1G regular season champion Northwestern, as well as Minnesota in four combined games over the weekend.
The Nittany Lions begin conference play with two games against Northwestern on Thursday and Friday, with both matchups slated for 7:30 p.m. (ET). Minnesota will battle the Blue & White on Saturday and Sunday, with contests slated for 5:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. (ET), respectively.
Follow the Action
All four games for Penn State at B1G Softball x Devon Park will stream live to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via B1G+ and the B1G+ app on connected devices, with Jay Wilson and Sydney Supple on the call all weekend long from the Softball Capital of the World. Links to view all four contests live are available on the Penn State softball schedule webpage, or at BigTenPlus.com. Live stat links provided by StatBroadcast and the Big Ten Conference are available for all games on the Penn State softball schedule webpage or via the team’s StatBroadcast central hub at the link here.
B1G SOFTBALL X DEVON PARK
The Big Ten Conference will open one of its most anticipated softball seasons at the home of the Women’s College World Series, as the league partnered with USA Softball and Devon Park to host eight B1G softball programs for 16 combined conference games in a two-week span. Penn State joins defending Big Ten regular-season champion Northwestern, as well as Minnesota and Michigan State in Oklahoma City on the opening weekend, Thursday through Sunday, March 13 through 16. Devon Park will welcome reigning conference tournament champion Michigan, as well as Maryland, Purdue and Wisconsin for the second weekend of work spanning Thursday through Sunday, March 20 through 23.
QUICK HITS
PSU is fresh off one of its most dominant offensive weekends in program history, as the Nittany Lions rattled off four home-opening wins over Canisius, Fairfield and Lafayette highlighted by a 23-0, five-inning win over the Stags that featured the third-most runs in a single game in PSU history. In recognition of her dominant start to the 2025 season, in addition to an eye-popping weekend in the batter’s box at Penn State’s home tournament, sophomore designated player Brooke Klosowicz was named the Big Ten Conference’s Player of the Week on Monday, March 10. Klosowicz, a native of Johnsburg, Illinois, became just the fourth Nittany Lion to win the award since head coach Clarisa Crowell took over in 2021, as well as the first Nittany Lion to win any major B1G accolade in 2025.
HOMEEEEEE... HOME ON THE RANGE
Penn State opened its 2025 home slate at Nittany Lion Softball Park & Beard Field in style last weekend, with the Blue & White rattling off a quartet of home-opening victories highlighted by a trio of run-rule results at the Penn State Softball Invitational. Penn State hit a combined .534 average and outscored their opponents by a 57-11 margin while hitting a combined 15 home runs over the weekend. The highlight of the weekend came on Friday night, March 7, against the Fairfield Stags, as PSU recorded a 23-0 victory that marked the third-most runs scored in a single game in program history.
Penn State opened the weekend with a 12-4 win over Canisius Friday, mustering 12 runs or more in back-to-back games for the first time since logging 13 and 15 runs, respectively, against the conference rival Indiana Hoosiers on April 8 and 9, 2016. Friday’s doubleheader performance against the Golden Griffins and Stage saw PSU combine to hit 10 home runs in a single day, booking five apiece in each half of the twin-bill. The last time the Blue & White had at least five homers in a single game before Friday’s efforts came on April 3, 2019, with PSU registering a half dozen in a 13-run showing against the Saint Francis Red Flash.
Penn State vs. Northwestern
12-11 | 0-0 B1G
9-9 | 0-0 B1G
Introducing Northwestern
ABOUT THE WILDCATS
Fresh off a 2024 Big Ten Conference regular season championship title, head coach Kate Drohan and the Northwestern Wildcats enter the 2025 league campaign after a 9-9 overall start against some of the nation’s stiffest competition. The Wildcats have battled five common opponents with PSU, highlighted by a 4-1 win over Duke during the NFCA Leadoff Classic. NU is 3-2 in their last five games with wins over Louisville and Longwood. On an individual basis, the Northwestern batting order features a pair of hitters batting above .300 in freshman Kaylie Avvisato (.382) and senior Grace Nieto (.340). In the pitcher’s circle, Northwestern is led by a pair of 35-plus inning tossers in graduate Lauren Boyd and sophomore Riley Grudzielanek, who own 3.00 and 4.12 ERAs, respectively.
STORY OF THE SERIES
Penn State prepares for its 70th and 71st all-time meetings with the Northwestern Wildcats this weekend in Oklahoma City, with NU currently maintaining a 54-15 lead in a series that dates to PSU’s first Big Ten Conference season in 1992. The Nittany Lions will seek their first win over Northwestern since mustering a two-game series sweep of the Wildcats on May 13, 2011, in Happy Valley. The most recent series between the two teams came in Evanston in 2023, with the Nittany Lions dropping a trio of games. NU had a handle on the first two contests, but PSU battled to take a one-run lead into the bottom of the seventh in the series finale before falling, 5-2.
Penn State vs. Northwestern
12-11 | 0-0 B1G
9-9 | 0-0 B1G
Penn State vs. Minnesota
12-11 | 0-0 B1G
11-13 | 0-0 B1G
Introducing Minnesota
ABOUT THE GOLDEN GOPHERS
Head Coach Piper Ritter and the Minnesota Golden Gophers arrive in Oklahoma City after publishing an 11-13 start through their first 24 fixtures of the 2025 campaign, most recently dropping a tough 2-0 midweek test in a neutral site game against McNeese in Beaumont, Texas. Minnesota is 2-3 in their last five games, with both wins coming against South Alabama at the LSU Round Robin last week. Four Golden Gophers are hitting at-or-above .300 at the plate so far this season, with seniors Margaret Tobias (.362) and Nani Valencia (.360) headlining the order. Taylor Krapf returns for her senior year in the Twin Cities, hitting .300 while leading the squad in homers with nine. Junior ace Sydney Schwartz leads the pitching staff with 70.1 innings and a 2.69 earned run average.
STORY OF THE SERIES
Penn State and Minnesota will challenge one another for the 71st and 72nd times in an all-time series that dates to 1989. The Golden Gophers maintain a 49-21 advantage over the Nittany Lions, but both teams have worked to an even record in the last four meetings at 2-2. The most recent series between the two programs came in Minneapolis during the 2023 campaign, a 2-1 series victory for Minnesota on their home field. Minnesota took the first game by a 2-0 margin, and after a single day hiatus due to a snowstorm in the area, PSU managed to split the Sunday doubleheader, dropping the first game, 3-1, before then-senior pitcher Bailey Parshall tossed a complete-game shutout to lead PSU to a 2-0 win in the finale.
Penn State vs. Minnesota
12-11 | 0-0 B1G
11-13 | 0-0 B1G
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.