BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Despite the Blue & White combining to hit multiple home runs while wielding early leads in both games, the Penn State softball team ultimately dropped a pair of contests in doubleheader action against the Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday from Andy Mohr Field. PSU fell by a 7-5 margin in the opener before logging a run-rule defeat in the finale to drop the Big Ten Conference weekend series.
The Blue & White mustered 14 hits across both halves of Saturday’s doubleheader, with four going for extra bases and three of those leaving the yard to bring the Nittany Lion season home run total to 48, marking the third-most in a single season in program history behind the 2024 (53) and 2019 (49) teams. PSU was led by a trio of home run hitters on the day, highlighted by senior utility Maddie Gordon’s 4-for-7 day across both halves of the twin bill that featured a home run and pair of RBI. Gordon has now hit 10 home runs on the campaign to become the first Nittany Lion to do so in 2025, simultaneously becoming just the 15th Penn Stater to book double digits in the home run column in a single year in PSU history.
Sophomore infielder Brooke Klosowicz managed to extend her Big Ten-best reached base streak to 29 consecutive games following Saturday’s action in Bloomington, finishing the day’s games with a pair of hits that included a solo home run, in addition to booking a walk in the weekend finale. Senior left fielder Lydia Coleman went .500 on the day with a pait of hits in four at-bats, while senior right fielder Haylie Brunson booked the most statistically significant day at the plate for the Blue & White with an emphatic three-run homer in the nightcap highlighting her 3-for-8 day at the dish.
Saturday’s action began in earnest after a barn-burning back-and-forth affair the night before from Andy Mohr Field, with both offenses picking up right where they left off to combine for four runs in the opening inning of play. Fielding woes troubled the Hoosiers in the opening half inning, with Ricks drawing a leadoff walk just before Indiana loaded the bases on back-to-back errors that saw Brunson and Klosowicz take over on second and first, respectively. On the first pitch of her at-bat, Gordon zipped a single through the left side of the infield for an RBI that brought Ricks aboard and gave PSU an early 1-0 lead. IU replied with five unanswered runs, but opportunistic hitting in the top of the fifth saw PSU pull back within one. Unfortunately, the Hoosiers were able to a pair of insurance runs in the fifth and sixth, and despite a solo shot from Klosowicz in the top of the seventh, IU was able to hold on for the 7-5 win.
The dramatic play from the first two games continued in the opening moments of the weekend’s weather-adjusted finale, as Gordon smacked an opposite-field dinger over the fence in right field on the first pitch of her at-bat to give the Blue & White an early one-run advantage through half an inning of play. IU got the run back in the home half, but Coleman opened the top of the second with a hard-hit single toward the IU pitcher, and a sacrifice bunt from Barbanente moved the runner 60 feet further. Walters drew a walk on four pitches to place runners on the right side, and after a quick Hoosier pitching change, Brunson stepped up to the dish and walloped a three-run homer over the fence in right center to give PSU a three-run advantage. From there, the Hoosiers unleashed an offensive barrage and were ultimately able to come away with a run-rule victory over the Nittany Lions in five innings, publishing a 17-4 result.
Indiana ultimately took the weekend series by a 2-1 differential on their home field, bringing the Nittany Lion overall season record to 14-16 with a 2-5 mark against Big Ten Conference challengers in 2025. Indiana’s overall season record improved to 22-8 with a 2-3 mark against B1G foes this season. In the all-time series, the Hoosiers were able to extend their all-time lead to 52-39 following the 90th and 91st all-time meetings in Bloomington on Saturday.
TOP NITTANY LION PERFORMERS (GAME ONE)
Brooke Klosowicz | 2-for-4, 2 R, RBI, HR
Haylie Brunson | 2-for-4, R, RBI, 2B,
Maddie Gordon | 2-for-4, RBI
TOP NITTANY LION PERFORMERS (GAME TWO)
Maddie Gordon | 2-for-3, R, RBI, HR
Haylie Brunson | 1-for-4, R, 3 RBI, HR
Lydia Coleman | 2-for-3, R
KEY INNINGS (GAME ONE)
T1 | Fielding woes troubled the Hoosiers in the opening half inning, with Ricks drawing a leadoff walk just before Indiana loaded the bases on a pair of back-to-back errors that saw Brunson and Klosowicz take over on second and first, respectively. On the first pitch of her at-bat, Gordon zipped a single through the left side of the infield for an RBI that brought Ricks aboard. PSU 1, IU 0
B1 | Melina Wilkison drew a leadoff walk on five pitches and proceeded to steal second to reach scoring position. Minnick stepped up to bat and delivered an RBI double to left center field that brought Wilkison around for the tying score. A Hoosier fouled out to put one away, but Brianna Copeland kept the offense going for IU with a walk. Volpe was able to strikeout an Indiana batter for the second out of the inning, but an Aly VanBrandt walk juiced the bases just before Sydni Burko sent an RBI single to right that plated Minnick and Copeland. IU 3, PSU 1
B3 | Copeland drew a leadoff walk to lead off the third and stole second base moments later, with a Kinsey Mitchell sac bunt bumping the IU runner over to third. VanBrandt laid down a bunt that the official scorer ruled a single to bring Copeland in. IU 4, PSU 1
B4 | After Wilkison grounded into a double play that PSU utilized to put a pair of outs on the scoreboard, Minnick kept the inning alive for Indiana with a double to left field. Avery Parker sent a single to center field in the next at-bat to bring Minnick around for the score. IU 5, PSU 1
T5 | Walters struck out swinging to open the top of the fifth, but a dropped third strike saw the IU defense crumble as a throwing error by the catcher on the play allowed Walters to journey to third base. A strikeout resulted in the first out of the inning, but a double down the right field line from Brunson saw Walters safely reach the dish. A single to right by Klosowicz placed runners on the corners, and a wild pitch saw the sophomore trot to second. Another strikeout put two away, but the fourth error of the game by Indiana’s defense saw Lieto reach second while both Brunson and Klosowicz booked unearned tallies. IU 5, PSU 4
B5 | VanBrandt doubled the first pitch of her at-bat through the left side and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Burko drew a walk to place runners on the corners, and another wild pitch resulted in VanBrandt completing her journey home. IU 6, PSU 4
B6 | With one away, Copeland hit a single toward the PSU shortstop and advanced to second on a wild pitch. From there, Mitchell singled up the middle to bring Copeland around for an insurance tally. IU 7, PSU 4
T7 | After a PSU grounder put one away, Klosowicz attempted to lift the Nittany Lions to success by pummeling a solo shot over the fence in left field, but the Hoosiers were able to close the frame out with no additional runs on the scoreboard following a threatening Nittany Lion rally attempt. IU 7, PSU 5
KEY INNINGS (GAME TWO)
T1 | After a pair of groundouts opened the top of the first, Gordon smacked an opposite-field dinger over the fence in right field on the first pitch of her at-bat to give the Blue & White an early one-run advantage. PSU 1, IU 0
B1 | With a pair of flyouts on the board, Parker drew a hit by pitch and Wilkison sent a double to right center on the first pitch of her at-bat to bring Parker around. PSU 1, IU 1
T2 | Coleman opened the top of the second with a hard-hit single toward the IU pitcher, and a sacrifice bunt from Barbanente moved the runner 60 feet further. Walters drew a walk on four pitches to place runners on the right side, and after a quick Hoosier pitching change, Brunson stepped up to the dish and walloped a three-run homer over the fence in right center to give PSU a three-run advantage. PSU 4, IU 1
B2 | On the seventh pitch of her at-bat, VanBrandt hit a solo shot over the wall in right. An out popped on the board just before Burko sent a double to center, and despite another pop out putting two away, Copeland hit a two-run shot to left. Minnick drew a walk, and a single from Parker brought her around to give Indiana the lead once again. IU 5, PSU 4
B3 | VanBrandt reached on an error by the PSU shortstop, and despite two outs following in quick succession, Alex Cooper hit a two-run shot to right field. Copeland extended the inning with a walk and stole second, with Minnick adding a two-run homer to right moments later. IU 9, PSU 4
B4 | With one out, Mitchell doubled to right and moved over to third following a VanBrandt single. VanBrandt stole second, and after a fielder’s choice allowed Kettleman to reach first, and IU pinch hitter scored on a throwing error with runners on the left side of the infield following the error. Burko singled to center to plate another run and moved to second following a wild pitch. A strikeout put two down, but Copeland cleared the bases with a double. Minnick walked, Parker drew a hit by pitch to load the bases and Wilkison booked a bases-clearing hit to left to add three more, and a single through the right side by Mitchell plated Wilkison. IU 17, PSU 4
UP NEXT
Penn State softball takes a weeklong hiatus from Big Ten Conference competition and prepares for a grueling weekend of non-league tests next weekend in Atlanta, Georgia. The Nittany Lions will face off with defending WCWS participant Oklahoma State at 11 a.m. (ET) on Saturday, March 29, followed by an 11 a.m. (ET) test against Georgia Tech on Sunday, March 30. Both games will take place at Mewborn Field on the Georgia Tech campus, with the test against the Yellow Jackets set for streaming via ACCNX.
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