UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Driven by a powerful pitching performance in the circle and a multi-hit outing from sophomore second baseman Michela Barbanente on her 20th birthday, the Penn State softball team worked together to secure a dominant 8-0, five-inning victory over the Bucknell Bison in non-conference midweek action Tuesday night from Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field.
Superlative pitching was the headliner in the midweek outing against the Bison, with PSU’s two-person tandem of senior right-hander Mady Volpe and freshman righty Abigail Britton combining to keep Bucknell off the scoreboard while scattering four hits and booking a five-to-one strikeout-to-walk ratio. Volpe’s name appeared on the lineup card as Tuesday night’s starter, with the Lansdale, Pennsylvania, native mustering a four-frame outing that included four K’s and a single walk surrendered with four hits rounding out her 62-pitch final line. Volpe picked up her team-leading sixth win of her senior season in her 30th individual appearance of the campaign, rising to 6-9 through this point in the season. Britton, hailing from LaVale, Maryland, entered to toss the final frame, facing the minimum with a strikeout highlighting her brief performance. Britton logged credit for a save after entering with a three-run lead, marking her fifth save of 2025 to make her fifth all-time in PSU history for saves in a career, needing just four more to match and five to surpass the Nittany Lion career record.
In the batter’s box, Barbanente generated one of her most efficient performances of her sophomore campaign on her 20th birthday, celebrating in style with a 2-for-3 performance that included a pair of doubles and a run scored. Barbanente, a native of Itasca, Illinois, mustered her third multi-hit game of 2025 and booked her second-straight game with a hit dating to last weekend’s contest against Georgia Tech on the road. Barbanente was one of four Nittany Lions to secure multi-hit performances in the in-state midweek challenge, with the second-year second baseman joining senior right fielder Haylie Brunson, senior third baseman Maddie Gordon and freshman left fielder Natalie Lieto, who each tallied a pair of hits apiece.
The Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, native Brunson helped the Nittany Lion offense inch closer to history on Tuesday night, with the veteran outfielder cranking the 51st home run of the season for PSU with an opposite-field shot in the bottom of the first inning. Brunson’s homer marked her ninth of the season to place her in second on the PSU roster in the statistic behind Gordon’s 10 dingers on the year. The Nittany Lions need just two more home runs to tie, and three to shatter the program record of 53 home runs hit a season ago during PSU’s run to the NCAA Tournament. In addition to Brunson’s solo shot, the Nittany Lion cranked her first triple of the season and third of her collegiate career later in Penn State’s five-run deluge of a fifth frame.
The game opened with a pair of one-out singles for the Bison bats, and despite a walk that ultimately loaded the bases for Bucknell in the top of the first, Volpe forced a ground ball that generated an unconventional 5-2-3 double play to spark momentum for the PSU bats heading into the bottom of the first. After Ricks grounded out to open the game for the PSU bats, Brunson picked her up with an eye-popping opposite-field dinger off the scoreboard in left field to mark her ninth home run of her senior season while booking the 51st homer for the Blue & White in 2025. Lieto led off the home half of the second with a single through the right side of the infield, and despite a Nittany Lion strikeout following shortly thereafter, Barbanente was able to respond with a first-pitch double to left center that placed runners on the left side of the infield. Nelson drew a walk on seven pitches to juice the bases, and after a Penn Stater was called out of the box, Ricks was able to scratch a straight number on the scoreboard with an RBI walk on six pitches after going down 0-2 in the count.
Klosowicz was able to extend the longest active reached-base streak in college softball to 32 consecutive games with a hit-by-pitch, and a bunt single by Gordon sent the Bison defense into chaos shortly thereafter. The bunt was fielded by the Bucknell pitcher, and even though Gordon would have been safe at first, an errant throw allowed her to trot to third instead while Klosowicz rounded the basepath in the ensuing commotion. After the fourth inning passed without incident, Brunson led off a huge bottom half of the fifth with a triple to left in a 2-0 count. From there, Klosowicz stepped into the box and sent a sacrifice fly into foul territory down the right field line, allowing Brunson the requisite time to trot home for the first Nittany Lion run of the inning. Gordon kept the party going with a double to the right field wall, and an RBI single up the middle by Lieto moments later plated the PSU runner in scoring position. A flyout put two away, but a Barbanente double to right saw two Nittany Lions on the left side once more. Nelson cranked a double to the right-center gap to clear the bases, and a pinch-hit RBI to right field by Coleman closed the book on the swift eight-run victory in less than 90 minutes of game time.
Following the team’s fourth shutout of the 2025 campaign, the Blue & White improve to 15-18 overall with an even 13-13 mark against non-conference competition paired with a strong 4-0 mark against teams hailing from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Bucknell dropped to 9-20 overall following the midweek defeat, with the Bison set to return to Patriot League action with a three-game set against Keystone State rival Lehigh on the road in Bethlehem this weekend. In the all-time series between the Blue & White and the Bison, Penn State improved to 35-9 following the 44th fixture since 1966. The Nittany Lions have now managed three-straight run-rule wins over Bucknell, with Tuesday night’s result joining a 9-0, five-inning win in 2023 and a 10-2, six-frame result a season ago.
TOP NITTANY LION PERFORMERS
Haylie Brunson | 2-for-3, 2 R, RBI, 3B, HR
Michela Barbanente | 2-for-3, R, 2 2B
Mady Volpe | 4.0 IP, 4H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 4K, 62TP, WIN
Abigail Britton | 1.0 IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 1K, 13TP, SAVE
KEY INNINGS
B1 | After Ricks grounded out to open the game for the PSU bats, Brunson picked her up with an eye-popping opposite-field dinger off the scoreboard in left field to mark her ninth home run of her senior season while booking the 51st homer for the Blue & White in 2025. PSU 1, BUCK 0
B2 | Lieto led off the home half of the second with a single through the right side of the infield, and despite a Nittany Lion strikeout following shortly thereafter, Barbanente was able to respond with a first-pitch double to left center that placed runners on the left side of the infield. Nelson drew a walk on seven pitches to juice the bases, and after a Penn Stater was called out of the box, Ricks was able to scratch a straight number on the scoreboard with an RBI walk on six pitches after going down 0-2 in the count. PSU 2, BUCK 0
B3 | Klosowicz was able to extend the longest active reached-base streak in college softball to 32 consecutive games with a hit-by-pitch, and a bunt single by Gordon sent the Bison defense into chaos shortly thereafter. The bunt was fielded by the Bucknell pitcher, and even though Gordon would have been safe at first, an errant throw allowed her to trot to third instead while Klosowicz rounded the basepath in the ensuing commotion. PSU 3, BUCK 0
B5 | Brunson led off a huge bottom half of the fifth inning for the Nittany Lion offense, lifting a triple to left field in a 2-0 count to kickstart the Blue & White bats. From there, Klosowicz stepped into the box and sent a sacrifice fly into foul territory down the right field line, allowing Brunson the requisite time to trot home for the first Nittany Lion run of the inning. Gordon kept the party going with a double to the right field wall, and an RBI single up the middle by Lieto moments later plated the PSU runner in scoring position. A flyout put two away, but a Barbanente double to right saw two Nittany Lions on the left side once more. Nelson cranked a double to the right-center gap to clear the bases, and a pinch-hit RBI to right field by Coleman closed the book on the swift eight-run victory in less than 90 minutes of game time. PSU 8, BUCK 0
UP NEXT
Penn State softball remains at home in Happy Valley and will continue its nine-game home stand this Friday through Sunday, April 4 through 6, as the Nittany Lions resume Big Ten Conference competition with a three-game weekend series against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights from Nittany Lion Softball Park & Beard Field. All three games will stream live to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via B1G+ and the B1G+ app.
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.