UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Featuring a pair of victorious complete-game outings in the circle from senior Mady Volpe and freshman Abigail Britton, the Penn State softball team battled for a pair of crucial Big Ten Conference victories against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in doubleheader action from Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field on Friday night.
Penn State’s pitching tandem of Volpe and Britton was virtuosic across their 13 combined innings in the circle, with both Nittany Lions mustering complete games with individual victories to supplement their 2025 storylines. Volpe, a native of Lansdale, Pennsylvania, mustered her first complete game of her senior campaign and went the distance for the first time since a five-inning run-rule shutout against the Cornell Big Red on March 15, 2024, during last year’s home-opening weekend tournament in Happy Valley. Volpe scattered a pair of hits and allowed a single earned run in her dominant outing, adding six strikeouts while improving to 7-9 overall this season.
Meanwhile, the LaVale, Maryland, native Britton tallied her second complete-game shutout of her rookie campaign as well as her first since mustering a 4-0 blanking of the St. John’s Red Storm on February 15 of this season in neutral-site action from Tampa, Florida. Entering Friday night’s performance, Britton was the only pitcher on the Nittany Lion staff with a complete game and shutout to her credit, with the rookie doubling her tallies in each of those categories in game two against the Scarlet Knights. Britton was dominant from start to finish, booking 6.0 frames with two hits allowed and a pair of bagels in the run and earned run columns. She finished the night with a career high-tying seven strikeouts, with her only prior performance of that nature coming against the Radford Highlanders on February 28. At the conclusion of Friday night’s action, Britton had secured her fifth collegiate victory to improve to 5-8 thus far in 2025.
On the offensive side of things, Penn State’s patented bats remained strong against the Scarlet Knights after booking 15 combined hits across both halves of Friday’s doubleheader against some of the strongest pitching the team had faced thus far. The Nittany Lions were led by fifth year first baseman Meagan Ricks, who mustered a trio of hits across five at-bats with an additional walk and hit-by-pitch to her credit. Sophomore second baseman Michela Barbanente impressed with an .833 on-base percentage across her pair of starts, while sophomore shortstop Kaylie Walters, junior catcher Madison Seidel and senior right fielder Haylie Brunson each booked multiple hits across both halves of Friday’s action. For Brunson, the Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, native finished as the only student-athlete on the PSU roster with an extra-base knock on the day, with her double in game two bringing her season tally in the statistic to a dozen.
Game one of the day opened with the Nittany Lions immediately taking a swift two-run advantage to set the tone for Friday’s action. Freshman left fielder Natalie Lieto opened the game in style for the Nittany Lion offense, legging out a single that was hit toward the Scarlet Knight first baseman to mark the first PSU baserunner of the game. Walters drew a walk on six pitches to place runners on the right side of the infield, and Brunson delivered the first RBI of the day for the Blue & White with a single up the middle and advancement to second on the Rutgers throw home that saw Walters advance to third while Lieto rounded the bases to score. After a foul out to third put the first out of the inning on the board, Gordon stepped up to the plate and put a ball in play to the shortstop that resulted in an RBI grounder to plate Walters. From there, Volpe and the Penn State defense went to work, with the squad working together to keep the Scarlet Knight bats at bay while limiting their challengers to Piscataway to a pair of hits across the remainder of the game.
Volpe carried a no-hitter into the top of the sixth, where Jillian Anderson led things off with a single to left center that broke up Volpe’s no-hitter bid. Bailey Briggs drew a walk to place runners on the right side of the infield, and a successful sac bunt executed by Baileigh Burtis bumped both Scarlet Knights 60 feet further. From there, Riley Hwang lifted a sacrifice fly into left field to score Anderson and make it a one-run game. Despite a stressful final half-inning of effort that saw the Scarlet Knights manage to load the bases with two outs, Seidel was able to step up in a big way and turn what would have been the game-tying run scored on a wild pitch into a catcher-unassisted putout that put a bow on the dramatic 2-1 Nittany Lion victory in the lid-lifter.
The second game of the day saw both pitchers and defenses make pivotal plays, with each side carrying a shutout into the bottom half of the fourth. From there, the Nittany Lion offense went to work with one out on the board, as sophomore designated player Brooke Klosowicz drew a walk on five pitches and Gordon laced a single through the left side of the infield to place Nittany Lion runners on first and second. Lieto was struck by the first Scarlet Knight offering of her plate appearance to load the bases, and Barbanente drew a five-pitch walk of her own to break the scoreless tie. A wild pitch allowed Gordon to complete her journey home while the other two runners moved to second and third. From there, Seidel put a ball in play that the Rutgers second baseman attempted to turn into a 4-2 putout at home plate, but Lieto was able to beat the throw to score for PSU while Seidel stayed at first on the fielder’s choice.
Ricks got the bottom of the fifth inning started with a single through the right side of the infield on the first pitch by Rutgers’ reliever, and Walters worked an infield single toward the Scarlet Knight second baseman to put a pair of runners on. A Nittany Lion grounded into a double play moments later, but Ricks managed to reach third in the process. Klosowicz stepped up to the dish and zipped a single into right center to bring Ricks in to score and make it a four-run game. In the sixth, Barbanente sparked a powerful offensive inning for the Nittany Lions with a single up the middle in a 2-0 count. Seidel kept the party going with a single to right, with Barbanente sprinting to third base in the process. A bunt single toward the pitcher saw Nelson take over at first base, but an erroneous missed catch by the first baseman allowed Barbanente to complete her journey home in the ensuing chaos. Another short-game single from Ricks saw the bases loaded, and a single up the middle from Coleman brought Seidel and Nelson in to score to put PSU one run away from the run-rule victory. From there, Brunson laced a double to left center, allowing Ricks time to complete her journey home for the eight-run win in six innings of work.
Following the doubleheader sweep and Big Ten series-securing performances on Friday night, the Blue & White improved to 17-18 overall and 4-5 against conference challengers thus far in 2025. PSU also further extended its lead over the Scarlet Knights in an all-time series that dates to 1980. The Nittany Lions swept the 71st and 72nd all-time meetings to improve to 42-30 against the Scarlet Knights since the inaugural meeting of then-Atlantic 10 Conference challengers 45 years ago. In defeat, Rutgers drops to 16-23 overall and falls to 1-8 in Big Ten play ahead of Saturday afternoon’s finale in Happy Valley.
TOP NITTANY LION PERFORMERS (GAME ONE)
Haylie Brunson | 1-for-3, 1B, RBI
Natalie Lieto | 1-for-4, 1B, R
Mady Volpe | 7.0 IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER, 6BB, 6K, 109TP, CG, WIN
TOP NITTANY LION PERFORMERS (GAME TWO)
Meagan Ricks | 2-for-3, 2 R, 2 1B, HBP
Brooke Klosowicz | 1-for-2, R, RBI, 1B, BB
Abigail Britton | 6.0 IP, 2H, 0R, 0ER, 3BB, 7K, 112TP, CG, SHO, WIN
KEY INNINGS (GAME ONE)
B1 | Lieto opened the game in style for the Nittany Lion offense, legging out a single that was hit toward the Scarlet Knight first baseman to mark the first PSU baserunner of the game. Walters drew a walk on six pitches to place runners on the right side of the infield, and Brunson delivered the first RBI of the day for the Blue & White with a single up the middle and advancement to second on the Rutgers throw home that saw Walters advance to third while Lieto rounded the bases to score. After a foul out to third put the first out of the inning on the board, Gordon stepped up to the plate and put a ball in play to the shortstop that resulted in an RBI grounder to plate Walters. PSU 2, RUT 0
T6 | Jillian Anderson led the top half of the sixth inning off with a single to left center that broke up Volpe’s no-hitter bid. Bailey Briggs drew a walk to place runners on the right side of the infield, and a successful sac bunt executed by Baileigh Burtis bumped both Scarlet Knights 60 feet further. From there, Riley Hwang lifted a sacrifice fly into left field to score Anderson and make it a one-run game. PSU 2, RUT 1
KEY INNINGS (GAME TWO)
B4 | With one out on the board, Klosowicz drew a walk on five pitches and Gordon laced a single through the left side of the infield to place Nittany Lion runners on first and second. Lieto was struck by the first Scarlet Knight offering of her plate appearance to load the bases, and Barbanente drew a five-pitch walk of her own to break the scoreless tie. A wild pitch allowed Gordon to complete her journey home while the other two runners moved to second and third. From there, Seidel put a ball in play that the Rutgers second baseman attempted to turn into a 4-2 putout at home plate, but Lieto was able to beat the throw to score for PSU while Seidel stayed at first on the fielder’s choice. PSU 3, RUT 0
B5 | Ricks got the inning started with a single through the right side of the infield on the first pitch by Rutgers’ reliever, and Walters worked an infield single toward the Scarlet Knight second baseman to put a pair of runners on. A Nittany Lion grounded into a double play moments later, but Ricks managed to reach third in the process. Klosowicz stepped up to the dish and zipped a single into right center to bring Ricks in to score. PSU 4, RUT 0
B6 | With one away, Barbanente sparked a powerful offensive inning for the Nittany Lions with a single up the middle in a 2-0 count. Seidel kept the party going with a single to right, with Barbanente sprinting to third base in the process. A bunt single toward the pitcher saw Nelson take over at first base, but an erroneous missed catch by the first baseman allowed Barbanente to complete her journey home in the ensuing chaos. Another short-game single from Ricks saw the bases loaded, and a single up the middle from Coleman brought Seidel and Nelson in to score to put PSU one run away from the run-rule victory. From there, Brunson laced a double to left center, allowing Ricks time to complete her journey home for the eight-run victory. PSU 8, RUT 0
UP NEXT
Penn State softball will conclude its weekend series in Big Ten Conference competition against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights tomorrow, Saturday, April 5, with first pitch slated for 3 p.m. (ET) from Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field. The contest will stream live to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via B1G+ and the B1G+ app on connected devices. Fans are invited to follow along with the team’s social media channels and frequently check in on the Penn State softball schedule webpage at GoPSUsports.com for the most up-to-date information regarding the weekend’s finale from Happy Valley.
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.