WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Aided by early home runs from sophomore second baseman Michela Barbanente and fifth-year first baseman Meagan Ricks, the 11th-seeded Penn State softball team mustered a 6-2 upset of the sixth-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes on Wednesday afternoon in the opening round of the 2025 Big Ten Conference Softball Tournament from Bittinger Stadium on the campus of Purdue University.
The Blue & White kicked off their 18th appearance in the Big Ten Tournament in style on Wednesday, mustering the program’s 16th all-time victory in the league’s postseason event while rising to 16-21 all-time. PSU secured its first Big Ten Tournament opening-round win since the 2023 campaign, picking up the team’s third opening-round victory in the last four years under the direction of head coach Clarisa Crowell. Penn State will look to match the program’s best-ever finish in the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday, with the Nittany Lions hunting for just their third all-time appearance in the conference semifinals should they advance past third-seeded Nebraska.
Penn State submitted arguably its most complete all-around performance of the 2025 campaign in the program’s 51st contest of the season, with the Nittany Lions improving to 25-26 overall following Wednesday’s result in West Lafayette. In defeat, Iowa drops to 35-18 overall and awaits their fate in the NCAA Tournament following Sunday evening’s selection show on ESPN. The Blue & White squared off against the Hawkeyes for the 71st time since the two teams initially met in 1992, as well as the fourth meeting of the two programs this season following an Iowa series sweep at home earlier this year. PSU avenged the series sweep and improved to 22-49 against Iowa since first battling the Hawkeyes 33 years ago.
The record-shattering Nittany Lion offense continued its run against all opposition on Wednesday, turning in a 12-hit performance that included five extra-base knocks split between two doubles, a triple and a pair of home runs. Penn State’s pair of doubles on Wednesday brought the team’s season total to 91, needing just one more double to tie and two to surpass the single-season program record of 92 set during last year’s NCAA Tournament run. Four different student-athletes managed multi-hit outings, with eight Penn State players finishing the contest with at least one hit across all seven innings.
Barbanente led the way in the batter’s box for PSU in its most consequential matchup of the 2025 campaign to date, finishing with a 2-for-4 final line that included a run, a game-high trio of RBI, a triple and a home run. The Itasca, Illinois, native recorded the first triple of her collegiate career against the Hawkeyes and cranked the eighth homer of her sophomore season in the opening-round upset. Ricks went 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and an RBI on her solo shot in the top of the third, while sophomore designated player Brooke Klosowicz published a 2-for-4 outing that included a run scored, two RBI and her 23rd double of 2025. Junior catcher Madison Seidel rounded out the multi-hit performances for PSU on the day, going 2-for-4 while anchoring the Penn State defense behind the plate. Senior right fielder Haylie Brunson, senior third baseman Maddie Gordon, freshman left fielder Natalie Lieto and sophomore shortstop Kaylie Walters each added hits of their own to round out the dozen knocks for PSU on the day.
In the pitcher’s circle, Penn State called on senior right-hander Mady Volpe to represent her home state in the circle in the opening round of the conference tournament. The Lansdale, Pennsylvania, native performed valiantly, going 3.2 innings with a pair of hits scattered and a single earned run against her over 78 total pitches. Volpe finished the day with five strikeouts, earning the victory in the official scorer’s estimation to improve to 10-15 overall in her final year of college softball. In relief, rookie right-hander Abigail Britton worked for 3.1 innings and allowed a single earned Hawkeye run during her time in the circle. Defensively, the Blue & White remained steadfast and played an error-free game filled with multiple highlight-reel plays. PSU mustered its 20th error-free game of the year, improving to 10-10 when doing so this season.
Both pitching staffs got out to an impressive start in the earliest moments of the 2025 Big Ten Tournament, with Iowa starter Jalen Adams forcing a one-two-three inning followed by a hitless half-inning from the Hawkeyes in the home half of the first. In the top of the second, Gordon worked the count full and ultimately drew a leadoff walk for the Blue & White, setting the table for Barbanente to enter the box moments later. Barbanente saw a 1-2 count flash onto the board, and promptly lifted the next offering over the fence in center field just beyond the Hawkeye outfielder’s glove to give Penn State an early two-run lead. PSU held strong defensively in the home half, and with one out on the scoreboard in the top of the third, Ricks pulled a solo shot over the fence in right field to mark the third Nittany Lion run of the day in as many innings.
Volpe’s impressive individual effort carried over into the bottom of the third, with the veteran striking out a pair and forcing a flyout to keep the shutout intact through three frames. PSU was held at bay offensively in the fourth, and Iowa was able to scratch a run across with an RBI double that made it a 3-1 Nittany Lion lead through four. Hunting for a reply to Iowa’s inaugural run of the contest, Walters smacked the first pitch of her at-bat into left field, where the ball took an unnatural hop that ultimately culminated in a Nittany Lion leadoff double. Ricks was able to reach first on a fielder’s choice to the Hawkeye shortstop, while the throw to third intended to put out Walters was unsuccessful. A popup put an out on the board, but Klosowicz was able to send a single to left field along the third base line to propel both Walters and Ricks all the way back home. An Iowa pitching change preceded a productive grounder that moved Klosowicz over to second base, and an RBI triple to left that skirted past the Iowa outfielder ultimately saw Klosowicz complete her journey home.
Iowa refused to go away quietly, with the Hawkeyes forcing multiple dangerous scoring chances over the final three innings that were masterfully corralled by the Penn State pitching staff and defensive unit. The Hawkeyes managed their final tally in the bottom of the fifth, closing the book on Wednesday afternoon’s scoring while leaving plenty of room for drama over the final two frames. The Nittany Lions were faced with a runner on first and one away, but an expert defensive play from Walters saw a Hawkeye pinch hitter line out into a double play, 6-3. PSU left a trio of runners stranded in the top of the seventh after back-to-back-to-back hits from Brunson, Klosowicz and Gordon, but the Blue & White were able to lock the game down and secure the final three outs to publish a 6-2 victory and advance to the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals for the first time in two years.
TOP NITTANY LION PERFORMERS
Michela Barbanente | 2-for-4, R, 3 RBI, 3B, HR
Brooke Klosowicz | 2-for-4, R, 2 RBI, 2B
Meagan Ricks | 2-for-4, 2 R, RBI, HR, SB
Mady Volpe | 3.2 IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER, 4BB, 5K, 78TP, WIN
Abigail Britton | 3.1 IP, 3H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 0K, 74TP
KEY INNINGS
T2 | Gordon worked the count full and ultimately drew a leadoff walk for the Blue & White in the top half of the second inning, setting the table for Barbanente to enter the box moments later. Barbanente saw a 1-2 count, and promptly lifted the next offering over the fence in center field just beyond the Hawkeye outfielder’s glove to give Penn State an early two-run lead. PSU 2, IOWA 0
T3 | With one out on the scoreboard, the lefty-batting Ricks pulled a solo shot over the fence in right field to mark the third Nittany Lion run of the day. PSU 3, IOWA 0
B4 | Iowa slugger Soo-Jin Berry drew a leadoff walk for the Hawkeyes and promptly took 60 more feet following a wild Penn State pitch. A fly ball put an out on the scoreboard, but a double to left center by Devin Simon helped Berry complete her journey home to get the Hawkeyes on the board. PSU 3, IOWA 1
T5 | Hunting for a reply to Iowa’s inaugural run of the contest, Walters smacked the first pitch of her at-bat into left field, where the ball took an unnatural hop that ultimately culminated in a Nittany Lion leadoff double. Ricks was able to reach first on a fielder’s choice to the Hawkeye shortstop, while the throw to third intended to put out Walters was unsuccessful. A popup put an out on the board, but Klosowicz was able to send a single to left field along the third base line to propel both Walters and Ricks all the way back home. An Iowa pitching change preceded a productive grounder that moved Klosowicz over to second base, and an RBI triple to left that skirted past the Iowa outfielder ultimately saw Klosowicz complete her journey home. PSU 6, IOWA 1
B5 | With an out on the scoreboard, Desiree Rivera sent a double into the left-center gap, with Arlette Caravaca entering to pinch run for her at second base. From there, Berry sent an RBI single to right field to mark the final run of the ballgame. PSU 6, IOWA 2
UP NEXT
Eleventh-seeded Penn State softball continues its stay in West Lafayette, Indiana, and advances to the quarterfinals of the 2025 Big Ten Conference Softball Tournament on Thursday, May 8, as the Nittany Lions battle the third-seeded Nebraska Cornhuskers from Bittinger Stadium on the campus of Purdue University. The contest is slated to begin at 11 a.m. (ET), with action set to be televised to a national audience via the Big Ten Network and FOX Sports App on connected devices. Visit the Penn State softball schedule webpage to view live stat links or visit the Big Ten Conference Tournament Central webpage at BigTen.org for the most up-to-date information.
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