UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Despite racking up five extra-base hits on the evening, the Penn State softball team ultimately dropped a back-and-forth affair to the Wisconsin Badgers by a 6-5 margin on home-opening night from Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field Friday.
Junior third baseman Brooke Klosowicz turned in another strong individual performance across the gritty home-opening contest, finishing with a 3-for-4 final line with a run scored, one RBI and a pair of extra-base hits coming from two doubles. The Johnsburg, Illinois, native matched her season-high in hits set against Virginia Tech on March 7, also meeting her career-high in that category for the eighth time. Klosowicz now boasts 13 multiple-hit outings across the 2026 campaign to date, with the third-year offensive star knocking a pair of doubles in a game for the second time this season and seventh time in her collegiate career.
Elsewhere in the batting order, junior second baseman Michela Barbanente logged her fifth multiple-hit outing of the 2026 season, finishing the day 2-for-3 with a two-run home run in the bottom of the third inning highlighting her day at the plate. Freshman shortstop Allison Oneacre crushed her first home run in Big Ten Conference play and left the yard for a team-high 11th time this season, finishing the day 1-for-3 with the two-run bomb to her credit. Penn State’s fifth and final extra-base knock of the contest came off the bat of freshman first baseman Gabby Gradishar, who booked a 1-for-3 line with a two-bagger in the bottom of the sixth.
The Blue & White utilized four different pitchers throughout the game, with freshman right-hander Mackenzie Duncan earning her fourth collegiate start in her 13th appearance. Junior righty McKenna Young led the way for Penn State in her relief effort, finishing the game with a pair of innings pitched with an earned run and a 3-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio highlighting her first appearance on Beard Field. Freshman southpaw Brevyn Kellepouris entered the game and threw a team-high 2.1 frames in her 17th collegiate outing, with sophomore right-hander Abigail Britton entering for the final frame. Britton was saddled with the bad-luck loss, dropping to 3-2 overall on the year. Behind the pitching staff, PSU played an error-free game for the 13th time, moving to 9-4 when doing so in 2026.
Despite Wisconsin notching a pair of hits in the top of the first inning, Penn State and Wisconsin battled through the first frame on Beard Field in 2026 with no score on the board. The Badgers lifted the lid with a pair of runs in the top of the second, but the Blue & White were able to answer back in a big way in the home half of the third. With a pair of strikeouts on the board, Lieto drew a pivotal hit-by-pitch, and Barbanente stepped into the box next. The third-year Nittany Lion worked a 1-1 count before clobbering the third Badger offering off the scoreboard in left field to make it a deadlocked 2-2 affair. Klosowicz kept the party rolling with a double that found the left-center gap, and Oneacre stepped up to the plate. The rookie Penn Stater worked a 2-2 count before dismantling the ball, crushing a two-run bomb over the scoreboard to put the Nittany Lions out in front.
Wisconsin pulled back within one in the top of the fourth and managed to deadlock the game in the top of the fifth, but Penn State pulled back in front in the home half of the inning. Junior left fielder Frankee Flesher led the home half of the fifth with a hit-by-pitch after fouling off four-straight Badger offerings. A strikeout put one away, but Barbanente legged out a well-placed infield single to put a pair of runners on the right side. A wild pitch saw both runners take 60 more feet, and an RBI single up the middle from Klosowicz saw the Blue & White re-take the lead. Wisconsin managed to tie the game in the top of the sixth, and utilized a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh to bring the game-winning run aboard and take the first game of the series by a 6-5 differential.
Following Friday night’s home-opening loss to the Badgers, Penn State dropped to 19-10 overall and 0-4 in Big Ten Conference opportunities, while Wisconsin improved to 15-10 on the year with a 1-3 B1G ledger in hand. Wisconsin inched closer to Penn State in the all-time series, with UW picking up its 28th win over PSU following the 60th contest since 1996. Penn State maintains a 32-28 edge in the series with two more opportunities remaining in Happy Valley this weekend.
TOP NITTANY LION PERFORMERS
Brooke Klosowicz | 3-for-4, R, RBI, 2 2B
Michela Barbanente | 2-for-3, R, 2 RBI, HR, BB
McKenna Young | 2.0IP, 4H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 3K, 10BF, 46TP
KEY INNINGS
T2 | Makenzie Foster drew a leadoff walk on seven pitches, but a fielder’s choice saw Jackie Showalter take over for Foster at first base with one out on the board. Kaylie Whidden drew a hit-by-pitch to put a pair of runners on the right side, but a strikeout put two away with the top of the order due up. Emily Bojan sent a single to center that brought Showalter aboard, and a hard single off the wall for Hilary Blomberg brought another run in with Whidden completing her journey home. WISC 2, PSU 0
B3 | With a pair of strikeouts on the board, Lieto drew a pivotal hit-by-pitch, and Barbanente stepped into the box next. The third-year Nittany Lion worked a 1-1 count before clobbering the third Badger offering off the scoreboard in left field to make it a deadlocked 2-2 affair. Klosowicz kept the party rolling with a double that found the left-center gap, and Oneacre stepped up to the plate. The rookie Penn Stater worked a 2-2 count before dismantling the ball, crushing a two-run bomb over the scoreboard to put the Nittany Lions out in front. PSU 4, WISC 2
T4 | Hannah Conger led the top of the fourth off with a single up the middle, but back-to-back strikeouts from Young saw a pair of outs flash on the board. Kendra Lewis stepped up to the plate next and worked a 2-1 count before sending a double to left-center to bring Conger in for a run. PSU 4, WISC 3
T5 | Danielle Lucey drew a leadoff walk, but the Badgers saw back-to-back batters return to the dugout via strikeouts. From there, Whidden sent a double to the right-center gap to bring Lucey aboard and tie the game. PSU 4, WISC 4
B5 | Flesher led the home half of the fifth with a hit-by-pitch after fouling off four-straight Badger offerings. A strikeout put one away, but Barbanente legged out a well-placed infield single to put a pair of runners on the right side. A wild pitch saw both runners take 60 more feet, and an RBI single up the middle from Klosowicz saw the Blue & White re-take the lead. PSU 5, WISC 4
T6 | PSU got the leadoff hitter out with a strikeout, but Blomberg managed to deadlock the game at 5-5 with a solo home run over the fence in left center. PSU 5, WISC 5
T7 | Lucey led the top of the seventh off with a single up the middle, and Foster drew a walk to make it runners on the right side with no outs on the board. Showalter executed a 5-4 sacrifice bunt to advance both Badgers, and Whidden lifted a sacrifice fly to center that put the Badgers up by one. WISC 6, PSU 5
UP NEXT
Penn State softball continues its Big Ten Conference home-opening weekend series against the Wisconsin Badgers this Saturday, March 21, as the teams get set for a 2 p.m. (ET) start in game two. The matchup from Nittany Lion Softball Park & Beard Field will stream live to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via B1G+ and the B1G+ app on connected devices.
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.
The 2026 Penn State softball season is presented by Highmark.