UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State softball dropped its home-opening weekend series finale to the Wisconsin Badgers, 7-4, on Sunday afternoon from Nittany Lion Softball Park & Beard Field.
Penn State saw a quintet of student-athletes rack up five hits across the contest, with junior third baseman Brooke Klosowicz leading the way offensively with her third collegiate triple and first of the 2026 campaign. The Johnsburg, Illinois, native finished the day 1-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI on the three-bagger. Graduate right fielder Cara Bohner added an unblemished day at the plate, logging an RBI single in her only opportunity to finish the day 1-for-1 while racking up her sixth run batted in on the year. Elsewhere in the lineup, freshman left fielder Breanna Hanik, freshman shortstop Allison Oneacre and sophomore center fielder Natalie Lieto rounded out the quintet of Penn Staters on the box score with one hit apiece.
In the circle, Penn State saw sophomore right-handed pitcher Abigail Britton earn her sixth start of the 2026 campaign in her 17th appearance on the year. The LaVale, Maryland, native finished the day with 4.1 innings pitched, scattering four hits with two earned runs allowed, adding five strikeouts against zero walks in the contest. Junior right-handed pitcher Bridget Nemeth entered and tossed 1.2 innings, being saddled with the loss to drop to 3-4 overall on the year. Freshman southpaw Brevyn Kellepouris entered for the final 1.0 and finished the game out for Penn State.
A quiet first inning passed before Wisconsin took its first lead of the game in the top of the second inning. Kendra Lewis led off the top of the second inning for the Badgers and sent a first-pitch single to right field. Emma King entered to run for Lewis at first base and proceeded to steal second, ultimately reaching third on a throwing error during the ensuing at-bat. A foul-out and strikeout put two away, but a single to left from Kaylie Whidden brought the opening run of the game aboard. Neither team managed a reply over the next three innings, but Wisconsin was able to double its advantage to 2-0 through four and a half following a solo home run from Jackie Showalter.
In the bottom of the fifth, Penn State attempted a comeback and ultimately took the lead with a productive four-run home half. Gradishar drew a leadoff walk, and Nemeth was hit by a Badger offering to make it runners on the right side for PSU. Barbanente laid down a sacrifice bunt that Wisconsin erroneously fielded down the first base line, seeing Gradishar come all the way around with two Nittany Lions on the left side of the infield. A grounder put one out on the board, but Klosowicz was able to lift a bases-clearing triple to right field that gave PSU the lead. A popup put two away, but an RBI single from Bohner down the first base line brought Klosowicz in for the unearned tally. Wisconsin was able to claw back with a run in the top of the sixth and managed to tack on four more in the top of the seventh to take Sunday’s finale by a 7-4 margin.
Penn State fell to 20-11 overall and 1-5 in Big Ten Conference competitions following the result, while Wisconsin improved to 16-11 overall and 2-4 in league play through six opportunities. In the all-time series, Wisconsin picked up its 29th win in the 62nd meeting, with the Nittany Lions still maintaining a 33-29 edge. The Blue & White will look to return to the win column next weekend, March 27-29, as Penn State travels to the state of New Jersey for a B1G weekend series against Rutgers.
TOP NITTANY LION PERFORMERS
Brooke Klosowicz | 1-for-4, R, 2 RBI, 3B
Cara Bohner | 1-for-1, RBI, 1B
Abigail Britton | 4.1IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER, 0BB, 5K, 18BF, 76TP
KEY INNINGS
T2 | Kendra Lewis led off the top of the second inning for the Badgers and sent a first-pitch single to right field. Emma King entered to run for Lewis at first base and proceeded to steal second, ultimately reaching third on a throwing error during the ensuing at-bat. A foul-out and strikeout put two away, but a single to left from Kaylie Whidden brought the opening run of the game aboard. WISC 1, PSU 0
T5 | With one away, Jackie Showalter took the first pitch of her at-bat for a ball and hit the second one over the fence to double Wisconsin’s lead. WISC 2, PSU 0
B5 | Gradishar drew a leadoff walk, and Nemeth was hit by a Badger offering to make it runners on the right side for PSU. Barbanente laid down a sacrifice bunt that Wisconsin erroneously fielded down the first base line, seeing Gradishar come all the way around with two Nittany Lions on the left side of the infield. A grounder put one out on the board, but Klosowicz was able to lift a bases-clearing triple to right field that gave PSU the lead. A popup put two away, but an RBI single from Bohner down the first base line brought Klosowicz in for the unearned tally. PSU 4, WISC 2
T6 | With one down, Alivia Bark drew a walk and advanced to second following an executed sacrifice bunt. From there, Whidden sent a single to left center to bring Bark in. PSU 4, WISC 3
T7 | Showalter drew a leadoff walk, and Sydney Spear pinch ran for her at first. Hannah Conger registered an infield hit to place runners on the right side, and a single to center from Bojan with an ensuing advancement error saw a run cross with runners left on the left side. PSU intentionally walked Hilary Blomberg, and a popout put one away, but a fielder’s choice RBI from Lewis brought another score across. From there, Bark sent a two-RBI double to right to make it a three-run game. WISC 7, PSU 4
UP NEXT
Penn State softball hits the road in Big Ten play for the second time next Friday through Sunday, March 27 through 29, as the Nittany Lions gear up for a three-game weekend series against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Games are set to begin at 6 p.m., 3 p.m. and 1 p.m. (ET) over the three respective days, with all three matchups from the Rutgers Softball Complex slated to 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.