PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Penn State softball utilized offensive versatility and clutch pitching to come away with a hard-fought 7-5 win over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Sunday afternoon, completing the series sweep of RU while remaining unbeaten against their challengers from the east in each of the last six games.
The Nittany Lions slammed the door on the Scarlet Knights and notched a series sweep against Rutgers for the second season in a row, mirroring last year’s performance from Nittany Lion Softball Park & Beard Field. Penn State improved to 23-11 overall and continues inching back to .500 in league play, now boasting a 4-5 measure against Big Ten Conference competition. In defeat, Rutgers falls to 17-18 overall and moves to 3-9 through the first 12 opportunities on their league ledger. PSU has now recorded wins in six consecutive tests against Rutgers and boasts a 7-2 overall record against RU in the last three regular season series.
Penn State’s offense was opportunistic in its opportunities across the series finale from New Jersey, with PSU matching its season high in walks drawn with 11. PSU took an identical number of bases on balls as they did in their week two performance against Lafayette on February 14, 2026, from Husky Field in Houston, Texas. The Blue & White logged six hits on the day coming off the bats of six different student-athletes, with PSU mustering a single extra-base hit in the form of a solo home run from freshman left fielder Breanna Hanik in the top of the seventh inning. The Oak Lawn, Illinois, native Hanik finished the day 1-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI on her fourth home run of the 2026 campaign.
Elsewhere in the Nittany Lion order, freshman shortstop Allison Oneacre published a 1-for-3 outing in the batter’s box with a pair of RBI on a single in the top of the second inning. Oneacre added a pair of walks in the game and published a clean game defensively with a putout and pair of assists to her credit. Freshman first baseman Gabby Gradishar mustered a multi-RBI effort with a 1-for-2 performance that included a pair of walks. Junior second baseman Michela Barbanente, sophomore center fielder Natalie Lieto and junior designated player Jordan George added hits, while Barbanente (two runs), junior third baseman Brooke Klosowicz, Lieto and freshman Kalli Karwowski all added their names to the run column.
In the circle, freshman southpaw Brevyn Kellepouris recorded the increasingly-rare start-and-save in her fifth start of the 2026 campaign. The Olathe, Kansas, native threw 2.1 innings with three hits and two earned runs allowed, surrendering three walks with a. strikeout across 13 batters faced and 64 total pitches. Kellepouris recorded her first save at the collegiate level and became just the second Nittany Lion to record a save in 2026, joining sophomore right-handed teammate Abigail Britton. The LaVale, Maryland, native Britton also appeared for a relief outing in Sunday’s getaway game, joining freshman righty Mackenzie Duncan and junior right-hander McKenna Young in the circle across all seven innings. Young earned credit for the win as Sunday’s most effective reliever, tossing 1.2 scoreless innings with a hit, zero walks and three strikeouts comprising her final line, improving to 8-2 following the individual result.
Penn State capitalized on multiple free passes in the top of the first inning to take an early 1-0 lead, but the Scarlet Knights were able to regroup and put a pair of scores on the board in the home half of the frame to make it a 2-1 affair. A two-RBI single from Oneacre saw the pendulum swing the other direction in the top of the second, and Penn State maintained control through the next few innings thanks to a productive visitor’s half of the third. Lieto drew a gritty leadoff walk for the Nittany Lions to open the third inning of play, seeing nine pitches before trotting to first. George recorded a single to place runners on the right side, and Karwowski entered to run for her at first base. Flesher executed a pristine 5-4 sacrifice bunt to advance the runners, but a strikeout put two outs on the board. From there, Gradishar continued her impressive weekend of performance by slotting a two-RBI single through the right side of the infield to give the Blue & White a three-run edge.
Rutgers replied with a tally in the bottom of the third to pull back within two, but an error by the Scarlet Knight right fielder in the top of the fourth saw another score flash on the board for PSU. Rutgers added a homer in the bottom half of the inning to keep things tight, and the squads exchanged scoreless innings over the next two frames to set up a dramatic seventh. As the game approached the three-hour mark, Hanik pulled her fourth home run of the 2026 campaign over the wall in left field to put an insurance run on the board for the Blue & White in the top of the seventh. Rutgers mustered a score in the home half and had the tying run in the batter’s box, but Kellepouris shut things down and closed the game out in 7-5 fashion.
TOP NITTANY LION PERFORMERS
Breanna Hanik | 1-for-4, 2 R, RBI, HR, BB
Allison Oneacre | 1-for-3, 2 RBI, 1B, 2 BB
McKenna Young | 1.2IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 3K, 6BF, 22TP, WIN
Brevyn Kellepouris | 2.1IP, 3H, 2R, 2ER, 3BB, 1K, 13BF, 64TP, START, SAVE
KEY INNINGS
T1 | Hanik drew a leadoff walk, and Barbanente reached via fielder’s choice that saw Rutgers commit an error attempting to get the lead runner out. With zero outs and runners on the right side, PSU attempted a double steal, but Hanik was thrown out at third base. A groundout put two away and left Barbanente on second, but back-to-back walks from Oneacre and Lieto juiced the bases. From there, George drew an RBI hit-by-pitch to plate Barbanente, unearned. PSU 1, RUT 0
B1 | Sam Rohwer drew a leadoff walk, and Riley Hwang hit into a fielder’s choice that saw Rohwer thrown out at second while Hwang held tight at first. Baileigh Burtis doubled to the left-center gap on a 1-0 count in the next at-bat, with Hwang able to race all the way around the basepath and beat the tag at home to tie the game. A groundout saw Burtis trot to third, and Addie Osborne placed an infield-single in a tough spot in the 5-6 hole to bring Burtis aboard. RUT 2, PSU 1
T2 | With one out on the scoreboard, Gradishar drew a walk on five pitches but was thrown out on a fielder’s choice that saw Hanik reach first safely. A single through the left side from Barbanente and four-pitch walk from Klosowicz loaded the bases, and a two-RBI single up the middle from Oneacre plated a pair of Nittany Lions, culminating in a one-run lead through one and a half. PSU 3, RUT 2
T3 | Lieto drew a gritty leadoff walk for the Nittany Lions to open the third inning of play, seeing nine pitches before trotting to first. George recorded a single to place runners on the right side, and Karwowski entered to run for her at first base. Flesher executed a pristine 5-4 sacrifice bunt to advance the runners, but a strikeout put two outs on the board. From there, Gradishar continued her impressive weekend of performance by slotting a two-RBI single through the right side of the infield to give the Blue & White a three-run edge. PSU 5, RUT 2
B3 | Stephanie Kraska booked a leadoff single to left on a 1-1 count, and Jayla Fuller entered the game to pinch run for her at first. Fuller stole second during a strikeout that put one away, and a productive grounder moved her to third while two outs were put on the board. Fuller proceeded to score on a Nittany Lion wild pitch during the next at-bat to make it a two-run affair. PSU 5, RUT 3
T4 | Following a slew of Rutgers defensive changes, Barbanente drew a leadoff walk on five pitches, but was put out on a fielder’s choice that saw Klosowicz take over at first. Oneacre drew a walk to put runners on the right side, and a foul-out down the right field line saw both Nittany Lion runners tag up. An errant throw from the Scarlet Knight right fielder allowed Klosowicz requisite time to complete her journey home to put PSU ahead by three. PSU 6, RUT 3
B4 | With a strikeout on the board, Charleigh Schuettler sent the first pitch of her at-bat over the fence in center for a solo homer. PSU 6, RUT 4
T7 | After working a 2-2 count, Hanik pulled her fourth home run of the 2026 campaign over the wall in left field to put an insurance run on the board for the Blue & White. PSU 7, RUT 4
B7 | Burtis led the home half of the seventh off with a single through the right side of the infield, and Hailey Stripling entered to run for her at first. Kraska reached on a fielder’s choice that saw Stripling thrown out at second, and Eva Garofalo entered to run at first base. From there, Osborne lifted a double to the outfield to bring Garofalo around but was ultimately caught in a run down and put out on the play between second and third. PSU 7, RUT 5
UP NEXT
Penn State softball returns to non-conference competition with a midweek matchup against the in-state rival Pittsburgh Panthers on Tuesday, March 31, with a 6 p.m. (ET) start scheduled from Vartabedian Field. The game will serve as Penn State’s national television debut, with the contest slated for the airwaves via the ACC Network and ESPN 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.