COLUMBUS, Ohio – Penn State softball was one out away from taking the opening game of a three-game series with the Ohio State Buckeyes but were ultimately unable to halt the home side in a heartbreaking 4-3 result on Friday evening from Buckeye Field.
Junior right fielder Frankee Flesher was a bright spot on the evening for PSU, turning in her second collegiate multiple-hit performance in addition to booking her first effort of that nature since finishing with a pair of knocks against Rutgers on March 27. Flesher, a native of Chesterland, Ohio, made her return to her home state and finished the night 2-for-3 with an RBI and walk drawn. Elsewhere in the order Penn State saw singles come off the bats of freshman infielder Allison Oneacre and senior catcher Madison Seidel. Multiple free passes helped the Nittany Lions jump out to an early edge, with all three RBI in the game coming from either walk or hit-by-pitch, with sophomore center fielder Natalie Lieto and Seidel joining Flesher with one RBI apiece.
In the circle, junior right-hander McKenna Young earned the start and turned in one of her most productive outings of the 2026 campaign. The Brodhead, Wisconsin, native finished the night with 4.0 innings pitched, scattering a pair of hits and allowing a lone earned run with one walk and three strikeouts to her credit across 62 total pitches and 16 batters faced. Freshman lefty Brevyn Kellepouris entered the game and threw 0.2 innings, with sophomore right-hander Abigail Britton going the remaining 2.0 innings. Britton was saddled with the loss as Penn State’s pitcher of record in the contest, moving to 4-4 this season individually.
The Nittany Lions got out to a strong start in the top of the first inning, with Penn State mustering a trio of tallies in the first half-frame. With one away, Oneacre reached first base via an errant throw from the Buckeye third baseman. Klosowicz drew a walk on five pitches, and Gradishar managed to load the bases after Ohio State’s defensive woes continued with another throwing error. From there, Lieto drew an RBI hit-by-pitch to bring the first run of the game across. Another strikeout put one down, but back-to-back bases-loaded walks from Seidel and Flesher brought two more aboard. The Buckeyes began to chip away with a run scored in the bottom of the third and followed that up in the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run. Both squads continued to battle into the late innings, but Ohio State was ultimately able to come away with the 4-3 win in heartbreaking walk-off fashion with a two-RBI single in the bottom of the seventh.
With the result in hand, Penn State dropped to 27-16 overall and moved to 7-9 in Big Ten Conference competitions while Ohio State improved to 22-11 and 9-7 in league play. In an all-time series dating to the 1975 season, the Buckeyes improved to 67-36 through the 103rd meeting. The teams will resume competition with the second game of the three-game weekend series this Saturday at 2 p.m. (ET) from Columbus.
TOP NITTANY LION PERFORMERS
Frankee Flesher | 2-for-3, 2 1B, RBI, BB
Allison Oneacre | 1-for-3, 1B, R, BB
McKenna Young | 4.0IP, 2H, 2R, 1ER, 1BB, 3K, 16BF, 62TP
KEY INNINGS
T1 | With one away, Oneacre reached first base via an errant throw from the Buckeye third baseman. Klosowicz drew a walk on five pitches, and Gradishar managed to load the bases after Ohio State’s defensive woes continued with another throwing error. From there, Lieto drew an RBI hit-by-pitch to bring the first run of the game across. Another strikeout put one down, but back-to-back bases-loaded walks from Seidel and Flesher brought two more aboard. PSU 3, OSU 0
B3 | Ohio State saw the leadoff batter in Lottie Landmesser reach via a fielding error, but a fielder’s choice to the PSU pitcher saw an out pop on the board with Izzy Neal taking over at first base. Skylar Limon drew a four-pitch walk to put runners on the right side just before a Buckeye struck out swinging, but a first-pitch single off the wall in center from Abbie Wilhelm brought Ohio State’s first score to home plate. PSU 3, OSU 1
B4 | After working a 1-1 count, Taylor Cruse sent a solo home run over the fence in left-center to cut into the Nittany Lion advantage. PSU 3, OSU 2
B7 | A strikeout gave the Nittany Lions some early momentum in the bottom of the seventh inning, but a walk from Neal sparked life for the Buckeye bats. Skylar Limon laced an opposite-field double off the wall in left-center, placing a pair of Buckeyes in scoring position. Hadley Parisien struck out, and an intentional walk loaded the bases while depriving OSU of one of its strongest power hitters. Bewick stepped up to the plate and sent a single to left, allowing time for both Buckeyes in scoring position to come aboard and finish out the 4-3 result in heartbreaking fashion. OSU 4, PSU 3
UP NEXT
Penn State softball continues its three-game Big Ten Conference weekend series against the Ohio State Buckeyes this Saturday, April 18, as the teams prepare for a 2 p.m. (ET) start from Buckeye Field. The game 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.