COLUMBUS, Ohio – Penn State softball dropped its Big Ten Conference series finale to the Ohio State Buckeyes by a 9-0 margin in five innings of play on Sunday afternoon from Buckeye Field.
Offensively, the Nittany Lions recorded a pair of hits and drew two walks in the contest, headlined by one extra-base hit. Freshman third baseman Allison Oneacre registered a double in the top of the first inning, finishing the day 1-for-2 at the plate. Junior shortstop Kaylie Walters made her return to the batter’s box on Sunday following a bout with injury, recording a slap single in her first at-bat since her return to play. Walters finished the game 1-for-2 offensively. Freshman left fielder Breanna Hanik, as well as sophomore center fielder Natalie Lieto both drew bases on balls in the contest to round out PSU’s portion of the box score.
In the circle, Penn State called on a trio of student-athletes to work through the weekend series finale, with sophomore right-hander Abigail Britton earning the start. The LaVale, Maryland, native tossed the opening inning, recording her 26th appearance of the year in addition to her 10th start of the 2026 campaign. Britton was saddled with the loss following Sunday’s result, moving to 4-5 individually this season. Rookie southpaw Brevyn Kellepouris entered and tossed an inning of relief, with junior right-hander McKenna Young going the remaining 2.0 frames.
Oneacre got the day started in Columbus, as the rookie tattooed a one-out double to center field. Unfortunately, the Blue & White were unable to bring her aboard, allowing the Buckeye bats to head to the box in the home half. Ohio State got the game’s scoring started with a pair of tallies in the first inning, adding four more in the bottom of the second to take a 6-0 advantage in the early going. Penn State threatened in the top of the third inning, with Lieto drawing a walk and Walters mustering her first single since returning from injury in the next at-bat. A walk drawn by Hanik loaded the bases, but PSU was ultimately unable to close the inning out with a tally following an inning-ending double play. Ohio State tacked on three more runs in the third to close the scoring out in the 9-0, five-inning result.
Following Sunday’s result, the Nittany Lions dropped to 28-17 overall and fell to 8-10 in Big Ten Conference competitions with six league games remaining on the 2026 calendar. Ohio State improved to 23-22 overall and 10-8 in Big Ten matchups through this point in the year. In the all-time series between the two programs, Ohio State picked up its 68th win in the 105th contest since the teams first met in Columbus back in 1975. Penn State closes its non-conference schedule against Saint Francis on Tuesday, while Ohio State remains at Buckeye Field for a midweek matchup with the Akron Zips.
TOP NITTANY LION PERFORMERS
Allison Oneacre | 1-for-2, 2B
Kaylie Walters | 1-for-2, 1B
KEY INNINGS
B1 | Hadley Parisien drew a leadoff walk on four pitches, but back-to-back Buckeyes flew out in the ensuing at-bats. From there, Sami Bewick cent an RBI double to right-center that brought Parisien around, and Kiki Estrada followed suit with an RBI double down the right field line to make it a two-run ballgame early on. OSU 2, PSU 0
B2 | Lottie Landmesser led off the bottom of the second with a solo home run over the fence in left field. Izzy Neal kept things rolling in the next at-bat, registering a single to right field in a 2-0 count. Following a PSU pitching change, Neal stole second and ultimately reached second after advancing via a 2-3 dropped third strike putout. A triple to right-center from Parisien brought Neal home, but a strikeout put a second out on the scoreboard. Taylor Cruse stepped up next and sent a two-run homer over the wall in left-center to make it a six-run game. OSU 6, PSU 0
B3 | Estrada led the home half of the third off with a solo shot, and Reese Cullen responded to a PSU pitching change with a single off the wall in left field. From there, Landmesser lifted the first pitch of her at-bat off the scoreboard in right-center for her second home run of the game. OSU 9, PSU 0
UP NEXT
Penn State softball gets set for its final non-conference game of the 2026 regular season next Tuesday, April 21, as the Nittany Lions welcome the in-state rival Saint Francis Red Flash to Nittany Lion Softball Park & Beard Field for the final time as Division I opponents. First pitch on Penn State’s Faculty & Staff Appreciation Night is slated for 6 p.m. (ET), with the game set 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.