Penn State to Battle Maryland in Adjusted B1G Series
Nittany Lions return to Beard Field, face Terrapins at 2 p.m. on Friday before Saturday twin-bill beginning at 11 a.m. (ET)
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State softball returns to Nittany Lion Softball Park & Beard Field for its second Big Ten Conference weekend series in Happy Valley against the Maryland Terrapins this Friday and Saturday, April 3 and 4. PSU was originally scheduled to play a three-day series against the Terrapins, but forecasted inclement weather has adjusted the series to begin at 2 p.m. (ET) on Friday, with an 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. (ET) doubleheader scheduled for Saturday. All three games of the weekend series will stream live to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via B1G+ and the B1G+ app on connected devices.
ADMISSION AND PARKING
General admission seating is free for all Penn State softball home games at Nittany Lion Softball Park & Beard Field. Parking for all games in the 2026 Penn State softball season is now available online or via the ParkWhiz app, with fans encouraged to prepay for parking to avoid additional fees on game days. Click the link here to be directed to the parking hub for Nittany Lion Softball Park & Beard Field and select either a full season pass or single-game parking pass at the purchaser’s discretion. Parking is available in the Stadium West, Jordan East or Porter North lots at a rate of $5.50 per game, or $5 per game when purchasing a full season pass. Day-of event parking will be $10 without a valid permit or prepayment, with fans encouraged to pay at payment stations around the lot, or via the HONK app. Prepayment availability ends at 11:59 p.m. (ET) the night before each scheduled game day. Events will not be selectable on the site after that time, and payment must then be made on site upon arrival.
Follow the Action
Penn State’s Big Ten Conference weekend series against the Maryland Terrapins will stream live to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via B1G+ and the B1G+ app on connected devices. Links to view Penn State’s contests against Maryland live, or watch replays of past PSU games at home or on the road in Big Ten Conference play are always available at BigTenPlus.com. Live stat links are available for all games on the Penn State softball schedule webpage or via the team’s StatBroadcast central hub at the link here.
QUICK HITS
Penn State returns to work following a non-conference midweek matchup against the Pittsburgh Panthers on the road in the Steel City last Tuesday, March 31, with the in-state rival Pitt evening the season series to 1-1 following an 8-7 result at Vartabedian Field. Prior to the midweek contest, PSU notched a three-game Big Ten series sweep against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on the road in Piscataway, toppling RU by an 8-0 margin in the opener before registering 7-6 and 7-5 wins in games two and three. The Blue & White have played 32 of their first 35 games away from Happy Valley and will appear on their home field for just the second weekend in the 2026 campaign against UMD. The Nittany Lions picked up national acclaim this Tuesday and Wednesday, March 31 and April 1, with a pair of Penn Staters garnering individual midseason player rankings from Softball America. Junior third baseman Brooke Klosowicz picked up the No. 10 individual ranking at her position according to SA, earning those accolades on Tuesday following a dominant start to the season at the dish. Klosowicz leads the Nittany Lions in batting average through this point in the year with a .378 clip and stands as one of the best hitters in PSU history with a career-long .379 average to rank first in PSU program history in a career. Freshman shortstop Allison Oneacre, meanwhile, landed the No. 5 ranking at her position after matching the PSU freshman single-season home run record with 13, adding 46 RBI to stand just seven spots behind the single-season RBI record of 53 set by Klosowicz last year.
APRIL FLOWERS
Softball America released its midseason individual player position rankings the week of March 30, with Penn State seeing a pair of student-athletes pick up selections. Freshman infielder Allison Oneacre headlined the duo by being named the No. 5 shortstop in all of college softball, earning those accolades after transitioning to the starting shortstop role due to injuries elsewhere on the Penn State roster. Oneacre opened the year at third base, reaching the No. 1 ranking at that position back in March. Junior utility Brooke Klosowicz landed the No. 10 ranking at the third base position. Penn State’s junior corner infielder boasts top-20 marks in the Big Ten Conference in total hits, home runs, home runs per game, runs batted in, RBI per game, slugging percentage and total bases. She has also made a considerable mark in the Nittany Lion record book through this point in her collegiate career, with the third-year sensation owning the best career batting average in Penn State program history with a .381 mark. She also stands inside the top 10 in PSU history in doubles with 33 and ranks seventh in school annals with 24 collegiate home runs.
Maryland at Penn State
Record | 13-20 | 1-11 B1G
Record | 23-12 | 4-5 B1G
Introducing Maryland
ABOUT THE TERRAPINS
Under the direction of third-year head coach Lauren Karn, the Maryland Terrapins enter this weekend’s series in Happy Valley working with a 13-20 overall record coupled with a 1-11 start to Big Ten Conference competitions. The Terrapins are 1-9 in their last 10 games and are seeking their first Big Ten series victory through this point in the year. Maryland opened the year hovering around .500 for the first few weeks, going 2-3 at the Black & Gold Classic hosted by UCF before registering a solid 3-2 weekend at the Purple-Gold Classic in Greenville, North Carolina. Strong outings at the team’s home tournament against Syracuse, Providence, Fairfield and UMBC preceded the start of B1G competition, in which Maryland has mustered one league win against Rutgers on March 7. Offensively, veteran contributor Sammi Woods has led the way for the majority of the season, hitting to the tune of a .392 batting average with 11 RBI to her credit. Mariah Penta boasts a .378 average overall, and Anna McGowan has impressed with her power hitting, blasting eight homers with a team-high 28 RBI over the course of the 2026 campaign in College Park. In the circle, Maryland is anchored by the return of veteran pitcher Keira Bucher, who boasts a team-leading 2.92 ERA as one of four regular contributors for the Terrapin pitching staff. Elisea Wiegand, Caitlin Olensky and Aubrey Wurst each boast at least 42.0 innings pitched this season to round out a relatively balanced group.
STORY OF THE SERIES
In an all-time series dating to the 1999 campaign, Penn State and Maryland get set for the 45th, 46th and 47th meetings this weekend in University Park. Penn State maintains a strong 27-17 differential in the series, highlighted by seven wins in the last 10 opportunities. The last three series have each gone the Nittany Lions’ way, with PSU registering 2-1 victories in 2023 and 2024 in addition to a strong series sweep on the road a year ago. The Nittany Lions and Terrapins have competed in every season since Maryland joined the Big Ten Conference in 2015, with the squads set to battle one another in University Park for the 15th, 16th, and 17th times over that span. Penn State last faced off against Maryland in a home series from Nittany Lion Softball Park & Beard Field during the 2024 NCAA Regional campaign, with the Nittany Lions taking the series by a 2-1 margin. The squads went on to face off yet again in the B1G Tournament that year, with UMD winning via upset fashion in nine innings. Last season, Penn State and Maryland faced off in a heavily-offensive three-game Big Ten Conference weekend series from Maryland Softball Stadium in College Park, with the Blue & White mustering a three-game series sweep of the Terps. PSU played its longest regulation game of the regular season last year in College Park, going three hours and 45 minutes in a 14-12 donnybrook to take the series on Saturday, April 26.
Maryland at Penn State
Record | 13-20 | 1-11 B1G
Record | 23-12 | 4-5 B1G
Maryland at Penn State
Record | 13-20 | 1-11 B1G
Record | 23-12 | 4-5 B1G
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.