UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – In the final matchup between the Penn State and Saint Francis softball programs as NCAA Division I opponents, the Nittany Lions were able to record a 12-0 victory in five innings of competition on Tuesday night from Nittany Lion Softball Park & Beard Field powered by a 10-run second inning that featured a trio of PSU homers.
An in-state rivalry clash dating to the 1990 season came to a bittersweet end following the conclusion of Tuesday night’s contest in Happy Valley, as the Nittany Lions came away with a victory in the 50th and final all-time meeting. Penn State improved to 29-17 overall on the 2026 season, while SFU dropped to 4-37-1 on the year. The Nittany Lions recorded 41 wins in program history against the Red Flash, with SFU managing nine wins of their own during a storied run as one of the strongest northeastern softball programs throughout the late 2010s and early 2020s. Saint Francis’ Division I run will come to an end at the conclusion of the 2025-26 academic year, with the Red Flash softball program etching their place in college softball annals with seven Northeast Conference Tournament championships and seven NCAA Regional bids over a history that began in 1986.
Penn State’s non-conference finale was riddled with impressive individual performances on both sides of the ball, with the Nittany Lion offense stealing the show following a productive 12-run contest that included 10 hits, six of which that went for extra bases. The Nittany Lions were led by a pair of multi-hit performances from junior second baseman Michela Barbanente and junior outfielder Frankee Flesher. The Itasca, Illinois, native Barbanente set a career high in hits following a 3-for-3 outing that included two runs scored, three RBI, a home run and a stolen base. Flesher, a native of Chesterland, Ohio, matched her career high in hits with a 2-for-2 night at the dish, adding a career-best trio of runs scored in the process.
The Nittany Lions cranked four home runs in the game, with Barbanente launching her seventh of the 2026 campaign and 19th in her collegiate career. Sophomore outfielder Natalie Lieto joined Barbanente in the long-ball column, blasting her 11th of the season to rank third on the PSU roster behind freshman infielder Allison Oneacre, and junior infielder Brooke Klosowicz. Additional home runs came from graduate outfielder Cara Bohner and senior catcher Madison Seidel, who both recorded their first homers of the season while the Danville, Pennsylvania, native Bohner logged her first since transferring to Penn State this year. Klosowicz walloped her third triple of the season and fifth of her collegiate career against SFU, while Oneacre rounded out the six extra-base hits on the night with an RBI double in the bottom of the second.
PSU’s pitching staff recorded one of its most dominant outings of the 2026 season on Tuesday night, with a trio of right-handers working together to limit Saint Francis to an infield single and zero runs on the evening. Penn State recorded its seventh shutout of an opponent this year and first since blanking Maryland by a 2-0 margin in the series finale from Happy Valley on April 4. Junior Bridget Nemeth got things started with 2.0 innings of work, allowing zeroes in the hit, run and earned run columns while limiting SFU to a walk drawn and three strikeouts. Nemeth faced seven batters across her 35 pitches. Freshman Mackenzie Duncan was in her bag of tricks against SFU, throwing 2.0 frames with one hit, zero runs, a walk and five strikeouts to her credit across eight batters faced and 35 total tosses. Duncan, a native of Winter Garden, Florida, mustered her sixth win of her rookie season, rising to 6-1 individually while continuing to lead the Blue & White in strikeouts and opponent batting average allowed. Finally, sophomore Abigail Britton came in and closed things out, facing the minimum three batters and striking out a pair across her 17 offerings in the midweek clash.
A quiet first inning belied what would be a dominant offensive showing from the Nittany Lion bats. Nemeth and the defense worked together to keep Saint Francis off the board in the top halves of the first and second, paving way for the dam to break for Penn State. Barbanente stepped into the batter’s box and led the home half of the second off with a single up the middle, electing to steal second base during the next at-bat. Flesher laid down a pristine bunt single moments later to make it runners on the corners, stealing second shortly thereafter to make it a pair of runners in scoring position. Seidel executed a 1-4 sacrifice bunt that brought in the game’s first tally, and a Lieto homer to center in the next at-bat made it a three-run affair. Walters drew a walk just before the first out of the inning flashed on the board, with Walters swiping second during the ensuing AB. From there, Klosowicz smacked a triple to center field to bring another score aboard, and an RBI double from Oneacre followed next. Gradishar drew a walk just before Barbanente blasted a three-run opposite-field home run over the fence to put Penn State in run-rule territory. SFU executed a pitching change just before Flesher powered a single to left field, and Seidel clobbered a two-run blast to left-center to close out the scoring in a dominant 10-run frame for the Blue & White.
Another silent inning came and went in the third, and PSU rode a dominant half-inning from Duncan just before returning to work offensively in the bottom of the fourth. Barbanente led the bottom of the fourth off with a hit off the wall, but the Nittany Lion was thrown out at second base while trying to leg out a double. With one down, Flesher drew a walk on five pitches and advanced to second base on a wild pitch, ultimately trotting to third following a productive groundout. With two down and a runner on third, Bohner lifted the second pitch of her at bat over the wall in right field, recording her first home run as a Nittany Lion while putting the Blue & White ahead by a 12-run differential. Britton came in and worked a one-two-three inning, slamming the door on Tuesday night’s matchup with Penn State coming away with the strong 12-0 result.
TOP NITTANY LION PERFORMERS
Michela Barbanente | 3-for-3, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR, SB
Madison Seidel | 1-for-1, R, 3 RBI, HR, SH
Mackenzie Duncan | 2.0IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 5K, WIN
KEY INNINGS
B2 | Barbanente stepped into the batter’s box and led the home half of the second off with a single up the middle, electing to steal second base during the next at-bat. Flesher laid down a pristine bunt single moments later to make it runners on the corners, stealing second shortly thereafter to make it a pair of runners in scoring position. Seidel executed a 1-4 sacrifice bunt that brought in the game’s first tally, and a Lieto homer to center in the next at-bat made it a three-run affair. Walters drew a walk just before the first out of the inning flashed on the board, with Walters swiping second during the ensuing AB. From there, Klosowicz smacked a triple to center field to bring another score aboard, and an RBI double from Oneacre followed next. Gradishar drew a walk just before Barbanente blasted a three-run opposite-field home run over the fence to put Penn State in run-rule territory. SFU executed a pitching change just before Flesher powered a single to left field, and Seidel clobbered a two-run blast to left-center to close out the scoring in a dominant 10-run frame for the Blue & White. PSU 10, SFU 0
B4 | Barbanente led the bottom of the fourth off with a hit off the wall, but the Nittany Lion was thrown out at second base while trying to leg out a double. With one down, Flesher drew a walk on five pitches and advanced to second base on a wild pitch, ultimately trotting to third following a productive groundout. With two down and a runner on third, Bohner lifted the second pitch of her at bat over the wall in right field, recording her first home run as a Nittany Lion while putting the Blue & White ahead by a 12-run differential. PSU 12, SFU 0
UP NEXT
Penn State softball prepares for its penultimate week of Big Ten Conference competition this Friday through Sunday, April 24 through 26, as the Nittany Lions get set for a three-game series against the Illinois Fighting Illini from Eichelberger Field. Friday and Sunday’s matchups will begin at 6 p.m. and 1 p.m. (ET), respectively, and stream via B1G+, while Saturday’s 2 p.m. (ET) matchup will air to a national television audience via the Big Ten Network and FOX Sports App.
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.