2024 • FRESHMAN SEASON
Season: Was a consistent contributor to the Nittany Lion lineup at the plate, in the field and on the basepath, making 48 appearances with 33 starts in her inaugural season at PSU… Tallied 22 hits, including eight for extra bases split between four doubles and four home runs… Drove in 10 RBI and scored 18 runs on the year… Recorded five stolen bases, the fourth-most on the team… Was one of five Nittany Lions with a 1.000 fielding percentage, logging 55 putouts with one assist.
vs. Marshall (2/9): Made her collegiate debut as a pinch runner, recording a stolen base on her first-ever attempt. vs. Ohio (2/10): Logged her first collegiate hit, extra-base hit and RBI in one swing in PSU’s third-straight win on opening weekend. vs. Penn (2/25): Mustered her first multi-hit outing, going 2-for-4 with an RBI. Indiana (3/24): Cranked her first career home run against the Hoosiers, marking her first hit against a Big Ten Conference opponent. Maryland (3/30): Set a season-high in the field with six putouts. at Ohio State (4/16): Secured her first collegiate outfield assist throwing out a potential game-winning runner in the bottom of the seventh. at Rutgers (5/4): Matched the Nittany Lion single-game home run record with a pair of long balls in the regular season finale. NCAA Regional vs. UAlbany (5/18): Launched an opposite-field home run off the right field foul pole, a two-run blast that gave PSU an early lead in its NCAA Tournament elimination game.
HIGH SCHOOL
Attended Lake Park High School in Roselle, Illinois… Garnered a trio of All-State selections in addition to three placements on the All-Conference team... Named the Daily Herald All-Area Player of the Year and All-Area Team Captain in the 2022 and 2023 seasons in addition to landing Daily Herald All-Area Team laurels in each season from 2021 to 2023... Landed DuKane Conference Player of the Year distinction in back-to-back years (2022, 2023)... Finished as runner-up for the DuKane Conference Player of the Year award in 2021... Was a two-time All-Conference and All-State performer in basketball as well as a three-time all-conference selection in volleyball during her high school career... Played club softball with Beverly Bandits under the direction of coaches Bill Conroy, Mike Johnson, Cray Allen and Rex Mack… Brought home an Easton Rawlings Championship title in 2022, an IDT Championship in 2022 in addition to finishing as Premier Girls Fastpitch (PGF) National Runner-Up in back-to-back seasons in 2022 and 2023.
PERSONAL
A native of Itasca, Illinois, Michela is the youngest daughter of Jackie and Mike Barbanente… She has one sister, Cassi, who is three years her senior and is also a fellow student-athlete at Penn State on the women’s gymnastics team pursuing her MBA from the Smeal College of Business… Her mom, Jackie, competed as a softball player at Loyola Chicago... While a student at Lake Park High School, she earned the Spirit of Excellence award and participated in the school’s chapter of the National Honor Society... Led her high school’s student spirit organization in addition to coaching youth softball in her spare time... At PSU, she is involved in the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and volunteers with multiple charitable organizations in Central Pennsylvania... Barbanente expects to graduate in the spring of 2027 from the Penn State Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications with a degree in Broadcast Journalism coupled with a minor in Spanish... Hopes to leverage that degree into a career in sports television and journalism as a sideline reporter… Is currently shadowing Penn State B1G+ student U ... In her free time, she enjoys playing basketball, volleyball and pickleball, in addition to traveling and spending time with family.