UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State softball kicks off its 33rd season as a member of the Big Ten Conference this weekend, as the Nittany Lions play host to the Indiana Hoosiers in a three-game set running Friday through Sunday, March 22 through 24. All three games from Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field will stream live to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via B1G+.
GAME INFORMATION
Indiana at Penn State | Friday, March 22 | 5 p.m. ET | B1G+ | Live Stats | LionVision Audio
Indiana at Penn State | Saturday, March 23 | 2 p.m. ET | B1G+ | Live Stats | LionVision Audio
Indiana at Penn State | Sunday, March 24 | Noon ET | B1G+ | Live Stats | LionVision Audio
PROMOTIONS AND PARKING
PSU kicks off its season of promotions with its Big Ten home-opening contest against Indiana on Friday night. Saturday brings the return of postgame autographs, as well as a meet-and-greet opportunity with the Nittany Lion student-athletes. Fans are encouraged to congregate in autograph alley at the far end of the concourse on the first base side to participate in postgame autographs. Beginning in the 2024 season, all Penn State softball home contests will be FREE to the public. Seating preference is available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Parking for all Penn State softball games will require a valid permit or payment of the applicable parking fee for campus lots. Fans with valid Penn State University parking permits will be permitted to park at softball games for free, following Transportation Services parking policies and access. For softball games, fans are asked to park in the Jordan East, Stadium West or Porter North lots. Fans without a permit are encouraged to prepay for event parking at a discounted rate of $5.50 through the ParkMobile app, or by clicking here. Prepayment is available through 11:59 p.m. the day before each event. Event day parking will be $10 per vehicle.
FOLLOW ALONG
All three of Penn State's Big Ten-opening contests against Indiana will be streamed live to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via B1G+. For links to view all three contests, visit the Penn State softball schedule page at GoPSUsports.com or click the links above. Live radio broadcasts of all three games this weekend are available to the listening public for free via LionVision at the links above, or locally in Central Pennsylvania on 1390AM (WBHV) and 93.3FM. Live stats provided by the Pennsylvania State University and StatBroadcast are available at the Penn State softball schedule webpage and the links above.
QUICK HITS
The Nittany Lions return to action following an impressive 5-0 weekend of performances at the Penn State Softball Invitational, registering a pair of wins against Lehigh in addition to single-game victories against Cornell, Canisius and Binghamton. The weekend finale against the Bearcats saw the Blue & White register a 15-5 win in five innings, the first instance of 15-or-more runs scored in a Penn State softball game since 2016. Penn State has established itself as one of the premier extra-base hitting teams across all Division I institutions, ranking second in the Big Ten Conference and seventh nationally in doubles with 51, in addition to placing sixth nationally in doubles per game with 1.96. PSU also ranks prominently in triples per game, leading the B1G and ranking second nationally behind Tulsa with a 0.54 mark in the stat.
Juniors Haylie Brunson and Maddie Gordon lead the team in multiple statistics, highlighted by a tie for the team lead in home runs hit this year with four apiece. Brunson paces the squad in RBI with 26, while senior Kaitlyn Morrison leads the Nittany Lions in batting average with a .366 mark. Freshman right-hander Bridget Nemeth paces PSU in ERA with a 1.03 tally and is the only pitcher in the Big Ten to log 10 wins without suffering a loss.
HOSTING THE HOOSIERS
Led by veteran head coach Shonda Stanton, Indiana prepares for its conference debut in Happy Valley with a league-leading 22-6 overall record heading into the weekend series against the Nittany Lions. Indiana's record includes a bevy of impressive results against nationally ranked opposition, highlighted by an early season upset over No. 15 Oregon at the NFCA leadoff classic. The Hoosiers have played six different nationally ranked opponents this season in addition to booking wins over common PSU opponents Kansas, FAU and Marshall. The Hoosiers boast a wide array of solid individual performers, highlighted by freshman Aly VanBrandt's .424 average in the box and redshirt senior Cora Bassett's seven home runs. Returning All-B1G First Team selection Taylor Minnick paces the team with 32 RBI while two-way star Brianna Copeland leads IU in ERA with a 1.62 mark.
STORY OF THE SERIES
In one of the oldest rivalry series in the Penn State softball record book, the Nittany Lions prepare for their 86th, 87th and 88th matchups with Indiana this weekend in a series that dates to the 1977 campaign. Penn State's series against the Hoosiers is the second oldest in PSU history against a current B1G opponent, with the Nittany Lions' rivalry with Ohio State predating the IU series by two years. The Blue & White have won three of the last five meetings and are 3-1 in the last four contests played at Nittany Lion Softball Park and Beard Field. Each of the last two meetings came in the 2022 and 2023 Big Ten Tournaments, respectively, with the squads splitting those meetings. Last year's meeting came at Eichelberger Field in Champaign, Illinois, during the 2023 B1G Softball Tournament. The Hoosiers logged a 5-4 walk-off win in extra innings to close out PSU's season in the tournament quarterfinals a season ago.
BY INVITATION ONLY
The Blue & White return to action following one of the most dominant offensive weekends in recent memory at PSU, with the Nittany Lions going 5-0 at the Penn State Softball Invitational. Penn State downed Lehigh in consecutive games to open the tournament, and closed things out with three more wins against Cornell, Canisius and Binghamton. Junior Maddie Gordon turned in one of the most astonishing weeks in her collegiate career during the tournament, as the Shenandoah, Virginia, native finished the weekend batting .500 with eight runs scored. Gordon led PSU with an eye-popping 1.754 OPS over the four-day tournament, while freshman pitcher Bridget Nemeth closed the weekend out with her 10th consecutive victory in the circle this year against Binghamton.
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.
