MADISON, Wis. – Senior catcher Gaby Garcia dominated at the dish offensively with a 3-for-3 outing and freshman pitcher Bridget Nemeth went the distance in a 3-1 victory over the Wisconsin Badgers to open the weekend series Friday afternoon at the Goodman Softball Complex.
The Nittany Lions improved to 31-11 overall in the 2024 campaign and rose to 10-5 in Big Ten Conference regular season competitions, tallying 10 or more B1G victories in three consecutive seasons for the first time in program history. PSU reached 10 wins in a Big Ten season for just the 11th time in school history on Friday, needing just five more victories against conference foes to match the program record set by the 1999 team that went 15-9 in league play. Penn State's 31 overall victories matched the team's total from a season ago in five fewer contests, with the Blue & White needing a single additional B1G victory to match the 2023 team's conference win total.
In the all-time series against Wisconsin, Penn State picked up its 14th victory all-time in Madison and improved to 31-26 following the 57th meeting of the two programs. PSU celebrated its first win at the Goodman Softball Complex since the 2015 campaign when the Nittany Lions recorded a 2-1 series victory over the Badgers. In defeat, Wisconsin suffered its second consecutive Big Ten Conference loss and dropped to 16-25 overall with a 5-10 ledger against league foes.
On the offensive side of things, Garcia racked up her 12th multi-hit performance of the 2024 campaign and tallied a season-high trio of hits in the game with a bomb in the second inning in addition to a pair of singles. Garcia moved into a tie for the team lead in multi-RBI games alongside junior right fielder Maddie Gordon, notching her 11th such performance this season courtesy of a pair of ribbies in the series opener. Elsewhere in the lineup, Gordon tallied a single and a run scored, while senior center fielder Liana Jones as well as freshmen Michela Barbanente and Gianna Poletti each tallied knocks in PSU's eight-hit affair.
Senior second baseman Kaitlyn Morrison helped elevate Penn State's 2024 roster to another historic extra-base hitting performance, with the veteran cranking her fifth triple of the season for an RBI in the third inning. Morrison's RBI triple was the 16th triple hit by a Nittany Lion this season, moving the 2024 squad into a tie for third all-time in the PSU record book for triples in a single season alongside the 2014 and 1989 teams.
In the circle, Nemeth continued her climb in the Penn State record book for victories in a single season with 19, moving into a tie for fourth all-time in Happy Valley with Nittany Lion legend Missy Beseres. Nemeth needs just three victories to tie, and four to overtake the program record in the category. The freshman standout booked her 10th complete game of the season on Friday and scattered two hits while allowing a single earned run on the day. The Glendora, California, native fanned 11 batters while awarding a single walk, recording double-digit K's for the fourth time in her collegiate career. On the defensive side of things, Penn State recorded its 13th error-free outing of the 2024 season and rose to 12-1 overall when the field produces a goose egg in the error column.
The Nittany Lions had a quiet inning of work on the offensive end in the first, but Nemeth set the tone for the remainder of the game with a trio of strikeouts in the home half of the inning. With no outs on the scoreboard in the top of the second, Garcia crushed the second pitch of her at-bat high and deep over the wall in left center field to give Penn State an early 1-0 advantage. PSU's defense worked their first of four one-two-three innings in the bottom of the second, and the bats continued their reign of dominance in the visitor's half of the third inning.
Gordon stepped up to the dish in the top of the third with one out on the board and cranked the first pitch of her at-bat past the shortstop for a single. After a flyout put two away, Morrison entered the box and demolished a triple to center that brought Gordon all the way around. In the next at-bat, Garcia smacked a precise single down the left field line that plated Morrison to close the book on the two-run frame. With the Nittany Lions leading by a 3-0 margin, Nemeth and the defense rattled off three more one-two-three innings, with the freshman righty carrying a no-hitter into the bottom of the sixth. Wisconsin managed to break up Nemeth's no-hit bid with a double in the sixth and tacked on their only run of the game in the bottom of the seventh, but the Nittany Lions managed to close out an impressive 3-1 victory in Friday's series opener.
TOP NITTANY LION PERFORMERS
Gaby Garcia | 3-for-3,
Kaitlyn Morrison | 1-for-4,
Bridget Nemeth | WIN, CG, 7.0 IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 11K, 96TP
KEY INNINGS
T2 | With no outs on the scoreboard, Garcia crushed the second pitch of her at-bat high and deep over the wall in left center field to give Penn State an early 1-0 advantage. PSU 1, WIS 0
T3 | Gordon stepped up to the dish with one out on the board and cranked the first pitch of her at-bat past the shortstop for a single. After a flyout put two away, Morrison entered the box and demolished a triple to center that brought Gordon all the way around. In the next at-bat, Garcia smacked a precise single down the left field line that plated Morrison to close the book on the two-run frame. PSU 3, WIS 0
B7 | With one down and no runners on, Brooke Kuffel sent a solo shot over the wall in center. PSU 3, WIS 1
UP NEXT
Penn State softball continues its Big Ten Conference weekend road series against the Wisconsin Badgers, with the Nittany Lions set to return to the Goodman Softball Complex Saturday afternoon, April 20, with a 2 p.m. (ET) start on the books. The middle game of the weekend series will air to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via B1G+ and the B1G+ app.
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