Penn State Set for First B1G Road Series of 2025 at Indiana
Nittany Lions gear up for three-game weekend set against rival Hoosiers in Bloomington
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Penn State softball prepares for its first Big Ten Conference true-road series of the 2025 campaign this weekend, as the Blue & White gear up for a three-game set against the Indiana Hoosiers from Andy Mohr Field beginning Friday and concluding Sunday, March 21 through 23.
Friday’s series opener will begin at 6 p.m. (ET), with Saturday’s game two scheduled for 2 p.m. (ET). Sunday’s weekend finale will begin at 1 p.m. (ET), with all three games in the series slated to air live to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via B1G+ and the B1G+ app.
Follow the Action
All three games in Penn State’s Big Ten weekend series at Indiana will stream live to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via B1G+ and the B1G+ app on connected devices. Links to view all three contests live are available on the Penn State softball schedule webpage, or at BigTenPlus.com. Live stat links provided by StatBroadcast and Indiana University 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
The Nittany Lions return to action after taking part in B1G Softball x Devon Park on the league’s opening weekend of conference play, with the Blue & White battling the Northwestern Wildcats and Minnesota Golden Gophers from the home of the Women’s College World Series. PSU dropped its first trio of games at the event before wrapping the weekend with a strong 5-1 victory over Minnesota to close things out. Senior right fielder Haylie Brunson has been an offensive force to be reckoned with in the batter’s box, hitting to the tune of a .538 average over the team’s first four Big Ten Conference contests. Brunson, a native of Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, tallied four runs scored with four RBI and a pair of home runs inside Devon Park, helping spearhead the Nittany Lion victory over Minnesota with an RBI single and solo homer. Overall, sophomore third baseman Brooke Klosowicz leads the team with a .500 average at the plate, while senior righty Mady Volpe boasts a PSU-best 2.57 ERA.
B1G START, B1G STAGE
The Nittany Lions return to action in Big Ten Conference competition for the second weekend in a row after battling a pair of historic B1G programs from the home site of the Women’s College World Series last week in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In PSU’s quartet of games in B1G Softball x Devon Park, the Nittany Lions managed to amass a 1-3 record with a series split against Minnesota highlighting the four-game set in OKC. On an individual basis, six different Nittany Lion hitters combined to hit above .300 on the weekend, with senior right fielder Haylie Brunson leading the way with a .538 average that included seven hits, two home runs, four RBI and four total runs scored on the weekend. Freshman left fielder Natalie Lieto and fifth year first baseman Meagan Ricks each hit .385, freshman catcher Macy Chamberlin hit .375, sophomore designated player Brooke Klosowicz hit .364 and sophomore shortstop Kaylie Walters hit .333 with three runs scored. Overall, the Nittany Lion offense combined to hit .314 against their B1G opposition highlighted by 10 extra-base hits comprised of five doubles and five home runs on the lofty Devon Park stage. PSU’s pitching led to the highlight of the weekend for the Nittany Lions in Oklahoma City, with a trio of Penn Staters working to limit Minnesota to a single run scored in Sunday’s 5-1 win. Sophomore utility Jiselle Hernandez booked the win, while freshman right-hander Abigail Britton picked up her Big Ten-leading fourth save of the season.
Penn State at Indiana
13-14 | 1-3 B1G
20-7 | 0-2 B1G
Introducing Indiana
ABOUT THE HOOSIERS
Under the leadership of eighth-year skipper Shonda Stanton, the Indiana Hoosiers continue their B1G-opening homestand with a 20-7 overall record paired with an 0-2 start to Big Ten Conference play. The Hoosiers reached the 20-win threshold with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Notre Dame on the road in South Bend this Tuesday. Indiana opened Big Ten Conference play with a pair of narrow defeats against the Iowa Hawkeyes, with the visitor’s taking the first game by a 7-6 margin before racking up a 6-5 win to sweep the two-game weekend series in Bloomington. Iowa worked to multi-run leads in each contest and played gritty on the defensive end down the stretch of both contests to secure the series victory. IU boasts one of the strongest offensive units in college softball this season to date, with six routine lineup contributors boasting OPS numbers in excess of 1.000. Veteran Taylor Minnick leads the way, hitting at an even .500 clip with a 1.541 OPS and seven home runs after starting all 27 games for the Cream & Crimson. In the circle, the Hoosiers are led by a trio of routine starters in Jenae Berry, Jasmine Reyes and Brianna Copeland, with Berry boasting the best ERA on the roster with a 2.19 mark through 38.1 innings. Reyes and Copeland have both surpassed 50.0 innings this season to date, with the former booking 50.2 while the latter boasts 52.2.
STORY OF THE SERIES
In one of Penn State’s longest-running softball series, the Nittany Lions and Hoosiers get set to square off for the 89th, 90th and 91st times this weekend in Bloomington. Indiana boasts a 50-38 overall record in the all-time set dating to the first meeting of the two programs in the 1977 regular season, a 1-0 neutral site win for the Blue & White in non-conference play from Columbus, Ohio. Penn State has impressed against the Hoosiers in the last three years, managing to take six of the last eight meetings as well as both of the last two regular season series. The Nittany Lions registered a 2-1 series win over IU in 2022, split a pair of Big Ten Tournament matchups with the Hoosiers in 2022 and 2023, and registered a series sweep of Indiana from Nittany Lion Softball Park last year. Last year’s regular season series in Happy Valley saw PSU win by 2-1, 8-3 and 5-2 margins over the three-day span. The Nittany Lion offense hit .319 against IU in 2024 and registered four home runs while limiting Indiana to a meager .187 average with six runs scored in total. Then-freshman pitcher Bridget Nemeth mustered a 1.31 ERA over the weekend and tossed 16.0 total innings while personally limiting Indiana to a .161 opponent batting average during her time in the pitcher’s circle.
Penn State at Indiana
13-14 | 1-3 B1G
20-7 | 0-2 B1G
Penn State at Indiana
13-14 | 1-3 B1G
20-7 | 0-2 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.