Penn State softball (1-4) finished the NFCA Leadoff Classic 1-4 with a win over Kennesaw State. The Nittany Lions looked to build on their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2011 in a breakout 2024 campaign which saw them go 35-20 and win a game at the Bryan-College Station Regional in May.

In a three-day round-robin, the Nittany Lions played five different teams, including three ranked squads, at the 2025 NFCA Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Florida. The tough schedule proved trying for the Nittany Lions, who dropped four of five games, despite a strong 0.65 ERA from Mady Volpe in 21.2 innings and a .412 batting average from Brooke Klosowicz.

Game One

Penn State led off its 2025 season against the No. 7 Duke Blue Devils, who won the ACC last season and made it to the Women’s College World Series.

The season opener wasn’t pretty, as the Blue Devils shut out the Nittany Lions, 7-0.

Abigail Britton got the start for Penn State, with the true freshman being thrown into the fire for her collegiate debut. Through six innings, she had only allowed a single run on a third-inning RBI forceout.

However, things flipped in a hurry in the seventh. Britton allowed a walk and RBI double before being pulled for Lydia Spaulding, who couldn’t stop the floodgates from bursting open against the reigning ACC champions.

Cassidy Curd tossed a complete game shutout for the Blue Devils, only being seriously threatened in the fourth inning due to an error. The Nittany Lions had just three hits (zero for extra bases) and only reached third base once.

Game Two

In the second leg of the Friday doubleheader, Penn State squared off with the No. 13 Texas Tech Red Raiders, who were coming off a 29-21 season. The Red Raiders were 1-1 entering play, including a ranked loss to No. 24 Mississippi State.

This game was back-and-forth and went down to the wire, but the Nittany Lions couldn’t hold on to close out their first win, dropping it 10-9.

Texas Tech got on the board with an early two-run single, but Penn State responded in the bottom of the second on a Jenna Nelson RBI single to make it 2-1.

The Nittany Lions shot themselves in the foot early, with the first five Texas Tech runs all being unearned due to a trio of critical errors. Volpe didn’t allow an earned run in five innings of work.

After a three-spot in the third by the Red Raiders caused by back-to-back errors to lead off the inning, the Nittany Lions scored eight unanswered over the next few innings.

Haylie Brunson and Maddie Gordon led off the fourth with a pair of walks before both scoring on a two-run single by Michela Barbanente through the right side that cut the lead to 5-3. After a one-out single in the fifth by Klosowicz got the tying run to the plate, freshman Macy Chamberlain socked her first home run as a Nittany Lion to tie it at five.

An absolute, unadulterated, nuclear bomb… and she’s just a freshman#WeAre | #NextStop pic.twitter.com/qSsiLP2Hrq

— Penn State Softball (@PennStateSB) February 8, 2025

In the sixth, a parade of hits gave the Nittany Lions a four-run lead. Meagan Ricks laced a two-run double to left field, Kaylie Walters reached on an error by the Red Raiders’ shortstop to score a run, and Brunson singled in another to send the game into the seventh with a 9-5 Penn State lead.

The four-run cushion would not prove to be enough, as Britton was unable to keep her momentum from the opener going, allowing five runs in the seventh inning and taking her second loss in as many games in a 10-9 final.

Game Three

Penn State kicked off Saturday’s action with a game against the Kennesaw State Owls, who were coming off of a rough 16-37 campaign last season and had already dropped two games to a pair of Big Ten schools this weekend. Penn State rolled to a 9-1 mercy rule win in six innings for its first victory of the season.

The Nittany Lions started the fireworks in the first inning with a long two-run home run to left field by Klosowicz to go up 2-0.

FIRST. COLLEGIATE. DINGER. HIGHHHHH into the afternoon Florida sky for @BrookeKlosowicz

E1 | PSU 2, KSU 0
: @GetGameChanger #WeAre | #NextStop pic.twitter.com/58aIqGrqG7

— Penn State Softball (@PennStateSB) February 8, 2025

They added on in the second after Gordon got on with a triple before coming around to score on a 3-1 pitch that sailed to the backstop with two out. After another walk and a wild pitch, Barbanente scored on the third wild pitch of the inning to make it 4-0.

The Owls got a run back in the third, but a fourth wild pitch along with a passed ball in the bottom half eventually led to a Klosowicz sac fly to make it 5-1 after three innings. The parade around the bases continued in the fourth after a Natalie Lieto single and a pair of walks loaded the bases with nobody out, eventually scoring two on a Lydia Coleman RBI bloop single and a sacrifice fly by Klosowicz, her fourth RBI, to make it 7-1.

In the sixth, they triggered the “run-ahead rule”. A pair of singles put runners on the corners with nobody out before a delayed double steal plated Jenna Nelson to go up 8-1. After a walk and yet another wild pitch, the final run of the game was scored on the sixth Kennesaw State wild pitch of the game, finishing it 9-1.

Volpe and Lydia Spalding each tossed three strong innings, with Spalding picking up the first Nittany Lions’ win of 2025.

Game Four

In the penultimate game of the weekend, Penn State squared off against No. 24 Mississippi State (2-1), a fellow NCAA Tournament team from a year ago who previously beat Texas Tech but also got run-ruled by Duke. This game got away from the Nittany Lions early, falling 6-1.

The Bulldogs came out hot early, putting up five runs in the first two innings off of Britton, while the offense was stymied by a brilliant six innings by Mississippi State’s Raelin Chaffin.

After stranding runners on second and third with one out in the first, the Nittany Lions didn’t get an opportunity nearly as good to break the shutout until a Lieto triple and Jenna Nelson RBI groundout in the seventh got them on the board.

Game Five

In the final game of the weekend, Penn State faced off against Notre Dame (1-3), who was coming off of a 27-23 season and had dropped three of its first four games this weekend, including run-rule losses to Kentucky and No. 5 Tennessee.

The Fighting Irish started off strong with two runs in the first and another two in the third, going up 4-0. In the fourth, Klosowicz led off with a single, and Brunson walked to put two on to start the inning. After a sacrifice bunt, Lieto roped a two-run double to cut the lead in half but got cut down at third base.

Despite some strong pitching by Volpe from then on, Penn State went 1-2-3 in the fifth, stranded the tying run at the plate in the sixth, and went silently in the seventh to drop this one, 4-2.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will look to bounce back next weekend, staying in Florida to play at The Fonesca Memorial Tournament at USF. Their first game kicks off at 9 a.m. on Friday, February 14th, against the St. John’s Red Storm.