No. 11 seed Penn State softball (25-27, 11-13 Big Ten) was eliminated from the Big Ten Tournament in a 9-1 loss in five innings to No. 3 seed Nebraska (38-12, 17-5 Big Ten) in the quarterfinal round.

Despite striking first, the Nittany Lions had their last 12 batters retired consecutively, and they couldn’t follow up their first-round upset over No. 6 seed Iowa with another win.

How It Happened

Penn State’s leadoff hitter Meagan Ricks was hit by a pitch to start the game by Nebraska starter Jordy Bahl, one of the best pitchers in the nation. Ricks advanced to second on a Maddie Gordon groundout and to third on a wild pitch before another groundout to third, this time by Brooke Klosowicz, made it two outs.

A line drive into left field by Haylie Brunson brought in Ricks to score the first run of the game, before Michela Barbanente laced a two-out single back up the middle. However, both Brunson and Barbanente were left stranded on base as Natalie Lieto struck out swinging at a high pitch to end the top of the first inning.

Mady Volpe got the start in the circle for the Nittany Lions, and after an eight-pitch at bat, retired Bahl with a foul out, before forcing Samantha Bland to ground out to shortstop Kaylie Walters. Ava Kuszak kept the inning alive with a walk, and Olivia DiNardo followed it up by reaching on a fielder’s choice.

On the fielder’s choice, Walters threw to second, but made an error and allowed Kuszak to advance to third. Then, Kuszak raced home on a wild pitch by Volpe to tie the game at 1-1. Hannah Camenzind walked, and another wild pitch advanced her to second and DiNardo to third.

Trying to get out of the jam, Volpe gave Addie Squier a low breaking ball, which she drove to the wall in right field for a triple, bringing around two more runs and giving the Cornhuskers their first lead at 3-1.

The Nebraska offense stayed hot with Bella Bacon walking in four pitches and Ava Bredwell singling to extend the advantage to 5-1. Penn State made a pitching change and brought in Jiselle Hernandez, who struck out Lauren Camenzind to end the bottom of the first.

Bahl walked Madison Seidel to begin the second inning before getting Jenna Nelson, Walters, and Ricks to consecutively strike out swinging and retire the side.

Hernandez walked two of the first three batters in the bottom of the second, while Olivia DiNardo had an RBI single to right field, and Hannah Camenzind’s sacrifice flyout made it 7-1. Squier flied out to Brunson in right field for the third out, sending the game to the top of the third.

The Penn State bats were silenced, as Bahl retired all three batters she faced with a popout, flyout, and groundout. Abigail Britton then became the third pitcher to appear for the Nittany Lions, getting her first batter to pop out.

After Bredwell singled into left field, Lauren Camenzind grounded into an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play. In the top of the fourth, Bahl forced another one-two-three inning as Barbanente and Seidel both fanned on third strikes while Lieto grounded out to Bacon at first.

Bahl’s offense got the bottom of the fourth started, as she singled before advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt by Bland and a throwing error by Britton, while Bland reached second on the play. Kuszak then walked to load the bases with nobody out.

Two outs were quickly recorded, though, as DiNardo struck out and Bahl was cut down at home on a fielder’s choice. With a full count, Squier also grounded into a fielder’s choice, and Britton got out of the fourth inning jam with no runs allowed.

Pinch hitter Gianna Poletti and Walters each struck out in three pitches to get the fifth inning going, while Ricks also did so in four pitches to bring Nebraska’s offense back to the plate.

Bacon led off the bottom of the fifth with a double, and her pinch runner, Katelyn Caneda, came around to score off a Bredwell double in the next at-bat. Lauren Camenzind grounded out to Walters for the first out of the inning, but Nebraska then got two runners on base as Britton intentionally walked Bahl.

Penn State got the lead runner out at third as Bland reached on a fielder’s choice, but Kuszak then ripped it back up the middle for an RBI single to give Nebraska a 9-1 run-rule win in five innings.

Takeaways

• An offense that has been historically strong this year, Penn State was shut down and held to just two hits in this game, both of which came from the middle of the order.
• With injuries haunting Penn State’s pitching staff throughout the season, the team was forced to bring in three arms after Volpe pitched less than an inning.
• In all likelihood, this was the last game of the season for the Nittany Lions, who will look to rebound from this losing season.

What’s Next?

Penn State will hope to hear its name called for the NCAA Tournament, which is highly unlikely with a 25-27 record.