Penn State’s softball team is preparing to face Ohio State in a weekend series in Columbus, following an 11-3 victory over Bucknell on April 14. The Nittany Lions matched their second-highest hit total of the season with 14 and secured their tenth run-rule win of the year.
The upcoming games are significant as Penn State looks to continue its strong offensive performance under sixth-year head coach Clarisa Crowell. The team currently has the fourth-highest scoring offense in the Big Ten Conference and ranks twenty-sixth nationally. With 226 walks drawn this season, Penn State trails only UCLA among all college softball teams.
Freshman infielder Allison Oneacre has been a standout for Penn State, setting a new freshman home run record with fourteen and nearing the program’s single-season RBI record. Junior infielder Michela Barbanente leads the team with thirty-six walks, closely followed by Oneacre’s thirty-four. Both players rank among Penn State’s top five for single-season walks.
Ohio State enters the series with a balanced overall record of twenty-one wins and twenty-one losses, including an eight-seven mark in conference play. The Buckeyes have performed well at home and feature several key hitters such as Hadley Parisien and Abbie Wilhelm, who have combined for thirty-seven home runs this season. In pitching, Jenna Molk leads Ohio State with fifteen wins and a 3.23 earned run average across one hundred thirty-two innings.
The matchup renews one of Penn State’s longest-running rivalries within the Big Ten Conference, dating back to their first meeting in Columbus in 1975. Recent history has favored Ohio State, which has won six of the last seven meetings between these programs.
