Penn State softball bounces back to take rubber match against Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis.- The Nittany Lions earned another Big Ten series win this weekend on Sunday in dominant fashion. Bridget Nemeth pitched a complete game with eight strikeouts, four hits and zero walks. She only gave up two earned runs in the 10-2 victory over the Badgers.

The Nittany Lions bounced back in a major way after suffering their largest defeat of the season.

Both the bats and gloves stepped up in a huge way to clinch their fifth Big Ten series win on the year.

Everyone in the starting lineup today got a hit, and the top five spots in the lineup combined for eight out of the 14 hits for the day.

It started in the first inning, with Kaityln Morrison getting a hit on the very first pitch, followed by Maddie Gordon taking Tessa Magnanimo deep for a two-run homer.

Wisconsin responded in the first with a run of its own, as catcher Emmy Wells brought home Ava Kuszack on a two-out RBI double.

But after that, it was smooth sailing for Nemeth, she allowed three hits in the first two innings, and only one more the rest of the day.

As for the offense, they were stymied for the following two innings before back-to-back doubles in the fourth from Gaby Garcia and Haylie Brunson started adding to Nemeth and the Nittany Lions’ insurance policy.

There were two surprises in the top of the fourth for the Nittany Lions today; an Emily Maddock strikeout, and a Bridget Nemeth at-bat. In 44 games this season, Maddock now only has five strikeouts, and Nemeth has 18 at-bats in 29 games played this season.

The offense exploded in the sixth inning, Garcia led off with a strikeout, but Brunson followed with a solo shot into right center, and the offense was sparked.

Six of the next seven batters earned hits capped off with a Liana Jones grand slam making it a 9-1 ball game.

Nemeth did allow a solo home run in the bottom half of the inning, but the damage was done.

All in all, the Nittany Lions showed a tremendous amount of resilience coming off their worst loss of the season on both sides of the diamond, and improved their away record to 5-10 this season.

With just two more weekend series left in the regular season, Penn State will look to build on the momentum gained this weekend after a slip in Columbus.

They have upcoming home matchups against Saint Francis and the Michigan Wolverines next week, before traveling to Rutgers to finish off the regular season.

Carson Schuler is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism, to contact him please email cts5357@psu.edu.