UNIVERSITY PARK – Penn State softball wraps up its seven-game home stand from Nittany Lion Softball Park & Beard Field this Tuesday, as the Blue & White welcome the in-state rival Bucknell Bison for a 6 p.m. (ET) matchup in Happy Valley. The contest will stream live to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via B1G+ and the B1G+ app on connected devices.

GAME INFORMATION

Bucknell at Penn State | Tuesday, April 14 | 6 p.m. (ET) | Watch | Live Stats | Parking

PROMOTIONS AND PARKING

Penn State softball will celebrate its first Dollar Dog Night of the 2026 season on Tuesday evening, with the Nittany Lions set to welcome fans with one-dollar hot dogs at the concession stand down the first base line at Nittany Lion Softball Park. The game will also serve as Penn State’s Country Night promotion, with a specially curated country playlist set to be accompanied by country music walkup songs for each member of the Nittany Lion softball team.

General admission seating is free for all Penn State softball home games at Nittany Lion Softball Park & Beard Field. Parking for all games in the 2026 Penn State softball season is now available online or via the ParkWhiz app, with fans encouraged to prepay for parking to avoid additional fees on game days. Click the link here to be directed to the parking hub for Nittany Lion Softball Park & Beard Field and select either a full season pass or single-game parking pass at the purchaser’s discretion. Parking is available in the Stadium West, Jordan East or Porter North lots at a rate of $5.50 per game, or $5 per game when purchasing a full season pass. Day-of event parking will be $10 without a valid permit or prepayment, with fans encouraged to pay at payment stations around the lot, or via the HONK app. Prepayment availability ends at 11:59 p.m. (ET) the night before each scheduled game day. Events will not be selectable on the site after that time, and payment must then be made on site upon arrival.

FOLLOW THE ACTION

Penn State’s in-state midweek matchup against the Bucknell Bison will stream live to a worldwide audience of authenticated subscribers via B1G+ and the B1G+ app on connected devices. Links to view Penn State’s contest against Bucknell live, or watch replays of past PSU games at home or on the road in Big Ten Conference play are always available at BigTenPlus.com. Live stat links are available for the game on the Penn State softball schedule webpage or via the team’s StatBroadcast central hub at the link here.

QUICK HITS

The Blue & White return to action following a difficult weekend against the Northwestern Wildcats, with NU picking up all three victories from Nittany Lion Softball Park. The Nittany Lions are now 26-15 overall on the 2026 campaign and will look to return to their winning ways in Big Ten Conference competition later in the week with a three-game series at Ohio State in Columbus this Friday through Sunday. Penn State has been productive offensively throughout its nine home games through this point in the year, with a trio of student-athletes shining under the lights at Nittany Lion Softball Park. Freshman outfielder Breanna Hanik leads PSU in batting average (.500), home runs (four), RBI (10) and runs scored (10) through her first nine appearances on Beard Field. Freshman infielder Allison Oneacre (.455) and junior infielder Brooke Klosowicz (.444) both boast batting averages above .400 in home games this year. Oneacre continues to make waves in college softball this season, with the first-year Nittany Lion trailblazing through one of the most dominant offensive seasons by a rookie in PSU history. Oneacre, a native of Alpharetta, Georgia, has already surpassed the Penn State single-season home run record for a freshman, mashing 14 home runs through this point in her young college career. Oneacre needs just six more home runs to tie, and seven to surpass the PSU single-season home run record set by alumna Cassidy Bell in the only First Team NFCA All-American campaign by a Penn Stater back in 2013. Oneacre also sits two runs batted in shy of the Penn State single-season record set by teammate Brooke Klosowicz a season ago. The Nittany Lion rookie currently stands alone in second on the RBI leaderboard with 51, trailing the record-setting mark of 53.

BATTLING THE BISON

Under the direction of head coach Angie Stackhouse, the Bucknell Bison enter Tuesday’s midweek carrying a 6-28-1 overall record alongside a 3-6 mark in Patriot League play. Bucknell has struggled to find consistency throughout the season, particularly away from home, posting a 2-15 road record. Bucknell opened the year with a challenging non-conference slate that included matchups against the Virginia Cavaliers and Michigan Wolverines. Despite the early results, the Bison have been hindered by a significant run differential, allowing 278 runs while scoring 148. Opponents are hitting .362 against Bucknell pitching, while the Bison offense is producing at a .268 clip as a team. Offensively, Sarah Zimmerman has been a standout, leading the team with a .342 average while adding 15 RBI and a team-best .566 slugging percentage. Barbara Jo Coppola (.326, 22 RBI) and Brooke Popella (.304, 23 RBI) have anchored the middle of the lineup, with Popella pacing the team with 14 doubles. Haley Speicher (.297) has provided consistency at the top of the order, scoring a team-high 23 runs, while Meadow Gambacurta has added 11 RBI and drawn a team-leading 19 walks. The Bison lineup has shown balance throughout, with multiple regulars contributing, though power production has been limited to nine home runs as a team. In the circle, Bucknell has leaned heavily on Avery Powers, who owns a 4-11 record with a 5.53 ERA across a team-high 81.0 innings, striking out 62 batters. Sarah Zimmerman has also logged significant time, making 16 starts, while the staff has worked to piece together innings with contributions from Nina Barrouk, Mea Consentino, and Payton Hale.

STORY OF THE SERIES: BUCKNELL

Penn State will renew its longest-running all-time series against a Division I opponent on Tuesday night, with the Blue & White set to square off against Bucknell for the 45th time in history this week in University Park. Penn State currently maintains a 35-9 differential in the 61-year in-state rivalry series, with the first meeting resulting in a 24-2 PSU win in Happy Valley on April 25, 1966. After taking a two-year hiatus from the series due to the COVID-19 pandemic, PSU head coach Clarisa Crowell and Bucknell renewed the series in 2022, with the Blue & White taking each of the last four meetings in that span, as well as the last five contests overall dating to a 9-8 win on April 24, 2019. Penn State has booked back-to-back-to-back run-rule wins at home, with a 9-0, five inning finish in 2023 followed by a 10-2 win in six two seasons ago, and an 8-0 victory in five in 2025. Last year’s game at Nittany Lion Softball Park & Beard Field saw the Blue & White ride a combined shutout from then-senior Mady Volpe and then-freshman Abigail Britton to an 8-0, run-rule result in five innings of play. The Blue & White called on a pair of birthday doubles from then-sophomore second baseman Michela Barbanente in addition to multiple-hit outings from Haylie Brunson, Maddie Gordon and Natalie Lieto to cruise to the dominant eight-run result in University Park.