COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Eleventh-seeded Penn State softball kicks off its 2026 postseason run this Wednesday, May 6, as the Blue & White prepare to square off against the sixth-seeded Northwestern Wildcats in the opening round of the Big Ten Softball Tournament presented by Allstate from the Maryland Softball Stadium on the campus of the University of Maryland. First pitch is slated for 7 p.m. (ET), with national television coverage to be provided by the Big Ten Network, and streaming on the FOX Sports App.

GAME INFORMATION

(11) Penn State vs. (6) Northwestern | Wednesday, May 6 | 7 p.m. (ET) | Watch | Live Stats | Tickets

FOLLOW THE ACTION

Penn State’s first round matchup at the Big Ten Softball Tournament presented by Allstate against the Northwestern Wildcats will feature national television coverage via the Big Ten Network with streaming available on the FOX Sports App. Click the link here to follow along live with the national broadcast. Admission for games at the 2026 Big Ten Softball Tournament presented by Allstate is ticketed, with fans able to purchase their place at Maryland Softball Stadium through the university’s ticket vendor, Ticketmaster, at the link here. Live stats provided by the University of Maryland and SIDEARM are available at the link here.

QUICK HITS

The Nittany Lions enter the 2026 postseason boasting a 32-20 overall record coupled with an 11-13 finish in Big Ten Conference competitions. PSU has established itself as one of the most dominant offensive teams in school history, shattering single-season school records in runs scored, home runs and RBI while ranking second in school history in total bases and third in batting average. Penn State has won at least 30 games in four of the last five years, with all of those campaigns coming under the direction of sixth-year head coach Clarisa Crowell. PSU has also booked double-digit wins in Big Ten Conference play in each of the last five years, marking the longest stretch of double-digit winning conference seasons in Penn State history. Offensively, the Blue & White are anchored by freshman third baseman Allison Oneacre, who paces the team in nearly every offensive statistic. The Alpharetta, Georgia, native leads PSU in average (.380), OPS (1.332), hits (57), doubles (13), home runs (18) and RBI (61). Freshman left fielder Breanna Hanik (.360), junior designated player Brooke Klosowicz (.343), sophomore center fielder Natalie Lieto (.308), junior shortstop Kaylie Walters (.308) and junior second baseman Michela Barbanente (.300) round out the slew of Penn Staters batting above .300 on the season. In the pitcher’s circle, PSU is led by a quintet of student-athletes that all boast at least 55.0 innings pitched and 40 strikeouts. Junior right-hander McKenna Young leads the corps with a 12-4 individual record in addition to a team-leading 3.60 ERA across her 32 appearances and 10 starts.

B1G HISTORY

The Nittany Lions prepare for their 19th appearance in the Big Ten Tournament all-time and their fifth consecutive. PSU owns a 16-22 overall record in the event since the program’s first appearance in the 1999 campaign, good enough for a .421 winning percentage. Penn State booked its best finish at the Big Ten Conference Softball Tournament in 2000, 2002 and 2016, reaching the semifinal round of the event. The 2016 Nittany Lions hosted the B1G Tournament and picked up the No. 4 overall seed, the team’s highest seed since the league adopted a single-elimination format ahead of the 2004 postseason. PSU registered a thrilling 8-7 win over fifth-seeded Nebraska before falling by a 6-1 margin against top-seeded Michigan at Nittany Lion Softball Park & Beard Field. Under the direction of head coach Clarisa Crowell, the Blue & White own a 3-4 conference postseason record with back-to-back first round victories and quarterfinal appearance in the league tournament in 2022 and 2023 before booking a first-round performance two years ago with an extra-inning defeat to Maryland. PSU returned to its winning ways in opening round action last year, downing Iowa in a 6-2 upset.

WATCHING THE WILDCATS

Under the direction of legendary head coach Kate Drohan, the Northwestern Wildcats enter this week’s Big Ten Tournament boasting a 29-20 overall record coupled with a 16-8 finish in league matchups this season. Northwestern owns series sweeps this season over Illinois, Penn State, Michigan State and Purdue, with an additional series win in league play over Minnesota. The Wildcats enter the postseason ranked 46th in the NCAA’s Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), needing at least one win in the league tournament to remain in bubble contention for an NCAA Regional bid. Offensively, Northwestern is led by a trio of student-athletes with an OPS over 1.000, headlined by Emma Raye’s 1.272 mark in the statistic coupled with a .394 average, 14 home runs and 57 RBI. Kaylie Avvisato owns a .355 average and 1.072 OPS across her 49 starts, adding eight homers and 47 RBI. Bridget Donahey boasts a 1.095 OPS and ranks second on the roster with 11 homers on the year. Northwestern has been anchored over the course of the 2026 campaign by a dominant rookie season in the circle from Marina Mason, who leads the team in appearances (31), starts (24), complete games (14), innings pitched (145.1), ERA (2.12) and individual record at 18-8. Northwestern has seen four other student-athletes pitch for at least 33.0 innings, with Riley Grudzielanek, Signe Dohse, Emma Blea and Renae Cunningham splitting time the rest of the season.

STORY OF THE SERIES: NORTHWESTERN

In an all-time series that dates to the 1992 season, Penn State and Northwestern get set for their 75th all-time meeting this week in College Park. The Blue & White own a 15-59 record against the Wildcats, with PSU seeking its first win in the all-time series since the 2011 season. The Nittany Lions and Wildcats will square off in the Big Ten Tournament for just the second time ever, with the last matchup coming during the 2000 season. Penn State toppled the Wildcats by a 3-1 differential in Iowa City, Iowa, during the tournament’s double elimination format era that ended following the 2002 campaign. Last year, the two squads met during B1G Softball x Devon Park in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the host site of the Women’s College World Series. The two-game conference set marked the season-opening action for both programs in conference competition in 2025. Northwestern took the first matchup by a 13-7 margin and registered a 10-2 result in five innings of play to close things out two days later. This year’s series from Nittany Lion Softball Park & Beard Field saw Northwestern take all three games. PSU was led by a pair of freshmen in the three-game set, with left fielder Breanna Hanik batting .375 against the Wildcats while third baseman Allison Oneacre mustered a .333 average with a pair of RBI over the weekend.