Penn State falls to Texas State to begin regional play
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Despite a sixth-inning rally that featured a record-tying double from senior shortstop Kaitlyn Morrison and an emphatic homer over the Davis Diamond scoreboard from junior second baseman Maddie Gordon, the Penn State softball team dropped a 4-2 decision to the No. 25 Texas State Bobcats in the opening game of the 2024 NCAA Bryan-College Station Regional.
The defeat saw Penn State drop to 34-19 overall. The Nittany Lions play Albany, which lost 6-2 to Texas A&M.
Penn State's all-time NCAA tournament record is 12-21 overall, with the previous Nittany Lions postseason win coming in 16 innings against Fordham May 21, 2011. Penn State suffered its fourth consecutive defeat at the hands of Texas State this year, with the Bobcats avenging an 0-2 start in the all-time series to take a 4-2 lead after the teams' competitions in 2024. The Bobcats advance in the winner's bracket and rise to 46-13 overall.
Morrison, a native of South Park, moved into a tie for the top spot all-time in Penn State history for doubles in a single season, joining program legends Danielle Kinley and Jen Acunto. The record of 18 has stood since the 2007 season when Kinley previously matched that total in a dominant junior campaign. Gordon cranked her 12th home run of 2024, moving into a tie for the seventh-most dingers in a single season alongside Shannon Salsburg's 12-homer season in 1995.
Gordon and Morrison both finished the day going 1-for-3 at the plate, making them accountable for two of Penn State's four hits in the NCAA regional opener as well as both of Penn State's hits for extra bases. Senior catcher Gaby Garcia returned to her native Lone Star State and got the offense going with the Nittany Lions' first hit of the day in the top of the second inning. Freshman left fielder Michela Barbanente got the offense rolling once again in the top of the fifth with a leadoff bunt single toward first base.
In the circle, freshman pitcher Bridget Nemeth tossed her 16th complete game of the 2024 season, dropping to 22-7 overall through this point in her record-setting rookie campaign. Nemeth tossed six innings and scattered 10 hits on the day, yielding four earned runs in the contest. Nemeth surrendered two extra-base hits, both in the form of doubles, while striking out three batters and walking four.
Neither offense managed much in the early going, with both teams combining for four hits through the first three and a half innings. The Bobcats managed to work their way into a precarious 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single, with both pitchers and defenses settling into a rhythm in the ensuing frames. In the top of the sixth inning, Morrison cranked a leadoff double to left field that matched the Penn State single-season program record, and after a Penn State flyout to left field, Gordon stepped up to the plate. After working ahead in the count 2-0, Gordon smacked the barrel of her bat into the softball and drove it over the towering scoreboard in Davis Diamond's left field, putting Penn State ahead for the first time at 2-1.
Texas State wasted little time mustering a response, tallying a trio of runs in the home half to finalize the 4-2 score and continue their run in the winners' bracket.
