ROSEMONT, Ill. – Following the conclusion of the 2025 season, the Penn State softball program hauled in six Big Ten Conference postseason accolades highlighted by a program-record quartet of appointments to the All-B1G Second Team, the league office announced in a release Friday afternoon.

Penn State saw six combined Big Ten postseason honors, with sophomore designated player Brooke Klosowicz, fifth-year first baseman Meagan Ricks, senior third baseman Maddie Gordon and senior right fielder Haylie Brunson securing All-Big Ten Second Team honors, while freshman left fielder Natalie Lieto landed B1G All-Defensive Team laurels and junior utility Jordyn Jochims secured PSU’s designation as the Big Ten Sportsmanship Honoree. The Nittany Lions’ record-shattering 2025 offensive season was heavily rewarded by the league’s coaches in the conference’s postseason release, with Penn State standing as one of five Big Ten programs with at least four selections to the All-B1G First and Second Teams combined. Penn State booked a program-record with four Second Team honors, surpassing the prior record of three set in the 1999, 2001, 2011 and 2024 campaigns.

Klosowicz, a native of Johnsburg, Illinois, booked an individual season worthy of enshrinement in the Nittany Lion record book, with the second-year star turning in the fourth-best single-season batting average in Penn State history with a .422 mark while landing a myriad of additional single-season records. She now owns the PSU single season doubles record with 23, as well as the program’s RBI record with 53. Additionally, Klosowicz became just the third woman in Penn State history to record 50 runs scored in a single season, joining Cassidy Bell’s 55-run total in 2013 and Macy Jones’ 53-run campaign in 2016. In total, Klosowicz started in all 52 games for PSU this season and mustered 65 hits with 38 of those going for extra bases, including a team high-tying 13 home runs. Klosowicz becomes the 32nd Second Team All-B1G honoree in school history and garnered the 71st All-Big Ten appointment since the program’s arrival in the league in 1992.

The Winter Haven, Florida, native Ricks published the strongest Big Ten campaign at the plate for the Blue & White this season, leading the Nittany Lions with a .400 batting average against conference foes. In her only season at Penn State, Ricks established herself as one of PSU’s most dominant offensive performers, both in the batter’s box and on the basepath. She recorded a .359 overall batting average over the course of 51 appearances and 49 starts, logging 20 combined extra-base knocks split between a dozen doubles and single-season career-high eight home runs. Her season-long OPS of 1.065 ranked third on the team behind Klosowicz and Gordon, while her 11 stolen bases on the basepath paced the Penn State roster in 2025. Ricks becomes the 72nd All-Big Ten selection in Penn State program history as well as the 33rd Nittany Lion to land a placement on the All-B1G Second Team.

Gordon, a native of Shenandoah, Virginia, becomes the first Penn Stater to earn multiple All-Big Ten selections in a career since program legend Bailey Parshall accomplished that feat with a First Team bid in 2022 and Second Team selection in 2023. Gordon, a four-year veteran with the Blue & White, secured her second All-Big Ten Second Team designation in a row after picking up her first conference postseason accolade in 2024. Her 12 home runs rank third on the PSU roster this season behind Klosowicz and Brunson in addition to ranking 10th in a single season in Happy Valley all-time. Gordon turned in a .342 batting average in 2025 in addition to logging the second-best OPS on the roster behind Klosowicz with a 1.122 mark in the statistic. Gordon completes her Nittany Lion career with the fourth-most home runs hit in a Penn State batting career, logging 28 since her inaugural appearance on the diamond in 2022. The Nittany Lion published the 73rd All-Big Ten season in school history in addition to logging the program’s 34th All-B1G Second Team selection.

Brunson, a native of Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, tallied the most dominant individual season in her collegiate career in 2025, capping things off with the first All-Conference selection in her four seasons split between Pittsburgh and Penn State. The senior Nittany Lion established herself as one of the most consistent hitters in the Penn State batting order over her final college campaign, logging a season-long .345 batting average that ranked fourth among qualified hitters on PSU’s record-breaking offense. Her 13 home runs tied atop the team leaderboard alongside Klosowicz, while her 1.049 OPS ranked fourth on the team. Additionally, she turned in 49 runs batted in over the course of the 2025 season, matching the second-most single-season RBI in program history, only trailing Klosowicz’ record-breaking RBI tally from this year. Brunson wrapped up PSU’s quartet of All-Big selections, becoming the 74th All-Big Ten designee and 35th All-B1G Second Team selection over the program’s 34 years in the league

The Monroe, Connecticut, native Lieto turned in one of the most impressive freshman campaigns Penn State has ever seen on the defensive side of the ball, owning the best fielding percentage on the roster outside of the catcher position with a .990 mark. She has recorded 98 total putouts this season with three outfield assists highlighting her defensive contributions, logging a single error over the course of her 50 collegiate appearances. Lieto joins a historic list of Nittany Lion defensive stars, becoming just the fourth Penn Stater in program history to garner a placement on the Big Ten All-Defensive Team. Lieto landed the first B1G All-Defensive Team appointment since Lilia Crouthamel garnered a placement in the 2022 campaign. She also earned the third selection as an outfielder, with Lieto joining Crouthamel and Bell as one of the most dominant outfield athletes in school history.

Jochims, a native of Rocklin, California, secured Penn State’s designation as the Big Ten Sportsmanship Honoree in recognition of her exemplary leadership and dedication to the Nittany Lion program. In addition to her contributions as a leader on the PSU roster, Jochims celebrated several individual milestones in 2025 highlighted by her first collegiate game played and hit in the Penn State victory over Loyola Chicago on February 15 during The Fonseca Memorial Tournament at USF. The student-athletes chosen for the Sportsmanship Award are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These student-athletes must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.

Penn State completed its 60th anniversary season on Thursday, May 8, with the Nittany Lions booking an appearance into the quarterfinals of the 2025 Big Ten Conference Softball Tournament. PSU finished the year with 25 total victories and shattered multiple single-season program records including batting average, home runs, RBI, runs scored and total bases. The Blue & White also mustered the program’s 16th all-time victory in the Big Ten Tournament with a 6-2 win over the Iowa Hawkeyes in the first round of the 2025 event, securing its first Big Ten Tournament opening-round win since the 2023 campaign and third opening-round victory in the last four years under the direction of head coach Clarisa Crowell.

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Visit GoPSUSports.com for more information on Penn State softball. Fans can keep up to date with the Nittany Lion softball team on Facebook at /pennstatesoftball as well as Twitter and Instagram @PennStateSB.

Charles Barkley is not a fan of the NCAA’s management of NIL and the transfer portal. 

Barkley, 62, didn’t mince words when talking about the current state of college basketball. 

“The NCAA, they’re a bunch of idiots and fools. They have ruined the sport. I don’t know how you put the toothpaste back into the tube,” Barkley said during a recent appearance on OutKick’s “Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich.”

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College basketball analyst Charles Barkley on air before the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Final Four championship game. (Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

Barkley isn’t opposed to college players getting paid, but has trouble making sense as to how much money players are making, and how frequently players can now switch schools. 

“This notion that you have to come up with tens of millions of dollars to pay kids to play basketball, and have them be free agents every year and transfer to another school and get more money every year. Like, we don’t even get to do that in the NBA. Can you imagine if players in the NBA got to be a free agent every year? I’m not opposed to players getting paid, I want to make that clear,” Barkley said. 

“But, this notion we gotta give college kids tens of millions of dollars a year, and basketball is the worst, because you’re only gonna get a great player for six months. I don’t even see how you’re gonna get the return on investment.”

CHARLES BARKLEY RAISES CONCERNS FOR BILL BELICHICK AS FORMER NFL COACH’S PERSONAL LIFE THRUST INTO SPOTLIGHT

Jan. 21, 2023; Phoenix, Arizona: Phoenix Suns former player Charles Barkley in attendance at Footprint Center. (Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)

Barkley was asked whether he would ever donate to his alma mater, Auburn, to help its NIL fund, but the Basketball Hall of Famer would rather donate his money to more important causes. 

“I just gave 10 million dollars to HBCU’s, that stuff is way more important to me. I just gave a couple million dollars to ‘Blight’, in my hometown of Birmingham, to rebuild houses,” Barkley said. 

“That stuff is way more important to me than joining the cesspool that is college athletics. We’re such a s—– country, Dan. We have ruined college athletics, and I don’t wanna even get in that cesspool.”

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Former basketball player Charles Barkley for the Auburn Tigers after their game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Neville Arena on March 4, 2023, in Auburn, Alabama. (Michael Chang/Getty Images)

If even the 11-time All-Star were to give money to Auburn’s NIL fund, he isn’t sure how he would get his return on investment. 

“If I give a guy three or four, five, seven, some guys are getting six, seven, eight million dollars, I’m not sure how I get my return on investment if he’s only going to be at my college for one year, and you’re probably not going to win the championship,” Barkley said.

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Starting Friday at the Mountain America Expo Center in Sandy, top college prospects from across the country will compete against each other at the 2025 USA Gymnastics Women’s Development Program national championships.

Otherwise known as DP nationals, the three days of competition will pit the best American gymnasts at Levels 8, 9 and 10 against each other.

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The gymnasts competing this weekend will ultimately comprise the majority of college signing classes in the coming years, starting next season and going through 2029.

The only type of top college prospects not competing this weekend are Elite gymnasts, among whom are national team members who have a chance to compete in international competitions like the world championships or the Olympics.

Multiple Utah signees and/or commits are slated to compete this weekend, including 5-star signee Bailey Stroud and 4-star signee Abbi Ryssman, both of whom are members of Utah’s No. 7-ranked 2025 signing class, plus Madison Denlinger, a Utah commit for 2026.