UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State women's gymnastics redshirt freshman Jessie Bastardi was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Tuesday for her efforts in the No. 24 Nittany Lions' meet at Rutgers on Saturday.
Bastardi earned a career-high 9.925 on beam against the Scarlet Knights. The State College native tied with junior Tess McCracken to win the event title on beam. That was Bastardi's first career event title. Bastardi and McCracken are tied for Penn State's highest score on beam this season.
She was a major contributor to the Nittany Lions' 49.350 on beam. The Nittany Lions tied the eighth-best beam score in program history and its highest beam score since the Big Five meet on March 12, 2016.
Penn State posted an overall score of 195.825, its second-highest score of the year. It was Penn State's top score in a Big Ten road meet since Feb. 22, 2016, at Maryland.
Bastardi is currently averaging a 9.771 on beam, good for 15th in the Big Ten. Her score of 9.925 is tied for the fourth-best in the Big Ten this year. She also had a 9.900 on beam against Minnesota on Jan. 26.