Baseball Welcomes Michigan For Big Ten Opening SeriesBaseball Welcomes Michigan For Big Ten Opening Series
Caleb Craig

Jaden Henline

Baseball Welcomes Michigan For Big Ten Opening Series

Opens in a new window The Penn State Baseball Show (Ep. 6)

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State baseball team hosts Michigan for a three-game series to open Big Ten play this weekend, March 22-24, at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. First pitch on Friday is set for 5:30 p.m. Saturday's contest will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday's series finale is set for 1 p.m. All games are free admission for all ages and will be broadcast on B1G+.
 
Penn State, led by head coach Mike Gambino, is 11-7 and looks to bounce back after falling 9-7 against St. Bonaventure on Tuesday.
 
Michigan, coached by Tracy Smith, is 7-14 this year. The Wolverines fell 14-4 at Eastern Michigan on Tuesday.
 
For updates on the Penn State baseball team, please check @pennstatebase on X and Instagram.
 
The 2024 Penn State baseball season is presented by The Family Clothesline.
 
FOLLOW ALONG

 
PROMOTIONS/BALLPARK ITEMS

  • Friday is Wear White Night. The first 100 students with receiving Dunkin Giftcards.
  • Saturday is Bark in the Park Day in honor of National Puppy Day and features a Dog Bandana Giveaway.
    • Must have proof of dogs' current vaccinations.
    • Fans are encouraged to bring donations for Centre County PAWS. For potential items to donate, visit here.
  • Saturday also features postgame autographs and a trading card set giveaway.
  • Sunday's series finale includes postgame kids run the bases.
  • All concessions items at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park this season are cashless transactions.

 
PARKING
Parking for Penn State Baseball games at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park will be available at the following locations beginning two hours prior to the start of each game:

  • Due to the Jeff Dunham show at the Bryce Jordan Center on Friday, fans are highly encouraged to pre-pay for parking through the ParkMobile link below to avoid paying $20 on day-of-game.
  • Porter North and Jordan East
  • Free with valid Penn State parking permits
  • $5.50 prepaid parking is available through ParkMobile - https://psu.parkmobile.io/medlar-field-lubrano-park. Prepayment is available through 11:59 p.m. the day prior to each event.
  • $10 day-of-event (pay station or Park Mobile app – zone no. 95112
  • Baseball Parking Interactive Map
  • Please visit the 2024 Baseball Parking page for additional information.
  • Non-football event parking is managed by Penn State Transportation Services. For more information on parking for this event, please email parking@psu.edu or call 814-865-1436. 

 
LEADING OFF

  • Penn State welcomes Michigan to open Big Ten play.
  • The Nittany Lions are 49-54 all-time against the Wolverines.
  • Last season, Penn State dropped three games in Ann Arbor.
  • The Nittany Lions look to bounce back after falling 9-7 against St. Bonaventure on Tuesday.
  • PSU tied the game with the seventh on a three-run double by Matt Maloney but allowed three runs in the top of the eighth.
  • J.T. Marr leads the Big Ten with a .453 average, ranking 19th in the country, while sitting eighth in the nation in hits per game (1.89) and 22nd in total hits (34).
  • Marr had three hits in Thursday's game and four hits in Saturday's game against UMass Lowell and now has nine multi-hit games this season.
  • Adam Cecere launched two homers in Friday's game against UML and now has five this season to raise his career total to 37 homers.
  • Kyle Hannon ranks third in the Big Ten with 10 steals this season and sits fourth all-time at PSU with 44 career steals.

 
SCOUTING MICHIGAN

  • Head Coach Tracy Smith is in his second season leading the Michigan program.
  • In 27 years as a head coach, Smith is 840-654-1, leading his teams to nine NCAA Regionals and a College World Series.
  • The Wolverines are 7-14 this season and coming off a 14-4 setback at Eastern Michigan on Tuesday.
  • Michigan ranks 13th in the Big Ten with a .243 average and 12th averaging 5.8 runs per game.
  • Mitch Voit is batting .345 with 30 hits, including 11 doubles, a triple and three homer, and 14 RBI.
  • Voit ranks fifth in the nation with 11 doubles.
  • Stephen Hrustitch leads the squad with six homers to go with 13 RBI and a .274 average.
  • Michigan's pitching staff ranks 13th in the conference with a 7.36 team ERA.
  • On the mound, Voit leads the team in innings (30) and strikeouts (19).
  • Brandon Mann paces the staff with nine appearances.
     

AGAINST THE WOLVERINES

  • Penn State is 49-54 all-time against Michigan.
  • The Nittany Lions dropped three games in Ann Arbor last season.
  • Penn State's last win in the series came on March 26, 2021, 3-2 in 10 innings, against No. 18 Michigan.

 
THE MARR-CHINE KEEPS HITTING

  • Grad student J.T. Marr is off to an incredible start to begin the 2024 campaign.
  • After going 8-of-14 at the plate in the series against UMass Lowell and an RBI single against St. Bonaventure, Marr's season average sits at .453 with a team-best 34 hits.
  • Marr leads the Big Ten with his .453 average, while ranking 19th in the country.
  • He also ranks eighth in the nation, and third in the Big Ten, averaging 1.89 hits per game.
  • Marr holds 22nd in the country, and third in the conference, with 34 total hits.
  • This past weekend, he had three hits on Thursday and four hits on Saturday, raising his season total to nine multi-hit games. He also has four multi-RBI games.
  • On the year, Marr has two games with four hits and four games with three hits.
  • Among his 34 knocks, he has three doubles and a homer to go with 17 RBI and 17 runs.

 
NEWCOMERS LEADING BALANCED LINEUP

  • The Nittany Lions sit among the Top 5 in the Big Ten in batting average (.299; 5th), runs per game (7.8; 4th), home runs per game (1.12; 5th), on-base percentage (.411; 4th), sac flies (14; 2nd) and total walks (101; 4th).
  • Penn State has five players with a .316 or better average, six with a .400+ on-base percentage and five with a .400+ slugging percentage.
  • Graduate student J.T. Marr paces the squad with a .453 average and 34 hits. He owns three doubles, a homer, 17 RBI and 17 runs.
  • Redshirt junior Billy Gerlott is hitting .344 with four doubles, a homer, three RBI and 13 runs.
  • Junior Matt Maloney is batting .333 with a team-high 21 RBI along with four doubles and a homer.
  • Maloney leads the Big Ten in RBI per game (1.50).
  • Bobby Marsh is hitting .316 with 18 hits, including three doubles, 10 RBI and nine runs.
  • Graduate student Adam Cecere is hitting .316 with 18 hits, including four doubles and a team-high five homers, 15 RBI and 21 runs. He has a team-high 19 walks and seven hit-by-pitches.
  • He hit two homers in Saturday's game against UMass Lowell, his sixth career multi-homer game.
  • Cecere paces the team with a .649 slugging percentage and a .524 on-base percentage.
  • He ranks fifth in Big Ten with a 1.173 OPS, sixth in slugging percentage (.660) and third in on-base percentage (.519). He's also tied-first in the conference in total walks (19) and tied-first in walks per game (1.06).
  • Cecere is one of 16 current Division I players with 37+ homers and 131+ RBI in their career.
  • Among active DI players, Cecere is 17th in homers (37).
  • Joe Jaconski is tied with Cecere for the Big Ten lead in walks (19) and owns 15 hits and 13 runs, while Grant Norris has 17 hits, including five doubles and four homers, and 14 RBI.
  • Bryce Molinaro owns two homers, among 19 hits, and 14 RBI, while Kyle Hannon has 15 hits, one homer and 16 runs.

 
NITTANY LIONS EARN SERIES WIN OVER UMASS LOWELL

  • Penn State picked up a 3-2 win on Thursday and a 21-14 win on Saturday to claim a series victory over the River Hawks.
  • Penn State has won its first five weekends to start a season for the first time since 1979 and has won four-straight three-game series to begin the year, including series victories over Stanford, Davidson, Harvard and UMass Lowell.
  • In the series, PSU batted .352 with 33 runs, 37 hits, eight doubles and five homers.
  • J.T. Marr led the Nittany Lions with a .571 average (8-of-14) with three RBI and six runs, including three hits in game one and four knocks in game three.
  • Adam Cecere launched two homers to go with four RBI and four runs, while Billy Gerlott had a double, a homer and three RBI. Grant Norris added a double and a homer.
  • In game one, Matt Maloney had a two-run double and Gerlott homered, while Travis Luensmann fired six innings, allowing one run.
  • In game three, PSU overcame a 9-run deficit in the first inning and put together a 9-run eighth inning to take the lead. Marr and Bobby Marsh each had four hits and three RBI, while Marr scored four times. Bryce Molinaro added three hits, an RBI and four runs.

 
HANNON, KELLEY, NORRIS CLIMB RECORDS LISTS

  • Senior Kyle Hannon already has 10 steals in 2024, including four in the series vs. Harvard.
  • With 10 steals this year, Hannon has moved up to fourth all-time at Penn State with 44 career steals. He is currently six steals behind Doug Keener (50, 1984-87) for third place.
  • Hannon ranks third in the Big Ten in total steals (10) and steals per game (0.59).
  • Senior+ Tayven Kelley owns 12 career triples, tied third all-time at Penn State. He is tied with Michael Campo (1997-00) and Jordan Steranka (2009-12).
  • Graduate student Grant Norris' .533 career slugging percentage sits seventh all-time at Penn State.

 
LUENSMANN POSTS BACK-TO-BACK SOLID STARTS

  • Senior Travis Luensmann picked up his second win of the season on Thursday against UMass Lowell.
  • Luensmann fired six innings, giving up one run on two hits, while striking out five.
  • He did not allow a run until a solo homer in the sixth.
  • Luensmann has thrown six innings in back-to-back starts, including a six-inning, two-run outing against Harvard on March 8.
  • He has 16 strikeouts in five starts and is allowing a .177 opponent average.
  • Frankie Sanchez returned to the mound against UMass Lowell and has a 1.93 ERA over three appearances (two starts) with 11 strikeouts in 9.1 innings.
  • Anthony Steele is 2-0 with a 3.14 ERA and 15 strikeouts in eight appearances.
  • David Lee earned his third save of the season on Thursday and ranks fourth in the Big Ten in saves.

 
UP NEXT

  • Penn State hosts Pitt on Tuesday, March 26. First pitch is set for 5 p.m.
  • Every Tuesday home game is Dollar Dog Night, featuring $1 hot dogs.