Baseball Faces Harvard In Cary This WeekendBaseball Faces Harvard In Cary This Weekend

Bobby Marsh

Baseball Faces Harvard In Cary This Weekend

CARY, N.C. – The Penn State baseball team returns to Cary, N.C. and the USA Baseball National Training Complex this weekend, March 8-10 to take on Harvard in a three-game series. The set begins on Friday with a doubleheader at noon and concludes on Sunday at noon. All games will be live streamed on USABaseball.TV.
 
The series was originally supposed to be Friday-Saturday-Sunday but due to anticipated rain on Saturday, the teams will now play a doubleheader on Friday.
 
Penn State, led by head coach Mike Gambino, is 7-4 after falling 6-3 at No. 10 Virginia on Tuesday. The Nittany Lions fought back within two with a three-run fifth inning, but the Cavaliers closed out the victory. The Nittany Lions are receiving votes in the NCBWA Poll.
 
Harvard, coached by Bill Decker, is 1-5 this season. The Crimson won its series opener at The Citadel, 4-3, in 10 innings last weekend.
 
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

 
LEADING OFF

  • Penn State returns to Cary, N.C. for a three-game series against Harvard.
  • The Nittany Lions are 0-2 all-time against Harvard and 86-73 in games against Ivy League teams.
  • Penn State fell 6-3 at No. 10 Virginia on Tuesday.
  • Kyle Hannon and Bryce Molinaro each recorded two hits and an RBI. Billy Gerlott and Bobby Marsh also had multi-hit days.
  • On the mound, Ben DeMell, Chic DeGaetano, David Lee, Connor Throneberry and Will Perkowski.
  • After hitting .417 with five hits and seven RBI at Davidson and a single at UVA, J.T. Marr leads the team with a .429 average and 21 hits. He paces the Big Ten in total hits and hits per game (1.9), good for 16th nationally in hits per game.
  • Marr is riding an 11-game hit streak, including six multi-hit performances.
  • Jaden Henline improved to 2-0 on the season with five solid innings to pick up the win in Sunday's first game vs. Davidson.
  • David Lee has a 1.12 ERA in a team high-tying five appearances this season.

 
SCOUTING HARVARD

  • Head Coach Bill Decker is in his 12th year leading the Harvard baseball program.
  • Under his direction, the Crimson are 165-222 and made an NCAA Regional apperance in 2019.
  • Decker owns 702 career wins.
  • Harvard is 1-6 this season after winning one of three games at The Citadel this past weekend. Harvard won the series opener, 4-3, in 10 innings.
  • As a team, Harvard is batting .260 and averaging 3.7 runs per game.
  • Ben Rounds leads Harvard with a .478 average, 11 hits, four RBI, six runs, two doubles and a homer.
  • Chris Snopek is htting .318 with seven hits, one homer and two RBI.
  • Harvard has an 8.10 team ERA and is allowing a .257 batting average.
  • Sean Matson has a 1.74 ERA in two starts, allowing just two runs in 10.1 innings and striking out 12.
  • Callan Fang has 12 strikeouts over 10.1 innings covering two starts.
     

AGAINST THE CRIMSON

  • Penn State is 0-2 all-time against Harvard.
  • The two previous meetings were on June 19, 1909 (L, 5-3) and April 30, 1932 (L, 5-0).
  • Penn State is 86-73 all-time in games against Ivy League opponents.

 
NEWCOMERS LEADING BALANCED LINEUP

  • The Nittany Lions rank second in the conference in on-base percentage (.421), walks (62), while holding third in batting average (.303), OPS (.865), walks (62) and sac flies (7).
  • Penn State has five players with a .306 or better average, six with a .400+ on-base percentage and six with a .400+ slugging percentage.
  • Graduate student J.T. Marr paces the squad with a .429 average and 21 hits. He own two doubles, a homer, 11 RBI and nine runs.
  • Marr has a hit in all 11 games this season, including six multi-hit performances.
  • The South Carolina native leads the Big Ten in hits per game (1.9), ranking 16th in the country, and total hits (21), sitting 22nd in the nation.
  • Junior Matt Maloney is batting .346 with a team-high 13 RBI along with a double and a homer.
  • Graduate student Adam Cecere is hitting .323 with 10 hits, including two doubles and a team-high three homers, eight RBI and 13 runs. He has a team-high 12 walks and six hit-by-piches.
  • Cecere paces the team with a .677 slugging percentage and a .560 on-base percentage.
  • He ranks second in Big Ten with a 1.237 OPS and on-base percentage (.560) while sitting seventh in slugging percentage (.677). He's also third in the conference in total walks (12) and fourth in walks per game (1.1).
  • Cecere is one of 15 current Division I players with 35+ homers and 124+ RBI in their career.
  • Among active DI players, Cecere is 18th in homers (35) and 50th in RBI (124).
  • Bobby Marsh is hitting .364 with six RBI, while Joe Jaconski has a .306 average, six RBI, six runs and 10 walks.
  • Jaconski is fifth in the Big Ten in walks (10).
  • Tayven Kelley, Bryce Molinaro and Grant Norris each have two homers, while Molinaro has 12 RBI and Norris has nine.
  • Kyle Hannon ranks sixth in the Big Ten with five steals.

 
BATS WARM UP IN GAME 2 AT DAVIDSON

  • Penn State's bats broke through in Penn State's 14-7 win over Davidson in the first game on Sunday's doubleheader, and the second game in the overall series.
  • Four Nittany Lions had multi-hit and multi-RBI games, led by J.T. Marr with two hits and four RBI. Marr's four RBI included a two-run homer. He also scored three times.
  • Bryce Molinaro collected two hits, three RBI and three runs, while Bobby Marsh had two hits and three RBI. Grant Norris drove in two runs on two hits.
  • Adam Cecere added a solo homer and three runs.

 
HANNON, KELLEY, NORRIS CLIMB RECORDS LISTS

  • Senior Kyle Hannon already has five steals in 2024.
  • With five steals this year, Hannon has moved up to a tie for fifth all-time at Penn State with 39 career steals. He is currently tied with Kevin Billotte (1995-98).
  • Hannon ranked second in the Big Ten in steals per game (0.55) and total steals (27) last season.
  • The Harrisburg native is one of 14 Division I players, and the only Big Ten player, returning for the 2024 season who posted 7+ homers and 27+ steals last season.
  • Senior+ Tayven Kelley owns 11 career triples, tied fifth all-time at Penn State. He is one triple away from tying third place.
  • Graduate student Grant Norris' .536 career slugging percentage sits sixth all-time at Penn State.

 
HENLINE, HORWAT COLLECT WINS ON THE MOUND AT DAVIDSON

  • Senior Jaden Henline improved to 2-0 on the season with a solid performance on the mound to help Penn State to a victory in game one of Sunday's doubleheader. He tossed five innings, allowing three runs on six hits. He struck out one.
  • Henline earned a win against Stanford in his first start of the season.
  • Freshman Mason Horwat followed with an impressive performance in his first career start in the second game on Sunday's twin bill.
  • He fired five innings, giving up one hit and two runs to earn his first career win.
  • Horwat did not allow a hit before the start of the sixth inning, faced the minimum through five and retired 11-straight batters between the second and fifth innings.
  • Chic DeGaetano (1.2) and Mason Butash (1.0) provided strong relief performances to close out a tight 6-4 win in Sunday's second game.

 
NITTANY LIONS CONTINUE FIRST SEASON UNDER GAMBINO, NEW STAFF

  • Mike Gambino was hired on July 3, 2023 as the 15th head coach in Penn State baseball program history.
  • In 13 seasons at the helm of his alma mater Boston College, Gambino tallied 291 wins.
  • He guided the Eagles to a pair of NCAA Regionals in 2016 and 2023 and an NCAA Super Regional in 2016.
  • He recorded five seasons of 25 or more wins and eight seasons with 10 or more ACC wins.
  • Gambino coached 34 MLB Draft selections, including three first round picks and eight picks among the top five rounds. Five of his former BC players have reached the MLB.
  • He coached five All-American selections and five freshman All-American honorees as well as 16 All-ACC selections.
  • Associate head coach Scott Loiseau joins the program after serving as head coach at Southern New Hampshire from 2016-23 and 2008-14. He posted a 480-209-2 record in 16 years as a head coach, while leading the Penmen to five Division II College World Series appearances and 11-straight NCAA Tournament Appearances. He coached 12 MLB Draft selections.
  • Assistant Coach Nick Puccio arrives in Happy Valley after serving as hitting coach and recruiting coordinator at Northeastern from 2019-23, helping the Huskies to three-straight seasons of 30+ wins and CAA titles and NCAA Regional appearances in 2021 and 2023.
  • Assistant Coach Will Jauss steps into the pitching coach role after serving as director of pitching technology at Boston College in 2022 and 2023.
  • Penn State alum Mason Mellott remains on staff as director of pitching technology after helping to coach the Penn State pitching staff to post 411 strikeouts in 2023.
  • Former Nittany Lion standout Ryan Wheeler returned to Happy Valley to serve as director of program development/alumni relations after spending the last nine seasons on the Saint Joseph's staff, including the last five years as associate head coach. He ranks second in PSU history with 109 career walks and sits second with 184 consecutive starts.
  • Director of Operations/Player Development Jake Stone enters his fifth season on the Penn State staff.

 
UP NEXT

  • Penn State welcomes UMass Lowell for its home-opening series on March 15-17.