Baseball Visits Pitt On TuesdayBaseball Visits Pitt On Tuesday
Mark Selders

Baseball Visits Pitt On Tuesday

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State baseball team visits Pitt on Tuesday for its final non-conference game of the 2024 season. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. at Charles L. Cost Field with a broadcast on ACCNX.
 
Penn State, led by Mike Gambino, is 23-22 after taking two of three games against Rutgers last weekend. PSU won on walk-offs on Friday and Sunday.
 
Pitt, coached by Mike Bell, is 23-26 after winning two of three against No. 8 Florida State.
 
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 takes on Pitt in a midweek game on Tuesday.
  • The Nittany Lions are 91-47-1 all-time against the Panthers and earned a 10-1 win earlier this year.
  • Last weekend, Penn State took two of three games against Rutgers, winning both on walk-offs in the ninth.
  • On Friday, Bryce Molinaro launched two homers and Grant Norris drove in the winning run with a single in the ninth.
  • On Sunday, PSU rallied for four runs in the ninth, starting with homers by Bobby Marsh and Norris and ending with a single by Joe Jaconski.
  • The Nittany Lions have 60 homers this season, its most since hitting 67 in 1999.
  • Grant Norris is tied second in the Big Ten with 14 homers, while Adam Cecere is tied eighth with 13.
  • In Big Ten games, Norris leads the league with 10 homers, while Cecere and Bryce Molinaro are tied third with 7.
  • J.T. Marr is second in the Big Ten in average (.416) and hits per game (1.71).

 
SCOUTING PITT

  • Head Coach Mike Bell is in his sixth season leading the Pitt baseball program.
  • Pitt is 130-144 under Bell, including an 23-26 mark this season.
  • The Panthers took two of three games against No. 8 Florida State this past weekend.
  • Pitt has a .287 team average and averages 7.1 runs per game.
  • Luke Cantwell leads the squad with a .355 average, 46 runs, 60 hits, 10 homers and 42 RBI, while adding 10 doubles.
  • Dom Popa owns 60 hits and a .326 average, while scoring 45 runs.
  • Justin Fogel is hitting .314 with 10 doubles, five homers and 35 RBI, while C.J. Funk has nine homers and 40 RBI.
  • Pitt's pitching staff has a 6.23 ERA and allows a .292 opposing average.
  • Phil Fox leads Pitt with a 1.62 ERA in 21 appearances with a 3-2 record and seven saves. He has 42 strikeouts and three walks in 33.1 innings.
  • Ethan Firoved has 51 strikeouts in 40.1 innings over 18 appearances.
     

AGAINST THE PANTHERS

  • Penn State is 91-47-1 all-time against Pitt.
  • The Nittany Lions split two games against the Panthers in 2023, but won the first game in 2024.
  • On March 26, Penn State earned a 10-1 victory.
  • Grant Norris recorded three hits and drove in two runs, while J.T. Marr had two hits and two RBI. Mason Butash tossed four hitless innings as the PSU pitching staff allowed just one hit and no earned runs.

 
THE MARR-CHINE KEEPS HITTING

  • Grad student J.T. Marr's season average sits at .416 with a team-best 77 hits and 46 RBI.
  • His 77 hits are tied sixth in a season at Penn State. He is also approaching 200 career hits, currently sitting at 196.
  • Marr ranks second in the Big Ten with his .416 average, while sitting ninth in the country.
  • He ranks seventh in the nation, and second in the Big Ten, averaging 1.71 hits per game.
  • Marr holds 32nd in the country, and second in the conference, with 77 total hits.
  • He owns 24 multi-hit games, including 12 against Big Ten opponents, and 14 multi-RBI games. Marr has two games with four hits and 12 games with three hits.
  • Marr tied a PSU game record with three doubles against FDU.
  • Among his 77 knocks, he has 15 doubles and six homers to go with 46 RBI and a 1.061 OPS, good for eighth in the Big Ten. He has five homers and 24 RBI in conference play.

 
NEWCOMERS LEADING BALANCED LINEUP

  • The Nittany Lions rank Top 5 in the Big Ten in slugging percentage (.488; 2nd), batting average (.302; 3rd), sac flies (26; 3rd), home runs per game (1.33; 4th), runs per game (7.7; 5th) and on-base percentage (.402; 5th)
  • Penn State has six players with 47+ hits, five with a .408+ on-base percentage and seven with a .415+ slugging percentage.
  • Penn State, Illinois and Indiana are the only Big Ten teams with seven players owning at least 33 RBI and PSU is one of three Big Ten teams with six players owning 47+ hits.
  • The Nittany Lions' 60 home runs this year are its most since hitting 67 in 1999.
  • PSU's 39 homers in Big Ten games are tied for most among Big Ten teams.
  • Graduate student J.T. Marr paces the squad with a .416 average and 77 hits. He owns 15 doubles, six homers, 46 RBI and 43 runs.
  • With a 33-of-85 start (.388) and 26 RBI at the plate in conference play, Bobby Marsh is hitting .333 with 55 hits, including nine doubles, one triple, six homers, 42 RBI and 32 runs. He ranks seventh in the league with his .397 average and sits sixth with 33 hits in Big Ten play.
  • Holding a .358 average (29-of-81) in Big Ten play, Bryce Molinaro owns nine homers and 10 doubles, among 58 hits, and 37 RBI to go with a .333 average. He had two homers at Indiana (4/12) and vs. Rutgers (5/11) and a go-ahead, three-run homer at MSU (4/21).
  • Graduate student Adam Cecere is hitting .305 with 47 hits, including 11 doubles and 13 homers, 41 RBI and a team-best 43 runs. He has a team-high 40 walks and 10 hit-by-pitches. He owns seven homers and 20 RBI in Big Ten play.
  • He ranks fifth in Big Ten with a 1.096 OPS and fifth in slugging percentage (.630), while sitting seventh in on-base percentage (.466). He's third with Molinaro in home runs in conference play (7). He's also fourth in the conference in total walks (40).
  • Cecere is one of 20 current Division I players with 45+ homers and 157+ RBI in their career. Among active DI players, Cecere is 24th in homers (45).
  • Grant Norris has 51 hits, including nine doubles, a triple, and 14 homers, 42 RBI and 34 runs.
  • Norris collected his first career multi-homer game against Northwestern (4/6) and had another at Michigan State (4/20), while adding an inside-the-park homer vs. Minnesota.
  • With Cecere (13) and Norris (14), Penn State has multiple players with 13+ homers for the first time since 1999 (Shawn Fagan, 13; Dan Beers, 13).
  • Norris is tied second in the Big Ten with 14 homers, while Cecere is eighth with 13. Norris leads with 10 homers in conference games, while Cecere is third with seven homers.
  • Joe Jaconski is fifth in the Big Ten in walks (37) and owns 50 hits, 40 runs and six homers.

 
RUTGERS SERIES RECAP

  • Penn State won two of three games in its series against Rutgers, winning both on walk-offs in the ninth.
  • PSU tallied 31 hits and 19 runs in the series, led by J.T. Marr's six hits. Matt Maloney added five hits.
  • Bryce Molinaro had four hits, two homers, two RBI and five runs, while Grant Norris and Bobby Marsh added homers.
  • On Friday, Molinaro homered twice and PSU walked it off on a single by Grant Norris.
  • Saturday was highlighted by Jaden Henline's seven shutout innings.
  • On Sunday, PSU rallied for four runs in the ninth, started by back-to-back homers from Marsh and Norris and ended on a single by Joe Jaconski.

 
NITTANY LIONS CLIMB RECORDS LISTS

  • With 13 steals this year, senior Kyle Hannon has moved up to fourth all-time at Penn State with 47 career steals. He is currently three steals behind Doug Keener (50, 1984-87) for third place.
  • Hannon ranks ninth in the Big Ten in total steals (13).
  • Senior+ Tayven Kelley owns 13 career triples, tied second all-time at Penn State with Kevin Billotte (1995-98).
  • Grad student Grant Norris' .563 career slugging percentage sits fifth all-time at Penn State, while sophomore Bobby Marsh's .516 slugging percentage is seventh all-time.
  • Grad student Grant Norris ranks fifth in a season at Penn State with 14 homers, while grad student Adam Cecere is tied sixth with 13.

 
DOLLAR DOG NIGHT RETURNS

  • Penn State's Dollar Dog Nights became popular in 2023 and have returned with strong numbers in 2024.
  • April 16th's contest against Kent State was the Nittany Lions' fourth Dollar Dog Night of the 2024 campaign.
  • Penn State set a new attendance record (5,025), topping 5,000 fans for the first time in program history. PSU fans consumed a Dollar Dog record 8,591 hot dogs, breaking the previous record of 6,151 against FDU.
  • On Tuesday, PSU drew more fans that night than current Top 25 teams Alabama (3,672), Clemson (4,567), Duke (469), North Carolina (3,268), Oklahoma State (4,803), Oregon (2,070), Tennessee (4,617), Virginia Tech (1,035) and West Virginia (4,614) and MLB's Oakland A's (3,296).
  • The Nittany Lions welcomed 4,902 fans against FDU on April 9 and 3,505 fans against Pitt on March 26.
  • Across nine Dollar Dog Nights in 2023 and 2024, Penn State fans have consumed 35,177 hot dogs, averaging 3,908.6 per Dollar Dog Night.