Baseball Visits Pitt For Final Midweek Contest

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State baseball team meets Pitt for its final midweek matchup of the 2026 season on Tuesday, May 12. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at Charles L. Cost Field with a stream on B1G+.

 

Penn State, led by head coach Mike Gambino, owns 15 wins this season (eight in Big Ten play) after taking the series against Washington.

 

Pitt, coached by Mike Bell, is 28-21 overall (10-17 ACC) after dropping three games at No. 2 North Carolina last weekend.

 

For updates on the Penn State baseball team, please check @pennstatebase on X and Instagram.

 

The 2026 Penn State baseball season is presented by The Family Clothesline.

LEADING OFF

• Penn State meets Pitt for its final midweek contest of the 2026 season.
• The Nittany Lions are 91-50-1 all-time against the Panthers, but Pitt has won the last three matchups.
• Penn State is coming off a series win over Washington.
• In the series finale, Isaiah Shayter, Dimond Loosli, Ben DeMell and Mason Horwat combined for PSU’s second shutout of the season and its first against a Big Ten opponent since 2021 against Purdue.
• Jesse Jaconski collected six hits in the series, including a double and two homers.
• With a homer against Minnesota, Anderson tied the PSU season home run record held by Ben Heath (19; 2010). He also sits second in a season with a .749 slugging percentage and eighth with 131 total bases.
• Among Big Ten hitters, Anderson ranks first in OPS (1.218), second in home runs (19), home runs per game (0.41) and slugging percentage (.749), fourth in total bases (131), sixth in on base percentage (.469) and ninth in batting average (.360). He’s also fifth in the conference in OPS (1.146) and sixth in home runs (10) in conference-only games.
• Anderson is 19th nationally in home runs and 22nd in slugging percentage.
• Bryce Molinaro sits second in program history with 38 career homers.

YEAR THREE UNDER GAMBINO

• Penn State’s 33 wins in 2025 are the second-most in program history, behind only 45 in 2000.
• PSU reached the Big Ten Tournament Semifinals in back-to-back years for the first time since 2000-01.
• Penn State tallied 30 wins in a season for the first time since 2011.
• PSU’s 15 Big Ten wins last season are its most since 2012.
• Penn State earned a .500 or better record in Big Ten games in back-to-back seasons for the sixth time in program history (1995-96; 2000-01; 2003-04; 2007-08; 2011-12; 2024-25).
• PSU was 11-3 in series/weekend openers last season and is 26-16 in series/weekend openers over the last three years.
• The Nittany Lions had five players selected in the 2025 MLB Draft: outfielder Paxton Kling (7th round, Rangers), shortstop Ryan Weingartner (8th round, Cardinals), pitcher Ryan DeSanto (12th round, Guardians), pitcher Chase Renner (13th round, Marlins) and third baseman Bryce Molinaro (17th round, Nationals). Molinaro returned for the 2026 season.
• Over the last three seasons, PSU has set team records for doubles (111; 2025) and stolen bases (108; 2025).
• Between 2024 and 2025, Penn State slugged 152 homers (81 in 2025) and stole 168 bags. PSU was one of 13 D1 teams (only Big Ten team) to accomplish those numbers over that span.
• Individually, Ryan Weingartner broke the PSU steals record in 2025 (30) and in 2026, Bryce Molinaro became the second player in program history to hit 10+ homers in three-straight seasons.

 

WASHINGTON SERIES RECAP

• Penn State earned a series win over Washington with wins in game two and three.
• Jesse Jaconski collected six hits, including a double and two homers. Bryce Molinaro added a homer and four RBI.
• Avery Smith added a triple and a homer, while Preston Yaucher launched his first career homer and drove in three runs.
• PSU fell 5-4 in game one as Molinaro and Yaucher had two-run homers and Colin Fitzgerald went 5.1 strong innings.
• PSU picked up a 6-4 win in game two as Jayden Davis tallied three hits and drove in a run, while Jaconski homered.
• In game three, Isaiah Shayter, Dimond Loosli, Ben DeMell and Mason Horwat combined for a shutout in a 4-0 win.
• PSU earned its second shutout this season and its first in a Big Ten game since April 10, 2021 against Purdue (11-0).
• Smith had a career-best three hits, including a two-run homer, and Jaconski had a solo homer and three runs.

 

ANDERSON, MOLINARO’S BIG SEASONS

• After transferring from Rhode Island (2023-24) and Arkansas (2025), senior Michael Anderson is off to a strong start for the Nittany Lions in 2026.
• The Pennsylvania native leads Penn State in average (.360), slugging percentage (.749), on-base percentage (.469), hits (63), runs (40), home runs (19), RBI (48), total bases (131) and hit-by-pitches (15). In Big Ten play, Anderson is batting .364 with 40 hits, eight doubles, 10 homers and 25 RBI.
• His 19 homers are tied with Ben Heath (19; 2010) for the PSU program season record and his .749 slugging percentage is on pace to be the second-best in a season at PSU.
• In his debut at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, Anderson launched two homers (437 and 399 feet) among three hits and drove in seven runs. The seven RBI were one shy of the PSU game record.
• He followed with four hits, including a two-run homer, and six RBI at Texas Tech. He drove in two runs in all three games.
• Anderson collected five hits, including a homer, and four RBI against Iowa. He crushed two homers and drove in four runs at Purdue and went 7-of-11 (.636) at the plate in the Illinois series with a homer, two RBI and three runs.
• He tallied five hits in the Nebraska series and hit two homers in the series finale.
• Anderson collected six hits, three doubles, two homers, five RBI and six runs in the series at Ohio State.
• He hit two homers against Bucknell and one vs. Minnesota.
• Anderson is the only player in Division I with 19+ homers and an average home run distance of 414+ feet this season.
• Among Big Ten hitters, Anderson ranks first in OPS (1.218), while ranking second in home runs (19), home runs per game (0.41) and slugging percentage (.749), fourth in total bases (131), sixth in on base percentage (.469) and ninth in batting average (.360). He’s also fifth in the conference in OPS (1.146) and sixth in home runs (10) in conference-only games.
• Anderson is 19th nationally in home runs, 22nd in slugging percentage and 41st in total bases.
• Bryce Molinaro has launched 14 homers and driven in 41 runs. He’s hit nine homers and recorded 27 RBI against Big Ten opponents.
• With two homers against Rutgers, Molinaro joined Shawn Fagan (19997-00) as the only PSU players to have three 10+ homer seasons in their careers.
• He is one of 24 current D1 players with three 10+ home run seasons.
• In his PSU career, Molinaro is second at PSU with 38 homers and sits fifth with 147 RBI and seventh with a .537 slugging percentage.

 

GAMBINO COACHING CONNECTIONS

• Penn State head coach Mike Gambino has coached two current MLB managers.
• Gambino coached Washington Nationals manager Blake Butera at Boston College (2012-15) before Butera was selected in the 35th round by the Tampa Bay Rays. Butera is the youngest manager in the MLB at 33 years old.
• Gambino also mentored Colorado Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer at Virginia Tech in 2007. Schaeffer was selected in the 38th round of the 2007 draft.
• At the Desert Invitational, Gambino went up against Kansas State’s Pete Hughes. Gambino played for Hughes at Boston College from 1999-00 and then served on Hughes’ coaching staffs at Boston College (2003-05) and Virginia Tech (2007-10).

 

PENN STATE SIGNS SATO

• On December 22, the Nittany Lions signed Japanese phenom pitcher Genei Sato.
• The 21-year-old right-handed pitcher is expected to enroll in Penn State classes in Summer 2026 and will join the Nittany Lions in Fall 2026 to compete in the 2027 season. Sato will be eligible for the 2027 MLB Draft.
• He spent three years at Sendai University in Shibata, Japan.
• Sato is considered to be a potential first-round pick in the 2027 MLB Draft.
• Before deciding to pursue a college path, Sato was considered a top prospect in the 2026 Nippon Professional Baseball Draft.
• While at Sendai University, Sato threw 170.1 innings, while posting a 2.22 ERA and 10.7 strikeouts per nine, while allowing six hits per nine and 3.3 walks per nine.
• His fastball has been clocked between 94-97 mph while topping out at 99. He also features a splitter (88-91), slider (82-85) and curveball (71-74).
• Sato competed for Japan in the US-Japan Collegiate All-Star Series last July, serving as the closer for the Japanese Collegiate National Team, recording 4.1 innings, allowing one run and striking out six.
• He is the 12th member of Penn State’s 2026 signing class, which includes the top prospect and three of the top nine prospects in PA, according to Prep Baseball Report. It also includes two of the top seven prospects in New Jersey.

 

UP NEXT

• The Nittany Lions finish the regular season next weekend, May 14-16, at Maryland.
• Thursday and Friday games are set for 6 p.m. first pitches, while Saturday’s finale begins at 1 p.m. All three games will be streamed on B1G+.