Baseball Meets Pitt In PNC Park On TuesdayBaseball Meets Pitt In PNC Park On Tuesday

Baseball Meets Pitt In PNC Park On Tuesday

Nittany Lions take on Panthers at 6 p.m.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State baseball team meets Pitt in PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.

 

The Nittany Lions are set to play in PNC Park for the fifth time since 2017.

 

Penn State, led by head coach Mike Gambino, is 29-20 this season (15-15 Big Ten) after winning its series at Rutgers last weekend.

 

Pitt, coached by Mike Bell, is 26-23 this year (10-17 ACC) after taking one of three games at Wake Forest.

 

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

 

The 2025 Penn State baseball season is presented by The Family Clothesline.

 

FOLLOW ALONG

 

LEADING OFF

  • Penn State returns to PNC Park for the fifth time since 2017 to take on Pitt.
  • PSU met West Virginia in PNC Park in 2017 and 2018 and met Pitt in 2022 and 2023 with a 1-3 mark in those games.
  • The Nittany Lions are coming off a series win at Rutgers with a 7-5 win on Friday and an 11-7 victory on Saturday.
  • PSU won five Big Ten series in a season for the first time since 2012 and won three Big Ten road series for the first time since 2012, while its 15 Big Ten wins are its most since 2012 (not counting a Big Ten-only schedule in 2021),
  • Penn State has a .500 or better record in Big Ten games in back-to-back seasons for the sixth time in program history.
  • PSU’s eight Big Ten road wins this season are its most since 2007 (9).
  • With 11 runs in Saturday’s win, Penn State recorded its program-record 23rd game with 10+ runs this season, bettering 22 double-digit run games in 2000.
  • After Jack Porter blasted two homers on Saturday, Penn State has four players with 10+ homers in a season (Bryce Molinaro, 12; Paxton Kling, 12; Jesse Jaconski, 11; Porter, 10) for the first time since 1999 (Dan Beers, 13; Shawn Fagan, 13; Chris Netwall, 12; Eric Spadt, 10).
  • Ryan Weingartner is tied for PSU’s season record with 27 steals this season.

 

YEAR TWO GROWTH UNDER GAMBINO

  • PSU’s 15 Big Ten wins this season are its most since 2012.
  • With its series win at Rutgers, the Nittany Lions won two Big Ten road series (at Northwestern, at Minnesota, at Rutgers) in a season for the first time since 2012 (at Iowa, at Minnesota, at Michigan State).
  • With its series win against Rutgers, Penn State has won at least five Big Ten series in a season (vs. Indiana, at Northwestern, at Minnesota, vs. Purdue) for the first time since 2012.
  • With two wins at Rutgers, PSU owns eight Big Ten road wins this season, its most since winning nine Big Ten road games in 2007.
  • Penn State has 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).
  • Penn State’s 27 wins in Big Ten play over the last two seasons are its most in a two-year span since 2011-12 (not counting the Big Ten-only schedule in 2021).
  • PSU is 10-3 in series/weekend openers this season and 21-6 in series/weekend openers over the last two years.
  • In non-conference action, Penn State earned a win over Missouri in its season opener, its first win over an SEC team since 1995, and a 3-2 victory over No. 17 West Virginia to snap the Mountaineers’ 14-game win streak.

 

NITTANY LIONS DISPLAY POWER, SPEED

  • Through 49 games, Penn State has slugged 73 home runs.
  • The Nittany Lions have tallied 10+ runs in 23 games this season, tied for fifth in the country, and 23 times in Big Ten games. PSU’s 23 games of 10+ runs set a new program record, bettering 2000 (22).
  • Bryce Molinaro leads the Nittany Lions with 13 homers, while Paxton Kling has 12 homers, Jesse Jaconski has 11 and Jack Porter has 10.
  • Penn State has four players with 10+ homers in a season for the first time since 1999 (Dan Beers, 13; Shawn Fagan, 13; Chris Netwall, 12; Eric Spadt, 10).
  • Penn State has at least three players with 10+ homers for the second-straight season.
  • Kling is the one of two Big Ten players with 12+ HR and 14+ SB this year and the first Nittany Lion with those totals since Sean Deegan (12 HR, 14 SB) in 2011.
  • Ryan Weingartner has nine homers, Nate Voss has eight, while Joe Jaconski has six homers and Cole Wagner has four.
  • Molinaro is the first Nittany Lion with back-to-back 10+ homer seasons since Sean Deegan (12 HR in 2011; 11 HR in 2012).
  • Molinaro’s 57 RBI are tied for fourth in a season at PSU.
  • Molinaro has three multi-homer games this season, tied for 14th in D1.
  • Molinaro has 14 games this season with 2+ hits and 2+ RBI.
  • With 73 home runs and 102 steals this season, PSU joins Arizona State, Campbell and UConn as the only D1 teams (Arizona State) with 73+ homers and 100+ steals this season.
  • PSU is one of 23 D1 teams (only Big Ten) with seven players owning 6+ homers and one of two Big Ten teams with four players owning 10+ homers.
  • PSU is the only team in the country with seven or more players with 6+ homers and 6+ steals.
  • Penn State has launched six grand slams, including two by Kling, one by Jesse Jaconski, one by Molinaro, one by Voss and one by Weingartner, tying for 11th in the country.
  • The Nittany Lions pace the Big Ten in total steals (102; 40th nationally) and steals per game (2.08; 39th).
  • Penn State has 12 more steals than any other Big Ten team this season and broke team record of 91 steals in 2000.
  • PSU has nine players owning 6+ steals.
  • Weingartner leads the Big Ten in total steals (27), sitting 37th in the country, and steals per game (0.55), holding 48th.
  • Weingartner’s 27 steals are tied for the PSU program season record held by Michael Campo (27; 1999) and Kyle Hannon (27; 2023).
  • Weingartner is one of seven players in Division I this season with 9+ homers and 27+ stolen bases.
  • Kling has 14 steals, Wagner has 11 and Joe Jaconski has 11.
  • Penn State has four players with 10+ steals in a season for the first time since 1994 (Dave Hall, 13; Lance Rathmell, 12; Ryan Wheeler, 11; Kirk Rentschler, 10).

 

HAGENMAN MAKES MLB DEBUT

  • Former Nittany Lion Justin Hagenman made his Major League baseball debut for the New York Mets on Wednesday, April 16.
  • After entering the game in the second inning, against the Minnesota Twins, Hagenmen went 3.1 innings. He was charged with one run on three hits, while striking out four.
  • Hagenman notched two strikeouts in the first inning, including a punch out against the first batter he faced, the Twins’ Ryan Jeffers.
  • He is the 24th Penn State player to appear in a MLB game and the first since Nate Bump in 2005.
  • After being selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 23rd round of the 2018 MLB Draft, Hagenman’s professional baseball journey includes stops with the Ogden Raptors (2018), Great Lakes Loons (2018-19), Tulsa Drillers (2021-22), Oklahoma City Dodgers (2022-23), Worchester Red Sox (2023-24) and Syracuse Mets (2025).
  • Hagenman was traded from the Dodgers to the Boston Red Sox in July 2023 and signed with the Mets in November 2024.
  • In his minor league career, Hagenman is 32-16 with 22 saves and a 3.95 ERA in 203 appearances (27 starts) and 433 strikeouts in 419.1 innings.
  • He was a three-year starter at Penn State from 2016-18, posting a 4.64 ERA, 10 wins and 190 strikeouts. He is fourth all-time at PSU with 42 career starts.

 

DOLLAR DOG NIGHT

  • The Nittany Lions hosted their sixth and final Dollar Dog Night of the 2025 season against West Virginia on April 22.
  • Penn State set records for attendance (6,106) and hot dogs consumed (12,112).
  • PSU fans have consumed 39,324 hot dogs over six Dollar Dog Nights this year, an average of 6,554 hot dogs.
  • Penn State’s first five Dollar Dog Night totals of 2025: vs. FDU (5,960), vs. St. Bonaventure (7,506), vs. Pitt (6,733), vs. Bucknell (4,429) and vs. Delaware (2,584).
  • Across 15 Dollar Dog Nights in 2023, 2024 and 2025, Penn State fans have consumed 74,501 hot dogs, averaging 4,967 per Dollar Dog Night.

 

RUTGERS SERIES RECAP

  • The Nittany Lions earned a 7-5 win on Friday and an 11-7 victory on Saturday to win the series at Rutgers.
  • Jack Porter recorded four hits, including a double and two homers, and six RBI.
  • Bryce Molinaro added five hits, including two homers, five RBI and two runs. Jesse Jaconski contributed five hits, including a double and a homer, and four runs.
  • In Friday’s win, Jaconski hit a solo homer in the seventh before Ryan Weingartner had a go-ahead, two-run single. After Rutgers tied the game in the bottom of the seventh, Porter smacked a two-run double to left in the ninth.
  • On Saturday, Porter capped off a seven-run second inning with a three-run homer to center. After Rutgers brought the game within one, 8-7, in the fourth, Porter blasted a solo homer in the seventh and Molinaro launched a two-run homer in the ninth.
  • Matthew VanOstenbridge (2.1), Matt Morash (2) and Harrison Lollin (1) shutout Rutgers in the final 5.1 innings.
  • On Sunday, Molinaro smoked a two-run homer over the wall in left.