Brian, who will be one of two fifth-year seniors on this year[apos]s team, brings a lot of value to the team with his versatility and his ability to perform consistently no matter what his role is. He will enter this year as the potential starting center fielder but he can play all three outfield positions and has done so during his career. He will most likely be a part of a three-player platoon once again along with returnee Scott Kelley and freshman Grant Youngblood. As a switch hitter, he often presents a tough matchup because he hits for nearly the same average from both sides of the plate. He hit .313 last year, the second straight year he has hit over .300 after hitting .291 as a freshman, and hit over .300 from both sides of the plate. He also can hit almost anywhere in the lineup as is evidenced by the fact that he hit in seven different spots in the lineup last year, all but the leadoff and cleanup spots, although he has hit leadoff in his career. His versatility and consistency at the plate should lead to him seeing lots of playing time once again this year and he should also be in the mix for some postseason honors. Also an outstanding student, Brian has been a member of the Dean[apos]s List every semester from the spring of 2004 through the fall of 2007.
Summer 2007: Hit .343 in 22 games (19 starts) for the Kutztown Rockies of the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League, where he was teammates with Joe Blackburn on the ACBL title-winning team....Got a late start to the season due to a broken thumb suffered at the end of the Big Ten Tournament....Collected 24 hits, scored 11 runs, had nine RBI and went 8-for-9 in stolen bases....Was also perfect in the field in 24 fielding chances.
2007 (Junior): After playing mainly right field as a sophomore, played that position the least out of the three outfield positions....Started 24 games each in left field and center field and three games in right and also started at DH once....Played left mainly when Garrett Field played center and started in center when Scott Kelley played left....Was hitting just .256 after the second weekend of Big Ten play on April 8 but over the last 32 games, of which 31 he played in since the Temple game on April 11, hit .351 (40-for-114) to finish the season with a .313 average, which was third on the team....Was on of four players on the team to hit over .300 and did so for the second straight year....Ranked third on the team in hits (60), sixth in RBI (22), seventh in total bases (67), and tied for second in hit by pitches (5)....Also tied for third on the team in multiple-hit games (19), including five three-hit games, and had four multi-RBI games....Had two seven-game hitting streaks on the year and in one stretch, hit in 14 of 15 games and in 20 of 22 contests....Hit in 24 of his last 31 games and had RBI in 10 of those games....Led the team in hitting in Big Ten games at a .362 clip....Also a solid fielder, he committed just three errors in 95 total chances....Has the highest GPA on the team at 3.68 while majoring in accounting....Was the recipient of the Shorty Stoner award for having the highest GPA on the team....Was named third team All-Big Ten.
Game-by-Game Highlights: Went 2-for-3 and drew two walks vs. Centenary (2-16)....Knocked in three runs and went 2-for-4 in the series finale at North Carolina (3-4)....Scored a run after Rob Yodice hit a grand slam in the eighth inning to tie the game and went 2-for-5 at Oral Roberts (3-16)....Went 3-for-5 with his first extra base hit of the year, a double, in the series finale at ORU (3-17)....Collected the first hit at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park and the first three-hit game by going 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI in the win over Central Connecticut (3-23)....Scored two more runs and went 2-for-3 in another win over CCSU (3-24)....Knocked in two runs without getting a hit in the series opener at Iowa (4-6)....Went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI and a pair of doubles and a run and drove in the first run of the seven-run eighth inning with a double that allowed Penn State to take the lead in the win over Temple (4-11)....Went 2-for-4 in Penn State[apos]s come-from-behind 6-5 win over Michigan State (4-15)....Scored three runs and went 3-for-5 in the series finale win at Michigan State (4-16)....Drew a bases-loaded walk to drive in the tying run just before Rick Marlin drove in the game-winning run in the four-run ninth inning vs. Northwestern (4-20) that gave Penn State the win after trailing by three runs entering the ninth....Drove in the only run of the game and went 2-for-3 in the win over the Wildcats in the second game of the series (4-21)....Scored a run and went 2-for-3 in the third game against Northwestern (4-21)....Went 2-for-5 in the series opener vs. Indiana (4-27)....Crossed the plate two times and went 2-for-3 in the second game of the Indiana series (4-28)....Went 3-for-4 with an RBI in the series opener vs. Purdue (5-5)....Had two RBI in the second game of the Purdue series (5-5)....Hit .533 (8-for-15) and was on base at a .588 clip in the Michigan series (5-12 - 5-13)....Went 3-for-4 with a two runs in the first game of the series (5-12)....For the second time in the season, drew an important walk before a Rick Marlin at-bat and then scored on Marlin[apos]s three-run home run that tied the score in the sixth inning of the second game vs. Michigan (5-12), a game PSU would go on to win in extra innings....Went 2-for-3 with another pair of runs in the third Michigan game (5-13)....Wrapped up the Michigan series with a 2-for-5 performance and another RBI in the finale win (5-13)....Got caught in a rundown for just long enough to allow Mike Deese to score the tying run in the eighth inning to send the game into extra innings in the series opener vs. Ohio State (5-18)....Doubled home a run and went 2-for-3 while also scoring a run himself in the second game of the OSU series (5-19)....Went 2-for-4 in the opening game of the Big Ten Tournament vs. Ohio State (5-18).
'Ernie is a senior this year and has been one of our most consistent and reliable guys the past two seasons. He is one of our team captains because of his leadership abilities both in the classroom and on the field. Brian finished strong last season as one of our offensive leaders and was a key part during in our conference and post season success. He will play in center field for us this year and will also help contribute at the top of the order. Ernie is a very important part of our team and we are excited to have him back for one more year.'
From the Coaches[apos] Suite
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Summer 2006: Played for the Winchester Royals of the Valley League....Was second on the team in hitting at .288....Played in 38 games, getting 36 starts....Scored 20 runs, had 42 hits, eight doubles,13 walks and 15 strikeouts....Stole six bases in nine attempts, had a .358 on base percentage, and made just two errors in 64 chances in the field....Was named to the All-Valley League team.
2006 (Sophomore): Fourth on the team in hitting at .305....Tied for second on the team in runs (30), tied for third in hits (60), and sixth in total bases (73)....Made just one error in 56 total chances in the field and also recorded an outfield assist, one of 13 for Nittany Lion outfielders....Played and started in 50 games, the fifth most on the team, but missed the last three games of the year after running into the wall while making a catch at Ohio State (5-19)....Was caught just once in seven stolen base attempts....Fifth on the team in multiple-hit games with 16, which included seven two-hit games, seven three-hit games, one four-hit and one five-hit game....His seven three-hit games were the second most on the team....Also had four multi-RBI games....Hit in six different spots in the lineup, the majority of which came at the leadoff (25), fifth and sixth spots (10 each)....Was moved to the leadoff spot in the order vs. Iowa (4-9), and then hit .370 (17-for-46) with a .500 slugging percentage in the next 10 games after being moved to the leadoff spot....Started 39 games in right field, six at DH and five in center field....Had an eight-game hitting streak from April 2-April 15 and also hit in 19 of 23 games from March 8-April 21, hitting .355 (33-for-93) during that 23-game span....Scored three runs in a game twice....Struck out only four times in his last 24 games, spanning his last 97 at-bats of the year....Was the team[apos]s leading hitter for a good part of the season, hitting as high as .372 on April 1....One of four players to hit over .300 for the season....Collected a hit in 32 of his 50 games....Named to the Academic All-Big Ten team.
Game-by-Game Highlights: Went 3-for-5 with a run scored in the first game of the year at Tulane (2-17)....Hit .500 (4-for-8) in the Tulane series....Went 3-for-5 vs. West Virginia (2-26) and had a 3-for-4 day in the next game vs. Bowling Green (3-4)....Went 4-for-6 with three runs scored and a pair of doubles in the win over Sacred Heart (3-5)....Had three straight multiple-hit games against West Virginia, Bowling Green, and Sacred Heart, going 10-for-15 in that three-game span....Had a pair of RBI and went 3-for-5 with a run at Furman (3-19)....Began Big Ten play with a pair of two-hit games at Minnesota (3-31 and 4-1) in Penn State[apos]s two wins vs. the Gophers....Started his eight-game hitting streak with single hits in five straight games beginning at Minnesota (4-2)....Slugged the game-winning double in the bottom of the sixth inning in a curfew-shortened game to give Penn State an 11-10 win over Iowa (4-9)....Went 3-for-3 with three runs and was on base in all four plate appearances in a win over Duquesne (4-12)....Went 2-for-6 in a ninth-inning victory over Michigan State (4-14)....Became the first Penn State player since 2000 to collect five hits in a game when he went 5-for-6 along with a triple, an RBI, and two runs vs. Michigan State (4-16)....Was the only player to have five hits in a game in 2006....Hit .381 (8-for-21) in the series vs. the Spartans....Went 3-for-6 in a 12-1 win at Northwestern (4-21) and also went 2-for-6 with a pair of runs and RBI along with his first career home run in a 15-5 win vs. the Wildcats (4-23)....Stole two bases in the win over Bucknell (4-25)....Went 5-for-17 with a pair of multi-hit games in the series split at Purdue (5-6 - 5-8)....Went 3-for-4 in a win over Big Ten champion Michigan (5-13).
2005 (Freshman): First career hit against UNC-Charlotte (2/19); Hit 2-for-5 with a run and a walk in win over Southern Utah (3/10); Doubled earning a run and two RBIs with one hit in three at bats in win against Delaware (3/19); Had two hits, a double and a run in five at bats against James Madison (3/26 Game 1); Singled, scored a run and drove in a run in win vs. St. Bonaventure (3/29); Went 2-for-4 with a walk, two runs scored, a stolen base and an RBI in win vs. Bucknell (3/30); Went 3-for-4 with an RBI, a double and a stolen base in win at Northwestern (4/9); Singled, doubled twice, scored two runs and had an RBI in win over Minnesota (4/15); Went 2-for-4 with a run scored, a double and a stolen base in win over Minnesota (4/16 Game 2); Tied a career high with three hits and set a career high with three RBIs vs. Ohio State (4/8 Game 1); Named to the Academic All-Big Ten team.
Boyertown HS: Combined .409 batting average; All-Berks County, Team Champions sophomore year ([apos]01); All-Berks County Team, Berks County Carpenter Cup Selection junior year; All-PAC 10, state qualifier, Carpenter Cup Champions senior year ([apos]03); Earned three varsity letters, four years Honor Roll, member of National Honor Society; Played football (2 years) and wrestled (2 years); Three-time Carpenter Cup selection; Named to the All-East All-Star team; Graduated with a 4.2 grade point average.
Background: Brian Edward Ernst was born February 3, 1985, in Boyertown, Pa.; Son of Edward and Debbie Ernst, Sister Jennifer (25); Brian is majoring in accounting.