- Wichita State Series Notes(.PDF)
| Brian Ernst had his second career three-RBI game last weekend at North Carolina. |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; March 8, 2007 - After picking up their first win over a ranked team since the 2002 season last weekend at No. 1 North Carolina, the Penn State baseball team will play their second ranked team in as many weekends as the Nittany Lions head to Wichita State for a three-game series this Friday-Sunday. The Shockers are ranked anywhere from No. 11 to No. 25 in the four major polls.
The Wichita State series will be the first three of seven games that the Nittany Lions will play on their spring break trip. Following Sunday's game, Penn State will head to Kansas for a Tuesday afternoon game, followed by three games at Oral Roberts next Thursday-Saturday to finish off the trip.
Penn State will be playing Wichita State for the first time in program history. The Shockers enter this weekend with a 10-4 record.
The Nittany Lions are 2-5 after winning one out of three games at North Carolina last weekend. Craig Clark (Phoenixville, Pa.) is the reigning Big Ten Pitcher of the Week and his pitching performance on Saturday, in which he went eight innings allowing just four hits and two runs, was named the Northeast Regional Performance of the Week by the online pitching magazine InsidePitching.com.
At the plate, Matt Cavagnaro (Brightwaters, N.Y.) leads the team in hitting through seven games with a .375 average. He has hit in all seven games this year and will carry a career-best 10-game hitting streak into the Wichita State series dating back to last year. Brian Ernst (Boyertown, Pa.) tied a career high with three RBIs in Sunday's series finale with the Tar Heels while Rob Yodice (Staten Island, N.Y.) came with one of the biggest hits for Penn State in recent years with his game-tying, two-out home run in the top of the ninth inning of Saturday's game.
Ryan Stobart (Barrington, Ill.) is scheduled to make his first start for Penn State on Friday. He will be followed in the rotation by Clark on Saturday and Scott Gaffney (Westbury, N.Y.) on Sunday.