- Bucknell/Kent State Game Notes(.PDF)
| Matt Cavagnaro hit .600 in the Minnesota series and on the season has hit in 17 of Penn State's 20 games. |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; April 2, 2007 - After having the scheduled series finale against Minnesota rained out on Sunday, the Penn State baseball team will be back in action this week when the Nittany Lions host a pair of midweek games at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.
On Tuesday, the Nittany Lions will renew their most-played and longest running series as Bucknell comes to town for a 6:35 p.m. game. The Battle of Route 45 has been going on since the 1882 season, when Penn State and Bucknell first played in what is believed to be the first win in the history of the Penn State baseball program. This will be the 21st straight year that the Lions and Bison have met and it will be the 142nd all-time meeting.
Scott Gaffney, (Westbury, N.Y.) who missed his scheduled start on Sunday due to the rainout, will get the start on Tuesday in a tune-up start for his scheduled start this weekend at Iowa. Gaffney has not pitched since the final game of the spring break trip or Oral Roberts on March 17th.
On Wednesday, the Nittany Lions will host Kent State out the Mid-American Conference for the first time in school history. The Golden Flashes will play at Cleveland State on Tuesday before heading to Happy Valley for a 5:05 p.m. game.
Gary Amato (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) is scheduled to make his first start since his freshman year on Wednesday and just his third career start. He started a pair of games in 2005, winning one and losing one but has pitched exclusively in relief for most of his career. He was second on the team in appearances last year and led the team in wins.
Matt Cavagnaro (Brightwaters, N.Y.) had a good series at the plate against Minnesota, hitting .600 in the series. On the year, he has hit in 17 of Penn State's 20 games.
Following this week's games, Penn State will have just one home game over the next two weeks as the Nittany Lions will be on the road for the next two weekends of Big Ten play. They will host Temple next Wednesday night, however. Their next weekend series will be April 20-22 against Northwestern. That weekend is also Blue-White Weekend and will also be the Alumni Reunion and Celebration Weekend.
Because of the Tuesday night game, there will be a slight change of programming with regards to the weekly shows "Inside the Pride" and "The Robbie Wine Show." "Inside the Pride," which normally airs from 6-6:30 on the Sports Jam Network and on GoPSUsports.com, will now air from 6-6:15 p.m. "The Robbie Wine Show," which normally airs from 6:30-7 p.m. on the same outlets, will air from 6:15-6:30 p.m. The show will be taped this week and will lead right up to the pre-game show for the Penn State-Bucknell game at 6:30 with the first pitch coming at 6:35. Tuesday's game can be heard on both WBLF 970, WKVA 920 and on GoPSUsports.com while Wednesday's game vs. Kent State will be an internet-only broadcast.