- Iowa Series Notes(.PDF)
| Paul Hawkins was part of the outstanding effort of the Penn State bullpen over two non-conference games this week, throwing three scoreless innings of relief. |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; April 5, 2007 - After picking up some momentum with a pair of victories in two midweek games this week, the Penn State baseball team (7-15, 1-2 Big Ten)will be back on the road for the first time in three weekends as the Nittany Lions head to Iowa for their first Big Ten road series of the year.
Penn State won on Tuesday by a 6-5 score over Bucknell and then topped Kent State by a 9-3 count on Wednesday night in a game that was finished in a snow shower. Cold temperatures will once be present this weekend in Iowa City as the forecast calls for temparatures in the low 30s on Friday and Saturday and in the lower to mid 40s on Sunday. No precipitation is called for, however, making it quite likely that all four games will be played. To help with the cold temperatures, Friday's game has been moved from a 7:00 p.m. (ET) start to a 4:00(ET)/3:00 (CT) start.
In this week's two non-conference games, Penn State hit .344 as a team, led by Joe Blackburn, (Sinking Spring, Pa.) who went 5-for-7 and reached base safely in seven of his nine plate appearances. Blackburn has also reached base in 10 of his last 13 plate appearances. Cory Wine (Stillwater, Okla.) went 4-for-7 while Mike Deese (Roswell, Ga.) was 5-for-9 over the two games.
The Penn State pitching was also solid, as the Lion bullpen threw five scoreless innings on Wednesday without allowing a hit. In a tuneup for a start this weekend, Scott Gaffney (Westbury, N.Y.) picked up his second win of the year by throwing three innings and allowing just one unearned run while on a pitch count on Tuesday. Matt Ogrodnik (Saltsburg, Pa.) picked up the win on Wednesday in relief, his second career win and his first since his first career appearance in 2005. Drew O'Neil (Roswell, Ga.) finished both games, picking up a save on Tuesday and ending both games by inducing double play balls.
Iowa enters this weekend's series with an 11-8 overall record and a 1-3 mark in Big Ten play after dropping three out of four games at Ohio State last weekend. The Hawkeyes are last in the conference in ERA with a 7.54 mark but something will give this weekend as Penn State is 10th in hitting at .256 after facing several of the country's top pitchers during the early non-conference portion of the schedule. Since Penn State started its home schedule, however, the Lions are hitting a better .288 and are hitting the aforementioned .344 over the last two games.
One area that Penn State has proven to be very proficient in all year long is on the basepaths as the Nittany Lions have stolen 21 bases in just 26 attempts. They have also been successful on their last eight straight attempts.