Feb. 21, 2008
Coach Wine's weekly podcast
University Park, Pa. - After a preseason filled with more national recognition that any in recent memory, the Penn State baseball team will finally lace up the spikes for real this weekend as the Nittany Lions open their 134th season of intercollegiate baseball with a three-game series at High Point. The baseball program, which is Penn State's oldest intercollegiate sport, is entering its fourth year under the direction of head coach Robbie Wine.
The Nittany Lions have been picked to finish second in the Big Ten by Collegiate Baseball, third by Rivals.com and fourth by Baseball America. Penn State is coming off a largely successful 2007 season that saw it set a school record for wins with 20, finish in a tie for second in the Big Ten with a 20-10 conference record, which was tied for the second-best Big Ten finish in school history, and post a 10.5-game improvement from the previous season, which was tied for the 10th best turnaround in the country.
Four of Penn State's five All-Big Ten honorees from last year return, led by first teamer and 2008 All-American candidate Drew O'Neil. O'Neil has been named to the preseason watch lists for three major awards including the Brooks Wallace Award, the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award and the Golden Spikes Award. He is also a preseason All-American by Collegiate Baseball and by Ping!Baseball. Also returning to Penn State from the All-Big Ten teams last year is second teamer Seth Whitehill and third teamers Joe Blackburn and Brian Ernst.
Seth Whitehill was a second team All-Big Ten selection last year. |
The 2008 season marks the first year with the new universal starting date in college baseball. In previous seasons, many schools around the country would open the season as early at late January. This year, all Division I schools with the exception of Hawaii and Hawaii-Hilo, which both started the season last weekend, will open the year this weekend.
Opening weekend will take the Nittany Lions back to the state of North Carolina this year. It will mark the fourth straight year that Penn State has played in North Carolina in either the first or second weekend of the season. This year's opponent, High Point, was picked to finish fifth in the Big South Conference in the conference's preseason coaches poll. The Panthers are coming off a 2007 season that saw them finish 27-30 overall, 10-11 in the Big South. The Panthers are coached by Sal Bando, Jr., who like Penn State skipper Robbie Wine, is an Oklahoma State alum.
Penn State is slated to start junior college transfer Mike Wanamaker on Friday afternoon. He is scheduled to be followed by Mike Lorentson on Saturday, who will make his first start as a Nittany Lion after spending last year as a relief pitcher. Sunday's probable starter is to be announced by it will likely be between righthanders Seth Whitehill, Ryan Stobart and T.J. Macy.
Friday's game will begin at 4:00 p.m. while Saturday is scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. first pitch and Sunday's contest will start at 1:00 p.m. Live stats will be available on High Point's athletics website, highpointpanthers.com. A live video webcast is also scheduled to be available through the Big South's website, bigsouthsports.com, however this is a premium service offered by the Big South and therefore includes a fee. Visit the Big South's website for more information.