April 30, 2008
University Park, Pa. - The Penn state baseball team will play its final scheduled non-conference game of the year on Wednesday as it travels to Villanova to take on the Wildcats in a 3:15 p.m. game. This year's game will mark the first meeting between the Nittany Lions and Wildcats since the 2006 season, also at Villanova. The teams were scheduled to play last year in State College but the game was rained out.
Penn State holds a 31-26 advantage over Villanova in the all-time series but Villanova has won the last four straight games. The teams had met for four straight years up until last year, with Villanova winning all four games. Penn State's last win in the series came in 2006.
The Nittany Lions will send right-hander John Karr to the mound on Wednesday for his first start of the year. Karr, who was also scheduled to start last year's game with the Wildcats before the rainout, missed the first half of this season while recovering from off-season surgery for an injury and has made five appearances out of the bullpen this year.
The Penn State offense is entering this game after it's best series of the year. The Nittany Lions hit .390 as a team, its third straight series of hitting over .300, in its four-game split with Illinois. Wes Borden enters the game on a 15-game hitting streak, the longest hitting streak for a Penn State player since 1998.
Following Wednesday's game, the Nittany Lions will return home to open up an eight-game homestand, beginning this weekend against Michigan State.