Aug. 25, 2011
UNiverSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State baseball team released its 2012 schedule on Thursday, which includes at least 10 against `11 NCAA Tournament teams, highlighted by a two-game series at Mississippi State. Robbie Wine, who enters his eighth season as head coach, leads his squad against 11 different conferences. The Lions will play 23 home games at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park including clashes against conference foes Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan and Illinois.
Penn State opens its season on Feb. 17-19 when it travels to St. Petersburg, Fla. to participate in the Big Ten/Big EAST Baseball Challenge for the fifth-straight year. The Nittany Lions' opponents have not been determined for those three games yet. Five days later, Penn State will head to UNC Greensboro for a three-game clash with the Spartans on Feb. 24.
Penn State's Spring Trip will last from March 3-11, as it will spend time in Birmingham, Ala. and Starksville, Miss. The Nittany Lions will open the trip with a three-game series against Samford University. Following that, Penn State will head over to Mississippi State to take on the Bulldogs on March 6 and 7. From there, theLions will go back to Birmingham to take on UAB to close out the trip.
The Lions remain on the road the following weekend, as they travel to Greenville, N.C. to take on the East Carolina Pirates in a three-game series. Penn State will make its home debut on March 21 when it hosts Pittsburgh in a mid-week game. Two days later, the Nittany Lions will open up Big Ten play when they host Indiana on the University Park campus.
Penn State will then have a string of four road games, including three at Purdue from March 30 to April 1. Two days later, Penn State will head to the state of Ohio for a mid-week game with the Kent State Golden Flashes. The Golden Flashes made it into the NCAA Tournament last season after winning their conference.
The Nittany Lions will have a week off in Big Ten play as they will host Canisius in three games the weekend of April 4. Penn State will then travel to Pittsburgh for a game on April 11.
Following the game with Pitt, Penn State returns to the friendly confines for five games, against Michigan (3), LaSalle (1) and Bucknell (1). The Lions will then make the trip to Iowa City to take on the Iowa Hawkeyes in a three-game series (April 20-22).
A key series will come at home on April 27 as the Nittany Lions host the Ohio State Buckeyes. Two of the final three Big Ten series will be road trips for Penn State this year, beginning at Minnesota on May 4-6, home against defending Big Ten champion Illinois on May 11-13, and at Michigan State on May 17-19.
The Big Ten tournament is set for May 23-27 in Columbus, Ohio. After qualifying last season, Penn State will look to make a run this year in search of its first Big Ten Title in program history.
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