March 15, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State Baseball (3-11) will close out a 17-game road schedule to open the season with a three-game series at East Carolina this weekend. The Nittany Lions are coming off a tough 2-6 spring break trip, where they earned victories over Samford and UAB.
Sophomore Joe Kurrasch (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.), junior John Walter (Haddonfield, N.J.) and junior Steven Hill (Colleyville, Texas) will start on the mound for the Nittany Lions this weekend. Kurrasch will be making his first career start in a Penn State uniform.
In Penn State's 6-5 victory over UAB this past Sunday to snap its six-game losing streak, senior Jordan Steranka (Pittsburgh, Pa.) hit an RBI single in the top of the ninth inning to put the Nittany Lions in line to pick up the win. The Pittsburgh native also hit a two-run homer in the game.
Freshman Casey Kulina (Hummelstown, Pa.) entered the game in the ninth inning and got in a bases loaded jam with nobody out. The freshman turned in a gutsy performance and struck out the side to pick up the save. Hill had arguably the best start for a Nittany Lion starter this season, as he went 7.2 innings, giving up three earned runs. Hill fanned three batters and did not walk anybody. Sophomore Greg Welsh (Holland, Pa.) came in to relieve Hill and picked up the win.
Steranka has been swinging a very hot bat as of late. Over the last five games, he is hitting .429 with a homerun, four RBI and three doubles. He is slugging at a .714 clip over the span and has sported a 1.143 OPS. Steranka leads the team with a .356 overall batting average and is also tied for the team lead in home runs and doubles.
Lately, the freshmen have stepped up into big roles for Penn State. Along with Kulina, Aaron Novak (Ambler, Pa.) has started the last two games in right field for the Nittany Lions. On March 10 against UAB, Novak blasted a homer over the leftfield fence for his first career-hit as a Penn Stater. Novak recorded two hits in that game, which earned him a start the next day. In Penn State's win on March 11, Novak hit two singles and drove in a run to help the Lions pick up a big win over the Blazers. In addition, catcher JC Coban (Boca Raton, Fla.) has started the last four games at catcher for the Nittany Lions and earned his first career RBI over Spring Break.
East Carolina enters this weekend's series with a 11-4 overall record and is coming off an 18-11 barn burning loss over Virginia Commonwealth. Nevertheless, the Pirates have won six of its last eight games. East Carolina faced Purdue once earlier this season, dropping a 6-4 loss to the Boilermakers, who cracked the Baseball America Top 25 earlier this week.
The Pirates are hitting a solid .289 as a team and are led by Corey Thompson, who sports a .367 batting average with two homers, 12 RBI and three doubles. The Pirates do have a lot of power, hitting 11 home runs as a team and slugging at a .405 clip.
Student season tickets have been on sale at the HUB this week and continue through Friday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. each day. Season tickets are just $20 and each student that makes the purchase will get a Penn State Baseball three-quarters sleeve t-shirt, tickets to 22 home games, a free hot dog and soda at Friday home games and two batting practice sessions with the team. As of Wednesday, student season ticket sales have already doubled last year's total.
Season tickets for Adult General Admission start at just $63. For fans interested in the "In The Box" seats, those will start at $99. Youth General Admission tickets are the same cost as student season tickets, $20. Individual game tickets for Adult General Admission start at just $4 and just $2 for youth.
Penn State opens its 2012 home slate on Wed. March 21, as it hosts Pittsburgh. That game will be one of the seven "Dollar Dog Nights" of the season. Another feature for the season will be "Winning Weeknight Scratchoffs." The first 200 fans that show up to a weeknight game will receive a scratchoff ticket. Each ticket is a guaranteed winner of a Penn State Baseball prize.
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