April 17, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State baseball (15-20, 4-5) will host the Bucknell Bison in a midweek contest at 6:05 p.m. on Wednesday. The Nittany Lions look to make it 18-straight against the Bison, last being defeated in 1998. The Lions are coming off a successful 2-1 weekend series win against the Michigan Wolverines.
Wednesday's contest can be heard on ESPN Radio 1450 State College with Loren Crispell and Brian Tripp calling the action. The game will be also available to view via BTN.com's "Student U" broadcast. Live stats will be available via a Gametracker link on GoPSUSports.com. In addition, fans can follow @psubaseball on Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates.
It will be Greek Night at the ballpark. In addition, fans in attendance will receive a Penn State whiffle ball and bat while supplies last. Individual game tickets for Adult General Admission start at just $4 and just $2 for youth. Student tickets are just $2 as well. Single game tickets can be purchased at the Spikes' box office or via a link on the tickets page on GoPSUSports.com.
Penn State enters Wednesday's contest with a recent 2-1 big series victory over Michigan this past weekend. On Sunday afternoon, Penn State seniors Jordan Steranka (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Sean Deegan (Readington, N.J.) once again played heroic roles in the Nittany Lions' huge 6-4 victory over the Wolverines. With the Lions trailing in the seventh, Deegan hit a two-run bomb to put Penn State up. Steranka added insurance with a homer in the eighth. On Saturday, the Nittany Lions broke out with a 14-run and 17-hit performance to top Michigan, 14-1. Sophomore Joe Kurrasch (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) had a great effort on the mound for the Nittany Lions, allowing just four hits and one earned run in seven-plus innings of work. Senior Joey DeBernardis (Lake Zurich, Ill.) went 4-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored. Steranka collected three hits and two homers to go along with five RBI in the victory.
Senior Mike Franklin (Harleysville, Pa.) will get his sixth start on the hill for the Nittany Lions this season. Franklin enters Wednesday's game with a 2-2 record in five starts and six appearances overall. The senior is coming off a six-inning effort in a 5-3 loss at Pittsburgh last Wednesday. Franklin has allowed no more than four runs in any of his starts this season.
Bucknell enters Wednesday's contest with a 19-19 overall record and a 6-6 mark in Patriot League play. The Bison are hitting a solid .302 as a team and have five batters that are swinging at .300 clip or better. Leading the way for the Bison is Bob Donato, who is hitting .391 with six homers and 30 RBI this season. Donato leads the Patriot League in hits and homeruns while sitting second in the League in RBI. Rob Krentzman is also an elite hitter in the Bison lineup, as he is batting .360 with nine RBI this season. Krentzman is coming off a three RBI performance against Lehigh this past weekend, as the Bison took two of three from the Mountain Hawks.
Penn State holds a 119-28-1 all-time advantage on the Bison, which includes 17-straight victories for the Nittany Lions in the series. Bucknell last defeated Penn State back in 1998. The last eight contests have been played on the University Park campus. Penn State clipped the Bison last year by a score of 7-3 at Medlar Field.
Follow Penn State baseball on Twitter: www.twitter.com/psubaseball.