April 16, 2013
Bucknell Game Notes / / Listen Live
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - After severe weather conditions shut down its April 10 contest, the Penn State baseball team will again welcome Bucknell to Medlar Field at Lubrano Park for a non-conference, midweek game. The Nittany Lions (7-24, 0-9 Big Ten) will take on the Bison (12-23, 7-5 Patriot League) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 17.
Links: Wednesday's contest will be available via and Listen Live at GoPSUsports.com, as well as updated at the @PennStateBASE Twitter account.
Last Time Out: The Lions dropped a three-game series to Big Ten foe Michigan over the weekend, falling 5-1, 3-2 and 8-1. Senior Luis Montesinos (Miami, Fla.) led Penn State at the plate, batting .400 with four hits, one double and one run scored. Junior Alex Farkes (Boston, Mass.), freshman James Coates (Girard, Ohio) and sophomore Aaron Novak (Ambler, Pa.) each went 3-for-9 over the weekend set, combining for two runs and two RBIs, with Novak extending a six-game hitting streak. Leading the PSU pitching staff, redshirt sophomore T.J. Jann (Westford, Mass.) recorded a fantastic outing of 7.0 scoreless innings, improving to an ERA of 3.79. Jann allowed just five hits while striking out four. Senior Steven Hill (Colleyville, Texas) pitched a complete game of 8.0 innings in the close 3-2 loss on Saturday, allowing eight hits and three earned runs while striking out four.
Lion Stats: Jann and Hill continue to lead Penn State as weekend rotation regulars, with junior Greg Welsh (Holland, Pa.) remaining as the Sunday starter with a 3.12 ERA and 1-3 record on the season. Coming out of the bullpen, redshirt seniors Cody Lewis (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) and Dave Walkling (Nanaimo, B.C.) hold respective ERAs of 2.45 and 4.18. Lewis has appeared in a team-high 13 appearances with an opposing batting average of .200, while Walkling has fired 28.0 innings with an opposing batting average of .230. Freshman Nick Hedge (Winnetka, Ill.) is expected to make the start on Wednesday, currently holding a 4.76 ERA after 17.0 innings in eight appearances. The rookie has allowed 17 hits and nine earned runs while striking out five.
Holding a team-best batting average of .296, sophomore J.C. Coban (Boca Raton, Fla.) co-leads the team along with redshirt Steve Snyder (West Chester, Pa.) with 32 hits. Coban and Montesinos each hold 16 RBIs, with Coates leading with 16 runs. Seven Lions have collected over 20 hits this season, while seven have tallied at least 10 runs.
Scouting the Bison: Coming off of an extra-inning, 5-4 victory over Towson on Tuesday, Bucknell sits with a 13-23 overall record with a 7-5 mark in the Patriot League. The Bison topped the Tigers following a 2-1 series win over Lehigh, with Carter Bumgardner leading the squad with a .330 batting average and 21 RBIs. Travis Clark holds a team-best 43 hits, while Corey Furman sits close behind with 41 and a team-high 24 runs scored. The trio of Bumgardner, Clark and Furman has combined for a total of 120 hits, 62 runs and 52 RBIs this season. Bucknell's starter for Wednesday's contest has yet to be determined.
All Time Series: Penn State will face Bucknell for the 150th time in program history on Wednesday, with the Lions sitting with a 19-1 record in the last 20 contests and an overall record of 120-28-1. The last time the two squads met, the Lions topped the Bison 2-0 on April 18, 2012 at Medlar Field.
Up Next: Following Penn State's battle with the Bison, the Lions will host Iowa for a three-game Big Ten series from April 19-21. Friday's first pitch is slated for 6:05 p.m. to kick of Blue-White weekend.
Tickets: Season tickets for students are just $20, with Student General Admission tickets starting at $2 and Student Bleacher tickets at $1. Season tickets for Adult General Admission start at $63, while Adult General Admission tickets are sold for $4. For fans interested in the Diamond Club "In the Box" seats, single games start at $6 and season tickets will be sold for $99. Youth General Admission and Season tickets are the same cost as student tickets. Single game tickets can be purchased at the Spikes' Box Office or via the Tickets page on GoPSUSports.com.
Check back to GoPSUSports.com for continued updates during the 2013 season. Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/PennStateBASE and find us on Facebook at facebook.com/pennstatebaseball.