May 2, 2013
Minnesota Series Notes / / Listen Live
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Playing its second consecutive Big Ten series, the Penn State baseball team will host Minnesota in Happy Valley for a three-game set this weekend. The Nittany Lions (11-28, 2-13 Big Ten) will face the Gophers (26-14, 9-3 Big Ten) on Friday, May 3 at 6:05 p.m. at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park to kick off the series. Saturday's first pitch is slated for 2:05 p.m., while Sunday's contest has been moved up to noon.
Promotions: The Minnesota series is Little League Weekend, with $1 tickets for any local Little League player, coach or parent all weekend long. Friday is $1 Dog Night and will feature post-game fireworks, as well as FREE appetizer vouchers from The Texas Roadhouse while supplies last. Friday will also serve as a Code Blue Blast, with students earning 3 Code Blue points when they swipe in. All children are welcome to run the bases following Saturday and Sunday's contests.
Links: All contests will be available via and Listen Live at GoPSUsports.com, as well as updated at the @PennStateBASE Twitter account.
Last Time Out: Despite dropping a three-game series to Ohio State last weekend, the Lions outhit the Buckeyes 32-27 and posted a .296 team batting average. Freshman Tyler Kendall (Boynton Beach, Fla.) and redshirt freshman Ryky Smith (York, Pa.) each posted a .500 average in their respective appearances, with Smith earning three RBIs on his second career double in the 10-8 loss. Junior Zach Ell (Plains, Pa.) recorded his first career home run in the contest, going 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs. Also notching a home run in the Ohio State series, junior Alex Farkes (Boston, Mass.) stepped in to pinch hit in the 8-3 loss on Saturday, and concluded the weekend with three hits, three runs and an RBI.
Several Lions hit above. 300 over the three-game set, including senior Luis Montesinos (Miami, Fla.; .400), sophomore Taylor Skerpon (Sayre, Pa.; .333), redshirt junior Steve Snyder (West Chester, Pa.; .308) and redshirt senior Elliot Searer (Lewistown, Pa.; .308). Snyder and Searer each collected four hits and a double, with Searer posting two RBIs to move to 15 on the season. Snyder now leads the squad with 43 hits and 20 runs. Sophomore J.C. Coban (Boca Raton, Fla.), who holds a team-best 21 RBIs, Montesinos and Snyder have now combined for 125 hits, 52 RBIs and 50 runs this season.
PSU Rotation: Making the start on Friday, sophomore T.J. Jann (Westford, Mass.) is coming off of a 7.0-inning performance against the Buckeyes, where he allowed just five hits and two earned runs while striking out three. Jann currently holds a 3.65 ERA with a 1-5 record on the season, allowing 38 hits and 22 earned runs in 46.0 innings of work. Senior Steven Hill (Colleyville, Texas), who was sidelined by an injury last weekend against OSU, will take the mound on Saturday, while junior Greg Welsh (Holland, Pa.) will make his seventh start of the season on Sunday. Welsh, sitting with a 3.62 ERA, has now allowed 40 hits and 15 earned runs in 37.1 innings with 33 strikeouts.
Scouting the Gophers: Minnesota most recently captured a 2-1 conference series against Iowa, winning 10-2 and 9-5 following an extra-inning, 10-9 loss to the Hawkeyes. The Gophers, who have gone 8-2 in their last 10 contests, are led by senior Andy Henkemeyer. Henkemeyer holds a team-best .318 batting average, as well as 47 hits, 22 runs and 22 RBIs. Freshman Connor Schaefbauer, recently named Big Ten Rookie of the Week, and redshirt senior Kurt Schlangen are each hitting over .300 and have combined for 63 hits, 28 RBIs and 27 runs. Six individual Gophers have each collected over 30 hits this season, including redshirt sophomore Michael Handel, who boasts 40 hits, 22 runs, 17 RBIs and a team-high three home runs.
Minnesota Rotation: Making his 11th start of the season, Tom Windle will face off against Jann on Friday, currently holding a 2.00 ERA and a 5-2 record. The junior has given up 42 hits and 15 earned runs while striking out a team-best 65 batters. Windle is first in the Big Ten in strikeouts and opposing batting average (.179), while his 2.00 ERA is fourth in the conference. Junior Alex Crawford will make the start on Saturday, sitting with a 2.73 ERA and a 2-1 record after 26.1 innings of action. Crawford has allowed 22 hits and eight earned runs while walking six and striking out 10. Holding a team-best 1.74 ERA, junior D.J. Snelten will take the mound on Sunday. Snelten has struck out 23 while allowing 20 hits and just six earned runs in 31.0 innings. Sophomore Ty McDevitt and redshirt freshman Lance Thonvold lead the Minnesota bullpen, boasting respective ERAs of 1.74 and 2.55. McDevitt has struck out 31 and allowed six earned runs in 27.1 innings, while Thonvold has struck out 20 with seven earned runs in 24.2 innings.
All-Time Series: The Gophers hold an all-time record of 38-25 against Penn State, dating back to PSU's Big Ten debut in 1992. The Lions took the conference series, 2-1, last season, defeating the Gophers 4-3 and 5-1 at Minnesota.
Up Next: The Lions will travel to Akron on Tuesday, May 7 for a non-conference game before heading to Illinois on Friday, May 10 for the final Big Ten road trip of the regular season.
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.