April 9, 2015
| PENN STATE vs. MICHIGAN | |
| Friday, Apr. 10 - 5:00 p.m. ET | |
| Saturday, Apr. 11 - 2:00 p.m. ET | |
| Sunday, Apr. 12 - 1:00 p.m. ET | |
| Medlar Field at Lubrano Park | University Park, Pa. | |
| GAME DAY LINKS |
TV: ESPN2 -->Game 1: | Live Audio | BTN2GoGame 2: | Live AudioGame 3: | Live AudioBaseball Blog | Baseball VideosFollow Us: @PennStateBASE | Facebook | InstagramGameday Central
Game Notes: Penn State | MichiganStatistics: Penn State | Michigan
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (8-18, 1-4 B1G)
vs. MICHIGAN WOLVERINES (19-13, 4-5 B1G)
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -Playing on the Big Ten Network for the first time this season Friday, Penn State will host Big Ten foe Michigan in a three-game series opening Friday at 5 p.m. in Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. The series will continue Saturday at 2 p.m. and conclude Sunday at 1 p.m.
COVERAGE
TV
Big Ten Network
Location: National
Dates: April 10
Talent: Andy Masur, Jack Dahm
Radio
WQWK-AM/ESPN Radio 1450
Location: State College, Pa.
Dates: All
Talent: Brian Tripp, Joe Garafolo
Internet
Video: BTN2Go (Apr. 10)
Audio: GoPSUsports.com
Twitter: @PennStateBASE
Facebook: PennState Baseball
Instagram: @PennStateBASE
On the Mound:
Fri., April 10 - 5:00 p.m.
(U-M) RHP Jacob Cronenworth (2-2, 2.61) vs. (PSU) LHP Nick Hedge (0-4, 5.73)
SAT., April 11 - 2:00 p.m.
(U-M) RHP Ryan Nutof (2-3, 3.74) vs. (PSU) LHP Taylor Lehman (1-2, 7.09)
SUN., April 12 - 1:00 p.m.
(U-M) LHP Brett Adcock (3-3, 4.66) vs. (PSU) RHP Nick Distasio (1-3, 3.54)
Promotions: Friday - Ping pong ball giveaway and tournament; Saturday - Replica hat giveaway.
Last Time Out: Penn State took advantage of six walks and three hit batsmen with timely hitting to defeat Bucknell, 4-2, Tuesday. The win snapped a four-game losing streak. Freshman catcher Nick Graham, who was making his 10th career start, factored in on three of the four Penn State runs scored, including the go-ahead run. RHP Tom Mullin (2-0) earned the win in relief, yielding a run on three hits and two walks in three innings of work, while RHP Jack Anderson (1) worked out of a bases loaded jam in the eighth inning and retired the side in the ninth to earn his first save of the season.
Penn State was scheduled to play Lafayette Wednesday, but the game was postponed due to the threat of inclement weather. The Nittany Lions were swept in their last Big Ten outing at Ohio State, dropping the final two games in the bottom of the ninth.
All-Time Series vs. Michigan: This is the first meeting between the teams since 2013, when Michigan swept PSU in Ann Arbor. Penn State leads the all-time series though, holding a 50-43 overall record with a 20-19 advantage in University Park. Penn State took two of three in 2012 the last time Michigan visited Medlar Field.
Michigan at a Glance: Michigan enters the series with a 19-13 overall mark and a 4-5 record in the Big Ten. U-M was swept in its first league series against Nebraska, but took two of three from Maryland and Indiana in its most recent outings. The Wolverines lead the Big Ten in batting average (.301) and are second in slugging percentage (.426), on-base percentage (.384) and doubles (68). On the mound, U-M is sixth in ERA (3.66) and is fourth in strikeouts (242). Senior Jackson Glines is tied for second in the league in batting average (.376) and second in on-base percentage (.489) while sophomore Carmen Benedetti leads the Big Ten with 35 RBI. Junior Jacob Cronenworth is tied for second with 22 walks and is second with 34 runs scored.
Close Doesn't Count: Penn State's 4-2 win over Bucknell was its first this season by a margin of less than three runs. The Lions have struggled in close games, going 0-6 in one-run games and 1-10 in games decided by two runs or less. Penn State suffered two walk-off losses at Ohio State this past weekend.
Super Novak: Aaron Novak has been Penn State's top hitter, ranking fourth in the conference in batting (.371). He has two four hit games. At Charleston Southern (3/8), Novak became the fourth Nittany Lion to tally eight RBIs in a game (first since 1984), as he tallied two home runs and doubled as part of a 4-for-5 day at the plate. The totals were career highs, and his eight RBIs matched a team record. He also went 4-for-4 in the series opener with CCSU (3/27).
Streaking: Aaron Novak is looking to match his career and season long nine-game hitting streak. With hits in his last eight games, Novak is 13-for-33 (.394) with three doubles and eight RBIs, a .483 on-base percentage and .571 slugging percentage.
From Feb. 14 (Game 2) at Elon to Mar. 11 at No. 7 South Carolina, Novak assembled a career-best nine-game hitting streak. Novak batted .548 (17-for-31) with three homers, three doubles and 10 RBIs. His on-base percentage was .611 and his slugging percentage was .935.
In Guer: Greg Guers homered three times in a four-game stretch, going deep twice last week against Kent State (4/1) and again Monday at Ohio State. Guers is batting .295 with five doubles, a triple, the three home runs and 20 RBIs in the last 13 games. He was batting just .218 with five doubles and one RBI in his first 14 games.
Powering Up: Penn State hit just four home runs in its first 22 games, but with three home runs from Greg Guers and another from Aaron Novak, totaled four in four games (Apr. 1-6). The Lions only sent five out of the park last season. Guers homered twice in 2014 and was the only Nittany Lion to go deep in spacious Medlar Field, doing so once. His two homers against Kent State are the only PSU homers in Medlar this season. The opposition has just one homer in Medlar, a grand slam from Indiana`s Craig Dedelow, but Penn State rallied from a 7-0 deficit in that game to win 13-7
Senior Smith Heating Up: Ryky Smith saw his average dip to .167 after an 0-for-6 night at Pitt (3/17), but went 3-for-4 with four RBIs the following night in a win over Canisius (3/18). Since that game, Smith is batting a team-best .410 with four doubles and 13 RBIs.
Last Chance: When the going gets tough, the Lion bats heat up. With less than two outs, Penn State bats just .257, but improves to .274 when down to its final out. The Lions have 61 RBIs with two outs and 68 with less than two. Ryky Smith is the most clutch hitter on the team, batting a team-best .393 (11-for-28) with a team-best 11 RBIs. With less than two outs, Smith is 9-for-35 (.257) with just 4 RBIs.
The two-out success is the same for the Lion pitchers. Opponents are batting .228 with two outs, but .315 with less than two outs. Opponents have driven in just 35 of the 145 (24.1 percent) runs batted in this season with two outs.
Slow Starts, Strong Finishes: Penn State, has been outscored 53-9 in the first two innings, and 89-39 through the first four innings. The tables turn in the fifth inning and beyond though, as PSU holds a 113-74 advantage over its opponents, as well as a 51-27 advantage in the eighth inning and beyond. PSU has scored 30 runs in the eighth this season.
Second Inning Oddity: The Lions had not scored a run in the second inning in the first 25 games this season, but they have scored a run each in the second inning in each of their last two games (Ohio State, 4/6 and Bucknell, 4/7).