May 7, 2015
| PENN STATE at MICHGAN STATE | |
| Friday, May 8 - 12:05 p.m. ET | |
| Saturday, May 9 - 12:05 p.m. ET | |
| Sunday, May 10 - 12:05 p.m. ET | |
| McLane Baseball Stadium at Kobs Field | East Lansing, Mich. | |
| GAME DAY LINKS |
| Game 1: | Live Audio | Live Video |
| Game 2: | Live Audio | Live Video |
| Game 3: | Live Audio | Live Video |
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| Gameday Central |
| Game Notes: Penn State |Michigan State |
| Statistics: Penn State | Michigan State |
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS (17-26, 5-12 B1G)
at MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS (29-18, 11-7 B1G)
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State will conclude the regular season on the road, opening a six-game road trip with a three-game series at Michigan State that begins Friday at 12:05 p.m. Fans can listen to the games on State College's ESPN Radio 1450 or watch or listen online at GoPSUsports.com.
COVERAGE
TV
Nonel
Radio
WQWK-AM/ESPN Radio 1450
Location: State College, Pa.
Dates: All
Talent: Brian Tripp
Internet
Video: GoPSUsports.com
Audio: GoPSUsports.com
Twitter: @PennStateBASE
Facebook: PennState Baseball
Instagram: @PennStateBASE
On the Mound:
FRI., Mau 8 - 12:05 p.m. ET
(MSU) LHP Cam Vieaux (4-5, 3.19) vs. (PSU) LHP Nick Hedge (2-6, 5.49)
SAT., May 9 - 12:05 p.m. ET
(MSU) RHP Mich Van Vossen (4-4, 5.20) vs. (PSU) LHP Taylor Lehman (1-4, 7.19)
SUN., May 10 - 12:05 p.m. ET
(MSU) LHP Jeff Kinley (3-2, 3.35) vs. (PSU) RHP Dakota Forsyth (1-1, 5.14)
Poor Forecast: Inclement weather is forecasted for the entire weekend, so all three games in the series are now slated to start at 12:05 p.m. McLane Stadium does not have lights, so there will be a finite window to get the games in.
All-Time Series vs. Michigan State: Penn State trails the Spartans in the all-time series, winning 33 games and losing 44. The last time Penn State swept Michigan State was during the 2010 season, as Penn State won each of the three games by eight runs or more. However, the Lions have not completed the feat on the road, and the Spartans have won six out of the last seven meetings, including the last four straight. The two teams firts met in 1920, but did not meet again until Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1992. PSU is 15-19 in East Lansing.
Michigan State at a Glance: The Spartans saw a seven-game winning streak come to an end in its last outing against Purdue, but are 17-5 in their last 22 games. Their lone Big Ten series losses are to Illinois and Ohio State, but they managed to win one game in both. MSU is 10-4 at home. Ryan Krill is riding a 12-game hitting streak and has the top numbers on the team, batting .348 with nine home runs and 48 RBIs.
Tourney Target: After a three-game sweep of Rutgers, the Nittany Lions are back in the hunt for a berth in the Big Ten tournament. PSU currently sits 10th in the 13-team league, and the top eight will advance to Target Field for the conference tourney May 20-24. Mathematically, a myriad of scenarios exist. To put it simply, with six games left, the best PSU can finish is 11-12 (.478), and presently the seventh and eighth teams - Indiana (9-10, .474) and Nebraska (8-10, .444) - respectively both own sub-.500 winning percentages, so that record should be good enough. It is mathematically impossible for PSU to contend with any of the top six teams, so the Lions will be looking to move past Indiana, Nebraska and Minnesota (7-11, .389), while keeping Rutgers (5-13, .278), Northwestern (5-13, .278) and Purdue (2-16, .111) in the rear view mirror.
Rooting for Rivals: With the Lions needing help to get in the B1G tournament, the Lion faithful will need to cheer for teams they are not used to cheering for. Indiana is playing non-conference this weekend, so fans will need to root for Ohio State against the Hoosiers 5/14-16. Nebraska hosts Purdue this weekend and will be at Illinois 5/14-16 to conclude the season, so PSU fans will need to root for the Boilermakers and Illini in those matchups. Minnesota takes on Iowa (5/8-10) and Michigan State (5/14-16), so the Blue and White will be pulling for the Hawkeyes and Spartans. Northwestern and Rutgers both face tough tests to conclude their seasons, as the Wildcats take on Michigan and Maryland, and the Scarlet Knights will take on Illinois and Iowa.
Last Time Out: Penn State extended its winning streak to four games with a three-game sweep of Rutgers. Penn State scored four runs in the fourth inning and four more in the seventh to defeat Rutgers, 8-1, Friday night. Penn State broke the scoreless game open in the fourth, as Greg Guers led the frame off with a solo home run, and Tyler Kendall concluded it with a two-RBI double. Trailing 9-1 entering the bottom of the fourth inning Saturday, Penn State scored 11 runs over the next three innings for its largest comeback win of the season to defeat Rutgers, 12-10. PSU scored seven runs in the bottom of the fourth to key the comeback, highlighted by a bases-clearing triple by Guers. The Nittany Lions matched their season high of 18 hits previously set in the season opener, led by Jim Haley, who went 4-for-5 with a triple, double, two singles and three runs scored. A "blue collar" play by senior Ryan Richter ignited a three-run eighth inning Saturday, as the Nittany Lions prevailed on Senior Day in a back-and-forth game, 8-5. The game saw three ties and three lead changes in the sixth through eighth innings. RHP Jack Anderson, who earned saves Friday and Saturday pitched the final 1 1/3 innings.
Break Out the Brooms: PSU earned its first three-game series sweep since May 2012 against Illinois after taking three from Central Connecticut. The sweep of Rutgers marked Penn State's first B1G sweep since the aforementioned Illinois sweep.
Blue and White Submarine: RHP Jack Anderson has established himself as Penn State's top pitcher, impacting games with strong innings out of the bullpen. His 2.59 ERA leads the team and ranks eighth in the Big Ten, while his 48 2/3 innings pitched rank second on the team. He pitched in all four games last week (Pitt 4/29, Rutgers 5/1-3) totaling 9 2/3 innings of work. In 6 2/3 innings against Rutgers, he did not allow a run and earned two saves and a win. With 11 career saves, he is tied for third in program history with Shawn Fagan (1997-00). Drew O'Neil (2007-08) is the record holder, while Clint Eury (2002-05) is second with 15.
Anderson Again: With 25 appearances on the season entering the weekend, Jack Anderson is one shy of matching his career high of 26, which ranks in a three-way tie for the most in a Penn State single season. The record is 36 held by David Lutz (2010).
Streaking: Greg Guers now owns the team's longest hitting streak of the season at 16 games. He is batting .348 with two doubles, a triple, five home runs, 16 RBIs and five stolen bases. Aaron Novak had previously tallied the longest hitting streaks on the team. From Mar. 27-Apr. 12, he tallied hits in 11-straight games, going 17-for-46 (.370) with three doubles and five RBIs, a .420 on-base percentage and .500 slugging percentage. From Feb. 14 (Game 2) at Elon to Mar. 11 at No. 7 South Carolina, Novak assembled a nine-game hitting streak, batting .548 (17-for-31) with three homers, three doubles and 10 RBIs. His on-base percentage was .611 and his slugging percentage was .935.
Kendall Heating Up: Tyler Kendall has made the most of his chance to start the past nine games, tallying hits in each game and ranking second on the team with a .389 (14-for-36) average over the last nine contests.
Powering Up: Penn State hit just four home runs in its first 22 games, but with eight home runs from Greg Guers, another from classmate Aaron Novak and Nick Riotto's first career dinger, PSU has totaled totaled 10 since April began. 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 four homers at home are the only PSU homers in Medlar this season.
Haley's Comets: Shortstop Jim Haley is Penn State's leading hitter in conference play, batting .338. He has raised his overall average from .265 to .299 over the last four games, going 10-for-17 (.588) with four doubles a triple, three RBIs and nine runs scored.
Super Novak: Aaron Novak has been Penn State's top hitter for the season, ranking 11th in the conference in batting (.346). Novak 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).
Rotation Change: For the first time all season, the Lions are made a change to their weekend rotation. RHP Dakota Forsyth pitched Sunday in lieu of RHP Nick Distasio. Distasio had started each weekend this season with the exception of the Indiana weekend when one game was lost to weather.