Sept. 9, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State baseball fans will have an early opportunity to catch the Nittany Lions in action, as the team is hosting a fall exhibition game Friday, Oct. 2 at 6 p.m. on Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. Admission to the game is free.
The game will be an early test for Penn State, as it will begin fall practice Sept. 24.
"Penn State baseball is very excited to play Lock Haven University this fall," said Penn State head coach Rob Cooper. "This will be a great test for our program and what we need to focus on moving forward. Please come join us at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park for some free baseball."
Penn State and Lock Haven have a long history. The second-ever game of record for Penn State was the 1882 opener against Lock Haven, which Lock Haven won by an unknown score. The teams played twice more before the 20th century, splitting the two games, and then did not meet again until 1982. The two teams met regularly in the 1980's and last met in a regular season contest in 1991.
The Nittany Lions enter the fall with a 34-man roster that returns starters at five positions in the batting lineup, its entire weekend pitching rotation and all of its key relievers, including all eight saves from last season. Six of seven pitchers that recorded a start last season return, as well, as the Lions only lost 23 1/3 of the 424 innings pitched last season. PSU will also welcome 12 newcomers to the roster.
Penn State went 18-30 overall in 2015 against a schedule that ranked in the upper third in the country in terms of strength, posting a nearly identical mark as it did the season before against a schedule that ranked in the bottom third in terms of strength. Penn State also improved its Big Ten record by one win from the season prior despite facing the arguably the strongest conference competition to date. A league-record five teams were selected for the NCAA Baseball Tournament in 2015.