April 27, 2016
| PENN STATE vs. KENT STATE | |
| Wednesday, Apr. 27 - 6:30 p.m. ET | |
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State baseball will open a seven-game homestand Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in Medlar Field at Lubrano Park looking for a series split with Kent State.
Promotions/Themes
Dollar Dog Night
- All hot dogs cost just $1
- Additional registers will be open
Champions Night
- Penn State women's soccer and wrestling teams will be honored for their NCAA National Championships during the 2015-16 season.
- The women's soccer team will receive its championship rings in a pregame ceremony starting at 6:05 p.m.
- Student-athletes from various Penn State teams will be recognized for outstanding individual performances.
Essentials
Live Video: N/A
Live Audio: GoPSUsports.com
Live Stats: GoPSUsports.com
TV: N/A
Radio: ESPN Radio 1450 AM (Brian Tripp/Ryan Stevens)
Series History: 8-8 (2007)
Last Meeting: L, 9-10 at KSU (4/20/16)
Streak: L1
Wednesday Probables
PSU LHP Nick Hedge (4-1, 2.72 ERA)
KSU RHP Joey Murray (0-1, 6.10 ERA)
Diamond Lions Improving
At 24-17, Penn State owns its best record through 41 games since 2011. Penn State's 24 wins are its most since winning 29 in 2012. The Nittany Lions are 19-7 in their last 26 games.
Home Sweet Home
Penn State is 13-3 in the friendly confines of Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. The Lions have already matched their 2015 total for home wins and are on pace for their winningest season in their 10-year history at the ballpark. After a loss in the home opener, the Lions rewarded the home crowd with 10-straight victories for its longest streak ever in Medlar. With 10 home games remaining on the schedule, the Lions need one more victory to secure their seventh winning season in the park's history.
Anderson Leads Country in ERA
Jack Anderson lowered his earned run average to 0.65 in his last outing Sunday, moving into the lead nationally. As a reliever, Anderson will need to continue his heavy workload, as he must pitch at least one inning per team game played to maintain the ranking. Anderson presently has 41 1/3 innings pitched in 41 games. He also leads the Big Ten and ranks eighth nationally with a career-high 10 saves. His next save will break the Penn State career record and tie the school's single-season record.
Anderson Named to Pitcher of the Year Watch List
Jack Anderson was one of 72 pitchers named to the watch list for the National Pitcher of the Year Award, presented by the National College Baseball Hall of Fame. The award, sponsored by Diamond, will be presented on July 2 in Lubbock, Texas, as part of the annual Night of Champions event. Anderson is one of six pitchers from the Big Ten on the list.
Sloniger Named B1G Baseball Freshman of the Week
Catcher Ryan Sloniger batted .500 for the week and belted his first home run as a Nittany Lion to earn the Big Ten Baseball Freshman of the Week award for the week of Apr. 18-24. In three starts behind the dish, Sloniger went 5-for-10, getting hits in all three games he played, and tying for the team lead with five RBIs for the week. Sloniger played major roles in Penn State's victories over Bucknell and Rutgers. Against Bucknell, he went 2-for-4 with a double and his third four-RBI game of the season. He then helped lead the Lions past Rutgers in the series finale Sunday, as he went 2-for-3 with his first home run and two runs scored in the 7-5 victory.
All-Time vs. Kent State
Penn State is 8-8 all-time against Kent State, falling last week by a 10-9 score in Kent, Ohio. The two teams first met in the 2007 season where Penn State was victorious with a 9-3 win over the Golden Flashes. They have met annually since 2009 with neither team winning more than two consecutive games.
Scouting Kent State
The Golden Flashes are 30-10 overall with a 12-3 conference mark to lead the MAC East, and are riding a nine-game winning streak. Zarley Zalewski leads the team with a .348 batting average, while Dylan Rosa has 11 home runs. Kent State was predicted to win the MAC East in the preseason.
Nittany Lion from Ohio
James Coates - Girard/Warren John F. Kennedy
Collecting B1G Hardware
Nittany Lions have already collected six individual weekly honors from the Big Ten this season.
The six awards are the most Penn State has collected since 2007 (seven).
Penn State's six awards this season are one more than the previous four seasons combined.
A Penn State student-athlete has collected at least one Big Ten weekly award in each of the last three weeks, marking just the third time the Lions have assembled a three-week streak.
Three different Nittany Lions have been named Player of the Week (Willie Burger, Nick Riotto and Greg Guers) for the second time ever and the first since 2003 (Wes Reohr, Mike DeRenzo, Clint Eury).
Entering the season, Penn State had never had multiple winners of the rookie weekly honor, which was first introduced in 2011.
Prior to Burger and Sloniger, Jim Haley (2014) and Sal Biasi (2015) were the only previous Penn State freshman honorees.
Sloniger is the most recent awrd winner, becoming second Nittany Lion to be named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week, joining Burger who has won the award twice, including last week.
Improving on the Mound
Much of Penn State's improved success this season can be credited to its pitching staff, which has improved in every major statistical category.
Penn State enters the weekend with a 3.42 team ERA, which ranks 36th in the country and fourth in the Big Ten.
Jack Anderson leads the Big Ten and NCAA with a 0.65 ERA.
Freshman Justin Hagenman (2.81) leads the rotation and ranks 12th in the Big Ten in ERA.
Hagenman is the first Penn State pitcher to reach six wins since 2011.
One-Run Improvement
Penn State is 6-3 in one run games after going just 1-7 in games decided by one run last year.
Keep Watching
Jack Anderson has been named to two prestigious watch lists this season
Anderson was one of 70 relievers named to the initial watch list for the 12th annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Award, given to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I baseball.
Most recently, Anderson was one of 72 pitchers named to the watch list for the National Pitcher of the Year Award, presented by the National College Baseball Hall of Fame. The award, sponsored by Diamond, will be presented on July 2 in Lubbock, Texas, as part of the annual Night of Champions event. Anderson is one of six pitchers from the Big Ten on the list.
Anderson posted a team-best 2.98 ERA in 2015 to rank ninth amongst all pitchers in the Big Ten. He also led the Nittany Lions with 29 appearances, tallying four wins and five saves, and he finished a third of the Lions' games. His most impressive stretch in 2015 came late in the season against Pitt, Rutgers and Michigan State when he made appearances in six consecutive games, throwing 14 innings with a 1.93 ERA, 1-1 record and three saves.
Do you know Jack?
Jack Anderson is a unique pitcher as he uses "submarine" style delivery.
The throwing motion allows the reliever to pitch multiple innings on consecutive days as well as warm-up quickly in the bullpen to enter the game on a moment's notice.
Of his 22 appearances this season, only five have been for an inning or less. He is averaging just under two innings per outing with a season high of 4 2/3 against Purdue (4/2, G2).
Anderson relies on deception and ball movement to keep hitters off balance and typically induces groundouts.
The style also minimizes extra base hits. Of the 146 hits Anderson has allowed in 152 1/3 innings pitched for his career. Just 22 have gone for extra bases: 20 doubles, triples and no home runs.
Anderson in the Rankings
Jack Anderson entered the week leading the NCAA and Big Ten with a 0.65 ERA.
He also leads the Big Ten in saves with 10. The total ranks eighth nationally.
His 22 appearances rank second in the league and 28th in the country.
Anderson's hits per nine innings rate of 6.75 ranks fourth in the Big Ten and 93rd in the country.
Tough to Earn
Jack Anderson's miniscule ERA is the product of allowing just three earned runs all season.
The only teams to earn a run off of Anderson this season are UNCW (3/5), Princeton (3/12) and Michigan State (4/10).
The earned run allowed against Michigan State is the only run he has allowed in his last 15 appearances.
Over his last 15 appearances, Anderson has thrown 29.0 innings for seven saves, a 4-1 record, 0.31 ERA and 23 strikeouts.
The highest Anderson's ERA has risen all year was 1.46 after allowing his second earned run of the year vs. Princeton in his seventh appearance of the season.
Crucial Innings
15 of Jack Anderson's 22 appearances have resulted in him factoring in the decision, as he has tallied a career-high 10 saves, matched his career high of four wins, and suffered one defeat.
His lone loss came at Richmond (3/13) and was due to an unearned run.
Anderson picked up his fourth win of the season by pitching the final three innings against Northwestern (4/15).
He pitched a season-high 4 2/3 innings to earn the win in extra innings against Purdue (4/2, G2).
Rewriting the Record Books
Every appearance by Jack Anderson from here on out will be a new Penn State career record, as his 86th career trip to the mound at Lafayette (4/6) set a new standard.
He currently has 91 career appearances.
With a career-high 10 saves this season, Jack Anderson now has 22 to tie the Penn State career record. He tied Drew O'Neil (2007-08), who posted a single-season record 11 in back-to-back seasons.
Anderson needs one more saves to equal the single-season record.
Dramatic Finishes
Jack Anderson has worked out of some tough spots this season, often entering before the ninth inning.
Perhaps his most thrilling outing of the season, Anderson set season highs for walks and strikeouts in a 2 1/3 inning save at Rutgers (4/24).
Anderson walked the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning with one out, but ultimately struck out the side, getting the final out on the second pay-off pitch in a full count.
Making his collegiate debut in his home town of Evanston, Illinois, Anderson earned a three-inning win after taking the mound with an unearned runner on base. The run scored but Anderson kept Northwestern (4/15) scoreless and allowed Penn State to score late and win.
Anderson was called upon with a one-run lead against Michigan State (4/12, G2) in the seventh inning. He allowed two runs (one unearned) but earned the win.
Anderson entered in tie games against Purdue (4/1-2, G2) earning the win in both.
He pitched two full innings against Niagara (3/19, G1) for his fourth save of the season.
At Duke, Anderson entered with a runner on second base with two outs in the eighth inning. Anderson hit and walked a batter to load the bases before getting the inning-ending out without allowing a run.
For his second save opportunity, Anderson worked the final 2 1/3 innings with just a one-run cushion. He entered the game with two outs in the seventh and a runner on first who moved into scoring position on a passed ball.
He earned his first save of the season in dramatic fashion against Army for Penn State's first victory of the year. Nursing a one-run lead, Anderson entered in the eighth inning with runners on the corners and no outs, and did not allow a run over the final two innings.
Youthful Lineup
Penn State is not afraid to rely on its freshmen.
Penn State has used starting lineups featuring at least three freshmen in all but four games and has had no less than two freshmen starting each game.
The Lions have had five start on 11 occasions with a season-high of six on three occasions.
Freshman RHP Justin Hagenman leads the team with a 6-1 record and has a rotation-leading 2.81 ERA.
Freshman middle infielder Conlin Hughes has started and played in all but one game.
Corner infielder Willie Burger is tied for the team lead with 28 RBIs despite playing in just 26 of 41 games.
Penn State's three-man weekend rotation has consisted entirely of underclassmen.
Getting Offensive
Since getting one hit in the second game of its series at Illinois, Penn State is batting .301 as a team over the last 20 games to raise its season average to .269 and post a 15-5 record.
The Nittany Lions batted just .235 in the first 21 games of the season, going 9-12.
Haley's Comets
Jim Haley picked up where he left off to start the 2016 season.
After batting .436 with seven doubles and a triple over final nine games of the 2015 season, Haley opened the 2016 campaign with a 10-game hitting streak.
Haley had an 11-game hitting streak halted in the final game of the Purdue series (4/2).
Haley owns the longest reached base streak on the team at 18 games, and is currently on an 11-game reached base streak.
Haley leads the team entering the week with a .352 batting average, 11 doubles, three triples, 16 extra base hits and 17 multi-hit games. He ranks third on the squad with 26 RBIs and two home runs.
At Northwestern (4/17), Haley matched his career high of four hits, going 4-for-6 with two doubles and three runs. The game followed his first games of back-to-back no hits.
For the first time in his career, he has drawn starts at third base this season.
Haley hit his first career home run during the South Carolina series.
More Than Batting Average
The Lions rank second in the Big Ten and 59th in the country with 174 walks.
At first glance it might be surprising that James Coates, is drawing regular starts with a .171 batting average, but the senior's patience at the plate has resulted in a team-best 30 walks as well as a .379 on-base percentage, which ranks third on the team.
The 30 walks rank fifth in the conference and 60th in the country.
Coates entered the season with just one career home run, but is tied for the team lead with three this season.
He ranks fifth all-time at Penn State with 96 career walks, 30 shy of the record.
Sacrifice Flies
With 26 sacrifice flies , Penn State leads the Big Ten and ranks eighth in the country.
Tyler Kendall ranks second in the Big Ten and seventh in the country with six.
Kendall needs two more sac flies to tie the PSU single-season record, and with 10 for his career, needs three more to tie the career record.
Greg Guers has 11 sacrifice flies at Penn State to rank two shy of the record.