May 18, 2016
| PENN STATE vs. IOWA | |
| Thursday, May. 19 - 6:30 p.m. ET | |
| Friday, May. 20 - 2:00 p.m. ET (DH) | |
Medlar Field at Lubrano Park | University Park, Pa.
| GAME DAY LINKS |
| Game 1: | Live Audio |
| Game 2: | Live Audio |
| Game 3: | Live Audio |
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| Gameday Central |
| Game Notes: Penn State | Iowa |
| Statistics: Penn State | Iowa |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State will open its final regular season series of the season as scheduled Thursday at 6:30 p.m. against Iowa, but due to expected inclement weather Saturday, the series will conclude with a doubleheader Friday starting at 2 p.m. Senior Day celebrations are expected to take place following Friday night's game. The Nittany Lions are looking to win the series to earn their first Big Ten Tournament berth since 2012.
Essentials
Live Video: N/A
Live Audio: GoPSUsports.com
Live Stats: GoPSUsports.com
TV: N/A
Radio: ESPN Radio 1450 AM (Brian Tripp)
Series History: 38-24 (1994)
Last Series: 2-1 (4/20-21)
Streak: W1
Thursday Probables
PSU LHP Nick Hedge (5-2, 2.75 ERA)
IOWA RHP C.J. Eldred (2-8, 3.67 ERA)
Friday Probables Game 1
PSU RHP Sal Biasi (5-5, 3.90 ERA)
IOWA RHP Tyler Peyton (3-5, 5.02 ERA)
Friday Probables Game 2
PSU RHP Justin Hagenman (6-3, 3.50 ERA)
IOWA RHP Calvin Mathews (0-4, 6.29 ERA)
PROMOTIONS! (UPDATED)
Thursday - 6:30 p.m.
- Spring Cleaning
- Hundreds of Penn State items from past promotions to give away!
Friday - 6:30 p.m.
- Bark in the Park
- Bring your dog and get into the game for $1.
- Must bring proof of up-to-date vaccinations!
- Survivor Celebration
- Breast Cancer survivors can receive up to four free tickets by RSVPing to NittanyLionBaseball@gmail.com
- Senior Day
- Honor the Class of 2016 following the doubleheader
Tickets already purchased for Saturday's game can be exchanged at the box office for Thursday or Friday's game or any game next season. Purchase Penn State baseball tickets by visiting GoPSUsports.com or calling the Medlar Field at Lubrano Park ticket office at 814-272-1711. For more information on Penn State baseball tickets please call 814-272-1711 or email Stephen Christ at schrist@statecollegespikes.com.
Class of 2016
A total of eight seniors will be honored following the season finale. The six student-athletes that will be honored will be Jack Anderson, James Coates, Jared Fagnano, Greg Guers, Nick Hedge and Tyler Kendall. Additionally, Jordan Donmoyer has served as a student assistant this season after playing previously, while Jesse Tull has been a team manager the past two seasons.
Senior Success
Penn State has garnered attention for its young lineup throughout the season with many newcomers stepping into big roles early, but it has been the seniors leading the team down the stretch. Over the last 10 games, seniors Greg Guers and Tyler Kendall have been the leading hitters, batting .395 and .359, respectively, while accounting for 17 of 31 RBIs, and James Coates is fourth on the team with a .364 on-base percentage. Senior LHP Nick Hedge turned in Penn State's best start on the mound during the recent stretch earning a win against Nebraska in seven innings of work, as he has reclaimed the opening game starter role. Senior Jack Anderson has earned saves in Penn State's last four wins.
B1G Battle
Penn State will be in search of at least two wins in order to secure its Big Ten berth. An extremely tight field from top to bottom has resulted in an intense race for the league championship and tournament seeding. Last season was the Big Ten's first with 13 teams and eight tournament slots, and a 9-14 record was good enough for Nebraska to qualify. This season, finishing at 12-12 will not be enough for teams that are not in favorable tie-breaker position, as just three games separate the third (Nebraska 13-8) and ninth and 10th-place (Illinois & Iowa, 10-11) teams.
Penn State's possibilities illustrate the craziness of the Big Ten series. The Lions can fall as low as a tie for 10th but, with help in the form of 15 games going their way, could finish as high as all alone in third. The Lions would need to sweep Iowa, have Minnesota sweep Ohio State, Indiana sweep Nebraska, Illinois sweep Michigan and have Maryland win exactly two games against Michigan State.
In Control of Their Own Destiny
The good news for the Nittany Lions is that they do not need help from other teams to get into the field, currently sitting in a tie for seventh at 11-10, Penn State simply needs to win two of three to secure its berth.
Slim Margin for Error
Where Penn State is disadvantaged in the standings is in tie-breaking scenarios, thus making an 0-3 weekend fatal and a 1-2 weekend a very dangerous situation.
The Lions only hold tie breakers over Northwestern and Purdue, who are not factoring into the tournament race. Penn State only took one of three against its nearest competitors Michigan State (12-9), Maryland (11-10) and Illinois (10-11), and Iowa is 10-11, so a 1-2 weekend would give the Hawkeyes an edge.
For Penn State to advance going 1-2 and finishing 12-12, Maryland would have to get swept by Michigan State and Illinois would need to lose two or more games to Michigan.
All-Time vs. Iowa
Penn State and Iowa are meeting for the first time since 2013, capping only the second break in annual meetings since the teams first met in 1994. In fact, no member of the current Penn State team ever played at Iowa, as the 2013 series took place in Happy Valley with the Lions taking two of three. The Nittany Lions hold an all-time record of 38-28 with a 20-14 edge at home. The Lions also took two of three in 2012 for a two series winning streak heading into Thursday.
Scouting Iowa
Iowa earned its first NCAA Regional berth since 1990 last season, but enters the weekend with a 25-24 record overall and a 10-11 mark in Big Ten play. Iowa will be looking to sweep Penn State in order to guarantee itself a Big Ten tournament berth, but can also advance to the postseason with two wins and some help. The Hawkeyes are hitting .299 over their last 10 games with five regulars hitting over .300. Iowa posted a .324 average at Ohio State -- its best weekend of the season -- and had 35 hits, tying a season-high for a three-game series.
Diamond Lions Improving
At 27-25 (.519), Penn State owns its best winning percentage since going 32-22 (.592) in 2011. Penn State's 27 wins are its most since going 29-27 in 2012.
Hedge Reclaims Opening Starter Role
Nick Hedge is returning to the opening night starter role after serving in that role last season.
Hedge had been used as a reliever and mid-week starter this season until starting Friday at Nebraska. He went seven-plus innings, allowing just three runs on seven hits and four walks with five strikeouts.
He is enjoying a career year with a 5-2 record and 2.75 ERA in 52 1/3 innings pitched, the second most of his career.
His next start will be the 36th of his career, tying him for ninth all-time at Penn State with Mike Bellaman (1982-85.)
Shifting Into High Guers
Greg Guers is heating up at the plate again with hits in seven of his last eight games (14-for-31, .452), three home runs a triple, double and nine RBIs.
The stretch includes four formidable opponents: Maryland, No. 10 TCU (3 games), Pitt and Nebraska (3 games).
Guers now leads the team with 37 RBIs, one shy of matching his single season career high.
Guers had four two-hit games to start the streak.
He was Penn State's leading hitter against TCU going 6-for-13.
Guers doubled and homered in the TCU finale and then hit a three-run home run each late in back-to-back games at Pitt and Nebraska.
In the finale against Nebraska, Guers went 4-for-4 with a triple.
One-Run Improvement
Penn State is 6-3 in one run games after going just 1-7 in such games last year.
Fast Starts Important
Early leads have proven crucial to Penn State's success this season.
Penn State is 21-8 when scoring first and 6-17 when not.
The Lions have just one loss when leading after six innings or later (at Richmond 3/13), but have rallied from a deficit just twice over the same innings. (at Ilinois, 3/26, 8th & at Pitt, 5/13, 6th).
See Record When, Page 8
Lengthy Season
Penn State has played 52 games so far this season for its most since playing 56 in 2012.
The Lions were actually forced to cancel a game this week against Villanova, since they had over-scheduled by one game. The NCAA allows for 56 exhibition and regular season games throughout the fall and spring (not including international games), and Penn State had scheduled 57 assuming at least one would be canceled due to weather.
Inclement weather limited Penn State to 48 games last season, canceling seven games.
The last time Penn State played 55 regular season games was in 2008.