| PENN STATE vs. OHIO STATE | |
| Saturday, Apr. 8 - 2:00 p.m. | |
| Sunday, Apr. 9 - 11:00 a.m. | |
| Sunday, Apr. 9 - 3:00 p.m. (BTN) | |
Medlar Field at Lubrano Park | University Park, Pa.
| GAME DAY LINKS |
| Game 1: | Live Audio |
| Game 2: | Live Audio |
| Game 3: | Live Audio | BTN2GO |
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| Gameday Central |
| Game Notes: Penn State | Ohio State |
| Statistics: Penn State | Ohio State |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.. - Penn State baseball has postponed its Friday game against Ohio State due to forecasted temperatures and wind chills to a Sunday doubleheader starting at 11 a.m. at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, head coach Rob Cooper announced Friday morning.
Fans with tickets to Friday's game can redeem them at the State College Spikes box office for tickets to any other 2017 Penn State baseball game. Fans with tickets to Sunday's game, originally scheduled for 3 p.m., can be admitted for the entire doubleheader. The second game is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. and will be telecast live on BTN.
Friday's Dollar Dog Night promotion will take place during Saturday's contest starting at 2 p.m. State College and Bellefonte High Schools will then play Saturday at approximately 6 p.m.
Season, flex and single-game ticket options for the 2017 Penn State baseball season in Medlar Field at Lubrano Park are now on sale at GoPSUsports.com or by calling the Medlar Field at Lubrano Park ticket office at 814-272-1711. Ask about the hospitality suite option for season ticket holders.
Promotions
Saturday, April 8 - 2:00 p.m.
Dollar Dog Night for all fans
THON Sluggers Day! Be there to help the Nittany Lions welcome Four Diamonds Children and volunteers to the ballpark $1 from every student ticket purchased ($2 price) will be donated to the Penn State Dance Marathon
Penn State Baseball Bingo! All fans can take their shot at winning some great prizes
Postgame - Kids 12 and under can run the bases!
Sunday, April 9 - 11:00 a.m.
Vs. Cancer Day - Join the Nittany Lions as they continue their fight against Cancer! All fans entering the game will receive a sign that will allow them to personalize the fight, and write the name of who they FIGHT for! After the game, stick around to see all the Nittany Lion players shave their heads on the first base concourse in support of the fight against cancer
Picnic at the Park - Calling all families! Sunday is a perfect day for a picnic at the ballpark! Families can purchase four tickets, and four ALL YOU CAN EAT BUFFETS for just $24! Buffet will consist of Hot Dogs, Hamburgers, chips-classic ballpark food! Any additional tickets and buffets can be purchased for an additional $6 per ticket. Call 814-272-1711 for more information.
Camper Reunion Day - Penn State Baseball Campers from 2016 can purchase tickets at a discounted rate of just $2.00
Essentials
Live Video: BTN2GO (Sunday Only)
Live Audio: GoPSUSports.com
Live Stats: GoPSUsports.com
TV: BTN (Sunday Only)
Radio: State College's ESPN 1450 AM
Ohio State Series History: 35-63
Last Series: 2015, Away, Ohio State 3-0
Streak: L5
Saturday Probables
PSU RHP Sal Biasi (3-3, 5.01 ERA)
OSU RHP Yianni Pavlopoulos (2-2, 5.16 ERA)
Sunday Game 1 Probables
PSU RHP Justin Hagenman (1-5, 5.22 ERA)
OSU RHP Jake Post (1-2, 3.16 ERA)
Sunday Game 2 Probables
PSU TBA
PITT TBA
Home Sweet Home
The Nittany Lions are in their 11th season in Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, where they hold a 136-87 all-time record after opening the 2017 home slate with four wins in their first six games. Penn State won a facility record 10 consecutive games last season en route to totaling 15 wins, its most since 2008. The Lions enjoyed their seventh winning mark in the park and hosted two of the 11 largest crowds in program history.
Halfway
The opening game of the series will be Penn State's 28th game of the 2017 regular season, marking the halfway point of its 55-game schedule.
Rescheduling
Penn State has rescheduled its postponed baseball contest against Binghamton for Monday, April 10 at 6:30 p.m. on Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. The Nittany Lions were originally scheduled to host the Bearcats Tuesday, but inclement weather forced the postponement of the game. Penn State is also still looking to reschedule a game against West Virginia that was postponed for weather Wednesday, Mar. 22.
Baseball Day In Centre County
Centre Country baseball fans will enjoy a full slate of baseball action Saturday. Following the match-up between Penn State and Ohio State, State College and Bellefonte High Schools will battle on Medlar Field. Medlar Field at Lubrano Park is the site of the PIAA State Championships.
Youth Movement
The average Nittany Lion starter this season is a sophomore, as the average class year (Freshman = 1 ... Senior = 4) across all 10 positions through 26 games is 2.09. On the mound the Lions are averaging 2.15 years of experience as compared to 2.08 at the plate. For the 2016 season, the Lions averaged 2.25 years in the starting lineup with a youthful 1.96 on the mound and a deceptive 2.49 at the dish as the Lions started two to five freshmen per game.
Penn State only has three upperclassman position players on the roster and the trio has only started together in the past week. Senior catcher Alex Malinsky drew his first start after missing much of the early part of the season due to injury.
All-Time vs. Ohio State
Ohio State will be visiting Happy Valley for the first time since 2012, as the teams did not meet last year and Penn State had made three consecutive trips to Columbus from 2013-15. The Nittany Lions struggled on the road, dropping all but one contest, and have lost their last five straight with the last two being decided by one run. However, prior to the 2013 campaign, Penn State won the last three regular season series, taking two out of three games in 2012, 2011 and 2010. Penn State is 19-24 at home all-time against Ohio State in a series that dates back to 1958. The weekend will feature the 99th, 100th and 101st all-time meetings between the programs on the diamond.
Scouting Ohio State
Ohio State is 12-16 overall with a 1-5 Big Ten record. All six of their conference games have been at home, and they were swept by Minnesota and dropped two of three to Purdue. The Buckeyes and Nittany Lions share common non-conference opponents this season with Delaware, Pitt and Bucknell. Ohio State defeated Delaware and Bucknell but fell to Pitt. Tre' Gantt leads the team batting .297 with .410 on-base percentage aided by 20 walks. Gantt also leads the team with a .465 slugging percentage with 11 of 30 hits on the year going for extra bases. Jalen Washington owns a team-best 21 RBIs and Zach Ratcliff and Noah McGowan lead with five home runs each.
Live on BTN
Penn State's Sunday game against Ohio State will mark the team's first game of the year to be televised on the Big Ten Network.
The Lions are also scheduled to appear on BTN again May 14 at Indiana.
Powersox
Sophomore Jordan Bowersox is the team leader in batting average (.359), hits (37), extra-base hits (7 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR), doubles (tied, 7), stolen bases (7), slugging percentage (.534), total bases (55) and on-base percentage (.426).
Bowersox's batting average ranks fifth in the Big Ten.
He is also second on the team with 17 RBIs and three home runs.
Two of Bowersox's home runs have been in the last four games, as he homered Friday at No. 22 Michigan and Tuesday at Pitt. He did not hit a home run as a freshman.
Bowersox is currently the team's hottest hitter, batting .444 (12-for-27) with two home runs, a triple and double, six RBIs, six runs and four walks during a seven-game hitting streak. He has gotten on-base at a .516 clip and swiped three bases after stealing just four in the first 20 games.
Conlin Hughes and Bowersox are the only two Nittany Lions to play in every game and start every game so far this season.
Power Bump
Year-over-year, Penn State has more than doubled its home run total through 27 games, jumping from six to 13.
Penn State is one home run shy of matching its 2016 total of 16 home runs.
The Lions have also slugged 12 more extra base hits through the same point last season, totaling 61 this season.
Penn State's 10 home runs in the first 14 games of the season were its most since at least 2002.
Back-to-Back Again
Penn State has slugged back-to-back home runs in two of its last three games.
Christian Helsel and Willie Burger went deep consecutively at No. 22 Michigan (4/1) in the fourth inning, and then Helsel followed a Jordan Bowersox homer with one of his own at Pitt (4/4) in the fifth inning.
New Power Sources
Seven different Nittany Lions, as many as last year, have combined for 15 home runs.
Four hit their first career home runs, including three sophomores - Conlin Hughes, Jordan Bowersox and Keith Leavitt - and one freshman - Braxton Giavedoni.
Christian Helsel hit a grand slam against Pacific (3/5) after going homer-less in 2016. He hit one home run in 2015 but has three this season.
Willie Burger hit just one home run as a freshman, but hit two in the third game of the season at No. 1 TCU (2/19) and has added two since.
Nick Riotto has one home run after hitting two last season. He is the only Nittany Lion returning with multiple home runs hit the season prior.
Burger is the team power leader with a career-high four home runs and 22 RBIs. He is also batting .290 and getting on base at a .333 clip.
Groundhog Day
Punxsutawney natives Braxton Giavedoni and Ryan Sloniger are both riding 10-game reached-base streaks.
They match the team's longest streak of the season, which is 10 by Conlin Hughes.
Giavedoni is batting .286 during the streak with a .375 on-base percentage, also walking twice and getting plunked three times. He is among the team leaders with four extra-base hits over the last 10 with a team-best three doubles and also a triple. Giavedoni is also tied for the team lead in runs in the last 10 with seven.
Sloniger is batting .321 (9-for-28) over the last nine, second only to Bowersox (.359) with a team-best .486 on-base percentage. He has drawn seven walks (tied for team lead) and been plunked twice in the last 10.
Striking Out the Opposition
Penn State ranks 84th in the country and fourth in the Big Ten averaging 8.4 strikeouts per nine innings.
RHP Sal Biasi leads the Big Ten and ranks 12th in the nation with 13.08 strikeouts per nine innings.