March 2, 2018
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State baseball begins its annual, week-long spring break trip at UC Santa Barbara, opening a three-game series Saturday at 2 p.m. The series continues Sunday and Monday, and games will be played at 2 p.m.
Live Video: N/A
Live Audio: UCSBGauchos.com
Live Stats: UCSBGauchos.com
TV: N/A
Radio: N/A
UCSB Series History: First Meeting
Last Series: N/A
Streak: N/A
Saturday Probables
PSU RHP Justin Hagenman (1-0, 0.82 ERA)
UCSB LHP Jack Dashwood (0-1, 7.20 ERA)
Sunday Probables
PSU LHP Taylor Lehman (1-0, 1.80 ERA)
UCSB RHP Noah Davis (0-1, 16.88 ERA)
Monday Probables
PSU LHP Dante Biasi (0-1, 15.43 ERA)
UCSB LHP Ben Brecht (0-0, 4.26 ERA)
Road Swing Continues
Penn State is playing its first 12 games of the season on the road.
Penn State played its first six games in the state of North Carolina.
Penn State is spending spring break (Mar. 3-10) in the Southwest, playing three games at UC Santa Barbara in California and three games at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona.
Back In Cali
Penn State is playing in California for a second consecutive season and for the third time in the last five seasons.
In 2014, Penn State went 2-6 against Saint Mary's, Fresno State and Santa Clara. Last season, Penn State went 4-3 against Pacific, UC Davis and Sacramento State.
Solid Start
Penn State earned a three-game sweep at Elon to start the 2018 season 3-0, marking its best start since starting the 1980 season 3-0.
Despite a three-game setback at the Penn State Invitational, Penn State's 3-3 start is its best since 2011.
Penn State's four home runs in the first three games were its most since at least 2004.
Leaders
RHP Justin Hagenman has led so far on the mound, allowing just one run in two starts.
IF Connor Klemann is leading the Lions at the dish with a team-best .333 average and six RBIs, and he is one of four Lions with a home run this season.
Fielding Success
The Nittany Lions have been strong defensively, committing just four errors in their first six games.
Penn State's .982 fielding percentage ranks second in the Big Ten and 30th in the NCAA.
Close Games
Four of Penn State's first five games were decided by one run or less. Penn State went 2-2 in those games.
Penn State's first five games were decided by two runs or less. PSU went 3-2 in those games.
The last time Penn State opened a season with five games decided by two runs or less was 1973. Four of the five games were also decided by one run.
Double Trouble
Penn State has two multi-sport student athletes on its roster, senior wrestler Matt McCutcheon and freshman football player Mac Hippenhammer.
Hippenhammer has appeared once this season, pinch running against Elon.
McCutcheon, a three-time NCAA Wrestling Championships qualifier, played baseball through his sophomore season at high school before devoting his full attention to wrestling.
Hippenhammer, a wide receiver who redshirted as a true freshman in 2017, joined the baseball team at the start of the spring semester. Hippenhammer earned three letters playing shortstop at Snider High School, helping the team to a sectional championship in 2017 by batting .431 with 19 runs scored and 15 stolen bases for the year.
Penn State is one of five NCAA Division I schools with two multi-sport athletes on its roster