March 29, 2018
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State plays its first Big Ten baseball home series of the season, hosting Purdue Friday at 6:30 p.m. and Saturday with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. The team's were originally scheduled to play Sunday, but the game was moved to a Saturday doubleheader due to the possibility of low wind chill temperatures Sunday.
Updated Promotions
Friday
- Dollar Dog Night
- Athletic Training Night
Saturday
- Picnic at the Park - $10 (Game 1)
- Good Riddance to Winter
- o Yard Gameso Summer Music
- Easter Sunday Brunch - $10 at the concession stand (Game 2)
- Post-Game Kids Run the Bases and Easter Egg Hunt
- Youth 12 and under in their Little League Jersey will receive FREE admission!
Essentials
Live Video: BTN Plus (Fri.-Sat.)/LionVision (Sun.)
Live Audio: GoPSUsports.com
Live Stats: GoPSUsports.com
TV: N/A
Radio: State College's ESPN Radio 1450
Purdue Series History: 45-32
Last Series: Penn State, 3-0, (2016))
Streak: W3
Friday Probables
PSU RHP Justin Hagenman (2-2, 3.71 ERA)
PUR RHP Tanner Andrews (2-3, 2.10 ERA)
Saturday Probables
PSU LHP Taylor Lehman (2-2, 2.81 ERA)
PUR LHP Gareth Stroh (3-0, 2.83 ERA)
Sunday Probables
PSU LHP Dante Biasi (1-2, 4.79 ERA)
PUR RHP Trent Johnson (0-1, 1.42 ERA)
Weekend Starters Dealing
Penn State's three weekend starting pitchers - RHP Justin Hagenman, LHP Taylor Lehman and LHP Dante Biasi - have pitched a combined 36 innings over six games the past two weekends, striking out 27 and limiting opponents to 11 runs (eight earned) on just 28 hits and 10 walks.
Lehman leads the team and ranks 10th in the Big Ten with a 2.81 ERA for the season, and has allowed just one earned run on six hits and six walks over his last two starts (12.0 IP).
Biasi, a freshman, has struck out 13 over his last two starts (12.0 IP), and allowed just one run on nine hits and a walk.
Hagenman leads the team for the season with 34.0 innings pitched and 27 strikeouts. He has pitched six innings in his last three starts.
Slugging Sloniger
Catcher Ryan Sloniger has a hit in 17 of 19 games this season and leads the team with a .329 batting average. He started the first 18 games of the season behind the plate before starting at designated hitter for the first time this season Tuesday against Cornell.
Sloniger's three home runs, seven doubles and 19 RBIs surpass his 2017 totals of one home run, four doubles and seven RBIs. He had two career home runs, 10 doubles and 24 RBIs in 78 games played over his first two seasons.
Sloniger ranks sixth in the Big Ten with 0.39 doubles per game, fifth with 1.06 RBIs per game and eighth with a .557 slugging percentage.
Sloniger opened the season on a nine-game hitting streak. It was the longest hitting streak to start a season since Jim Haley tallied at least one hit in the first 10 games of 2016.
Tight Games
Nearly half of Penn State's games this season (9 of 19) have been decided by one run, with Penn State going 4-5 in those nine games.
Seven of Penn State's 55 games played last season were decided by one run, with Penn State going 4-3 in those games. Penn State went 7-5 in 12 one-run games in 2016.
Four of Penn State's seven wins have been by one run, and all (six) but one have been decided by two runs or less. RHPs Eric Mock and Mason Mellott have three saves each.
Twelve of Penn State's 19 games played this season have been decided by two runs or less. Penn State is 6-5 in those games.
All-Time vs. Purdue
Penn State currently trails the all-time series to Purdue 45-32, but holds an 18-17 advantage in home games. The teams did not face each other last season after meeting annually from 1998-2016. Penn State swept Purdue the last time the teams met in 2016, walking-off Purdue in the 12th inning of the series finale on a double by Alex Malinsky.
Scouting Purdue
Purdue is 11-10 after starting the season at 8-1 and dropping nine of 10 before winnings its last two to sweep Lipscomb. The Penn State series will serve as Purdue's Big Ten opener. Skyler Hunter, Jacson McGowan and Nick Dalesandro lead the team with batting averages in the .350s, and McGowan leads with seven home runs and 26 RBIs to rank third in both categories in the Big Ten. RHP Tanner Andrews ranks third in the Big Ten with a 2.10 ERA. Additionally, Purdue's infield defense has been sharp, averaging a Big Ten-best 1.00 double play per game.
Foggy
Penn State's game against Cornell (3/28) was halted in the top of the eighth inning due to fog, as a pair of otherwise routine fly balls landed for doubles and allowed Cornell to score two runs. Cornell won 10-6.
It was the first time weather had shortened a Penn State game at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.
Overall, it was the first weather-shortened game for Penn State since May 9, 2012, when rain arrived in the fifth to halt a game at Maryland. Penn State lost, 7-3.
Increasing Power
Penn State has 11 homers this season, ranking sixth in the Big Ten with 0.61 per game.
Junior catcher Ryan Sloniger and redshirt sophomore infielder Connor Klemann lead the team with four and three home runs, respectively, each. Sloniger had two home runs in his first two seasons and Klemann had not hit a home run prior to this season.
Klemann ranks sixth in the Big Ten with 0.22 home runs per game.
Freshman Free Pass
Freshman Curtis Robison has a team-best 13 walks on the season, and his 0.87 walks per game lead the Big Ten.
Robison's on-base percentage of .351 ranks fourth on the team despite batting just .159.
Robison has the team's longest active reached base streak at seven games despite going hit-less in his last four games.
Robison has walked eight times in his last five games.
Pride of Punxsutawney
Childhood friends and teammates, Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania natives Ryan Sloniger and Braxton Giavedoni are among the team leaders at the plate. Sloniger leads the team with a .329 average and 19 RBIs, while Giavedoni is third on the team batting .282.
The pair have been teammates for the majority of their careers from youth baseball to high school to Penn State, with both of their dads serving as Little League coaches.
Ironmen
Penn State has four position players who have started and played in all 19 games this season: Ryan Sloniger, Connor Klemann, Braxton Giavedoni and Jordan Bowersox.
Conlin Hughes has played in all 19 games and started 18.
Check Your Calendar
Penn State has had to postpone four games due to weather.
Tuesday's game against Binghamton became the latest game to be postponed with a new date of April 11.
A contest against Mount. St. Mary's was postponed to April 17, while make-up dates to host Pitt and Bucknell are to be determined.
Return to PNC Park
Penn State and West Virginia will trek to Pittsburgh for a second consecutive year to play in the home of Major League Baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday, April 10.
Penn State played in the park for the first time last season after a rain out at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park was rescheduled for the Pirates' home.