April 24, 2018
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State is set to face Lafayette Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in the first-ever collegiate baseball game in Coca-Cola Park, home of the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs.
Essentials
Live Video: WatchStadium.com
Live Audio: GoPSUsports.com
Live Stats: GoPSUsports.com
TV: N/A
Radio: State College's ESPN Radio 1450
Lafayette Series History: 25-23-2
Last Game: Penn State, 9-2 (2017)
Streak: W2
Probables
PSU RHP Eric Mock (0-0, 6.63 ERA)
LAF TBD
Home Sweet Home
Penn State is staying close to home until the last weekend of the regular season, playing 10 of its next 12 at home and the next 13 straight in Pennsylvania.
Penn State is visiting three different regions of the state during the stretch, taking on Lafayette in Allentown (Apr. 25) before playing games at Pittsburgh (May 8) and at Villanova (Plymouth Meeting, Pa., May 15).
Tight Games
Approximately 42 percent of Penn State's games this season (14 of 33) have been decided by one run, with Penn State going 4-10 in those 14 games.
Penn State's 14 one-run games are its most since playing in 14 one-run games in 2012.
Penn State's 10 one-run losses are its most since dropping 12 games by a run in 2006.
Four of Penn State's eight 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.
Seventeen of Penn State's 33 games played this season have been decided by two runs or less. Penn State is 6-11 in those games.
Bats Come Alive
Penn State has posted two of its highest hit totals of the season in the past week, totaling 13 Wednesday against Mount St. Mary's and a season-high 14 Saturday at Michigan. The figures were the highest since totaling 13 in a win over Rutgers on Mar. 25.
Junior Jordan Bowersox and freshman Parker Hendershot are both riding five-game hitting streaks.
Hendershot is batting a scorching .556 (10-for-18) with two doubles, seven RBIs and six walks for a .667 on-base percentage. Bowersox is 7-for-24 (.292) with a double, triple and two RBIs.
Three of Hendershot's last five games have been multi-hit games, including three-hit efforts against Ohio State and Michigan. He also tallied three RBIs in a game against Michigan. Both of Hendershot's hits against Mount St. Mary's came in the second inning and included a double, run and RBI.
Ryan Sloniger has four multi-hit games in his last eight outings, highlighted by a 3-for-5 effort against West Virginia in PNC Park, a triple as part of a 2-for-3 game against Ohio State and a 3-for-6 game that included a double and triple, as well as two runs. He leads the team batting .293.
All-Time vs. Lafayette
In 2017, Penn State won the 50th game of the series, 9-2. The Nittany Lions extended their slight series lead to 25-23-2. Lafayette and Penn State will play for a third straight year in 2018 after not playing each other since 1990.
Scouting Lafayette
Lafayette is 13-28 this season and 2-15 in Patriot League play. John Marti leads the team and ranks third in the Patriot League batting .345 on the year. The Leopards lead the Patriot League with 20 home runs, led by Luke Robinson with four.
Slugging Sloniger
Catcher Ryan Sloniger had a hit in 17 of the first 19 games this season and leads the team with a .288 batting average. He has started all but three games behind the plate this season, including the first 18-straight, and started the first 29 consecutive games of the season overall with 28 starts at catcher and one at designated hitter.
Sloniger's three home runs, nine doubles and 21 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 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 and it remains the longest hitting streak by a Nittany Lion this season.
Record Watch
A trio of Nittany Lions are making their mark on the program's career records list.
Junior catcher Ryan Sloniger ranks ninth all-time at Penn State with 688 putouts. He is trailing Todd Stoner, who totaled 871, (1986-89) for eighth.
Junior pitcher Justin Hagenman is tied for sixth all-time at 38 career starts with Steven Hill (2010-12) . Next on the list are Craig Clark (2004-07) and Dan Goebler (1997-00), who are tied for fourth with 41 career starts.
Senior LHP Taylor Lehman is on track to become the only Nittany Lion pitcher to rank on both the Penn State career appearances and career starts top-10 lists.
With 62 career appearances, Lehman is one shy of tying Pete Yodis (1998-01) for 10th all-time at Penn State, while with 36 starts, he is one start short of tying both Mike Bellaman (1982-85) and Nick Hedge (2013-16) for 10th.
Yodis currently is Penn State's career starts record holder with 53 starts, but would be bumped from the Top 10 in appearances after three more Lehman appearances.
See Record Watch on Page 9
Freshmen On the Mound
Freshman RHP Bailey Dees made his second career start against Mount St. Mary's and earned his first career win.
Dees is one of four freshmen to draw starts on the mound along with Dante Biasi (8), Conor Larkin (2) and Jeff Taylor (1).
Dees' start will marked the 12th game out of 30 started by a freshman for Penn State.
Ironmen
Penn State has two position players that have started and played in every game this season: Connor Klemann and Jordan Bowersox.
Braxton Giavedoni had a consecutive games played streak of 50 that ended when he did not appear in the Mount St. Mary's game.
Increasing Power
Redshirt sophomore infielder Connor Klemann and sophomore outfielder Braxton Giavedoni lead the team with four home runs each, and junior catcher Ryan Sloniger has three.
Sloniger had two home runs in his first two seasons and Klemann had not hit a home run prior to this season. Giavedoni's three home runs this season match his total for all of last season.
Penn State has 16 homers this season hit by eight different players.
Starting With a Triple
Freshmen Kris Kremer and Derek Orndorff have both tallied triples for their first career hits.
Orndorff tripled at Elon in February, while Kremer tripled in Penn State's outing against Ohio State.
Check Your Calendar
Penn State has had to postpone seven midweek games from their original dates due to weather.
Most recently, Tuesday's game against Bucknell was postponed. It was the second game against Bucknell to fall due to weather.
A game against Binghamton, originally scheduled for Tuesday, March 27, was postponed due to inclement weather to Wednesday, April 11, but that game was postponed again due to a conflict for Binghamton.
A game against St. Bonaventure as been rescheduled for May 14.
Make-up dates to host Pitt, Bucknell, Binghamton and West Virginia are to be determined.
Penn State has not had the worst weather though this spring. It's series at Minnesota this past weekend had to be moved to Purdue in West Lafayette, Indiana, due to continuing winter weather in Minneapolis.