UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State opens its 13th baseball season at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park Friday at 4 p.m., hosting UMass Lowell in a four-game series. The series continues with a doubleheader starting at noon Saturday and a single game Sunday starting at noon.
Promotions
Friday, March 15
- Home Opener
- Dollar Dog Night
- First Pitch by Women's Gymnastics Head Coach Sarah Brown
- 2019 Schedule Magnet Giveaway
- 2019 Poster Giveaway
Saturday, March 16
- 2019 Schedule Magnet Giveaway
- 2019 Poster Giveaway
Sunday, March 16
- Kids Day
- 2019 Schedule Magnet Giveaway
- 2019 Poster Giveaway
- Cub Club Day
- Luck of the Lions – Random giveaways all game
- Post-Game Kids Run the Bases
Essentials
Live Video: GoPSUsports.com
Live Audio: GoPSUsports.com
Live Stats: GoPSUsports.com
TV: N/A
Radio: 1390 WRSC OR ESPN 1450
Series History: First Meeting
Friday Probables
PSU LHP Dante Biasi (1-1, 4.64 ERA)
UML RHP Connor Metelski (0-3, 18.90 ERA)
Saturday Probables (Game 1)
PSU RHP Bailey Dees (2-1, 4.64 ERA)
UML RHP Nick Rand (1-3, 5.87 ERA)
Saturday Probables (Game 2)
PSU TBD
UML RHP Sal Fusco (0-1, 6.05 ERA)
Sunday Probables
PSU TBD
UML RHP Henry Funaro (0-2, 24.30 ERA)
Good Start
Penn State's 10-3 start is its best since starting the 1980 season 11-2.
Penn State's overall record currently ranks tied for first in the Big Ten with Illinois (10-3).
Penn State went undefeated in February for the first time in program history.
Penn State's 10 wins are its most before playing a home game since winning 12 of 18 games before the 2011 home opener.
In terms of winning percentage, Penn State's .769 start prior to playing a home game presently ranks as the best in the current scheduling era. In 1983, Penn State first started playing games in late February/early March, and enjoyed its best road/neutral start in 2000 (13-5; .722).
Penn State is 4-0 in games decided by one run this season after going 5-13 in one-run games last season.
Pitching Prowess
Penn State ranks among the national and Big Ten leaders in pitching with a WHIP of 1.14 (2nd Big Ten, 18th NCAA) and hits allowed per nine innings rate of 6.71 (2nd Big Ten, 19th NCAA).
Penn State's strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.66 ranks second in the Big Ten, and its 3.58 walks allowed per nine innings ranks third.
Penn State's 3.89 ERA ranks fourth in the Big Ten and is a big improvement over last season's 5.90 ERA through the first 13 games.
Penn State's bullpen has seen four different pitchers earn six saves.
Penn State held Monmouth scoreless for 21.1 innings to open the season. The eight hits allowed to Monmouth were Penn State's fewest in a three-game span since at least 2004.
Penn State earned its first Opening Day shutout since 1977 and first back-to-back season-opening shutouts in program history.
Mellott Earning A Lot of Decisions
Sophomore Mason Mellott has emerged as Penn State's relief ace. He is 3-0 and has two saves, factoring in on five of Penn State's 10 wins.
Mellott is tied for second on the team in innings pitched with 21.0, trailing Bailey Dees (21.1) by one out.
Mellott leads the team with a 1.29 ERA that ranks fourth in the Big Ten tied for 70th in the NCAA.
Spring Break Success
The Nittany Lions took two of three at UCF. The Knights entered the series with two wins over ranked opponents and were one of the first four team's left out of last season's NCAA Tournament.
Penn State snapped a four-game losing streak against nationally-ranked teams against No. 21 Duke earning its first top-25 win since defeating No. 22 Nebraska, 8-7, May 18, 2017.
Penn State earned its first win over a nationally-ranked opponent away from home since defeating No. 19 Purdue, 16-6, April 1, 2012.
All-Time vs. UMass Lowell
First Meeting
Scouting UMass Lowell
UMass Lowell is 2-13 to start 2019, playing a grueling schedule featuring series t Arizona, at No. 9 Georgia and at No. 5 North Carolina. The River Hawks two wins have come in its last four games, taking one at George Washington and one at Radford. UMass Lowell finished second in the America East last season and was tabbed to finish third in the conference's preseason coaches poll.
The Smallest Swinging the Biggest Bats
Gavin Homer is Penn State's shortest player at 5-9 and Kris Kremer is the lightest at 166 pounds, but both lead the team with three home runs each and rank Nos. 1 and 2 on the team in slugging and extra-base hits.
Kremer is slugging a team-best (.583), which ranks fifth in the Big Ten, and is second on the team with six extra-base hits (2 double, 1 triple, 3 home runs).
Homer is slugging .578, which ranks seventh in the Big Ten, with a team-high eight extra base hits (team-high 5 doubles and 3 home runs). He is the only player on the team with more extra-base hits (8) than singles (4).
Homer Hitting Homers
Gavin Homer is tied for the team lead in home runs with three, and all three have had a flair for the dramatic.
Homer's first homer was a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning in the series opener against Fairfield (2/24).
Homer hit a first-inning lead-off home run in Penn State's series finale against No. 21 Duke. It was the first since Nick Riotto hit one against Maryland on April 30, 2016.
Homer slugged a grand slam in the seventh inning at UCF to break open the game. The slam was the first for Penn State since Ryan Sloniger hit one against NJIT on Mar. 18, 2018. Homer's slam was also the first of back-to-back home runs, as Jordan Bowersox followed it with a shot over the left field wall, as well. The last time Penn State had hit back-to-back home runs was at Pitt on Apr. 5, 2017 (Bowersox and Christian Helsel).
Freshmen Shine
A trio of freshmen led Penn State to a 7-3 victory over Pittsburgh Tuesday.
A pair of freshmen making their first starts led the offense from the eighth and ninth spots. Batting eighth, designated hitter Ryan Ford reached base four times, walking three times tallying a double for his first career hit and scoring three times.
Batting ninth, third baseman Justin Williams hit a two-run double in the second inning for his first career hit, and finished the day batting 3-for-5 with four RBIs.
Ford and Williams were the first freshmen to start for Penn State this season.
On the mound, freshman LHP Tyler Shingledecker earned his first career win, throwing a career-high four innings in relief and limiting Pitt to one run on four hits and a walk. He also struck out four.
Bowersox Raking
Jordan Bowersox leads Penn State in batting (.353), runs (12), hits (18), hit by pitches (4) and on-base percentage. He also has the team's longest active hitting streak at six games.
During his streak, Bowersox is 11-for-28 (.393) with two doubles, a home run and an RBI.
Three-Homer Games
After going six seasons without hitting three or more home runs in a game, Penn State accomplished the feat twice in a span of five games.
Kris Kremer single-handedly hit three home runs for Penn State against No. 21 Duke (3/2), and then Mason Nadeau, Gavin Homer and Jordan Bowersox each hit home runs at UCF (3/10).
Prior to Penn State's spring break trip, the last time it totaled three or more home runs in a game was May 12, 2000 against Illinois. It also totaled four home runs April 1, 2012 at Purdue.
Kremer Has A Day
OF Kris Kremer was named as one of Collegiate Baseball's National Players of the Week and was a nominee for USA Baseball's Golden Spikes Award Performance of the Week after hitting the first three home runs of his career, tying the team record, to lead the Nittany Lions past No. 21 Duke, 8-7, Saturday, Mar. 2.
Kremer also set career bests going 4-for-4 with six RBIs.
Kremer was one of 19 honorees by Collegiate Baseball and one of four nominees for the USA Baseball Award. In fan balloting, Kremer finished second for the USA Baseball honor.
Kremer is the third Nittany Lion to ever hit three home runs in a game, joining Adam Beers (1998) and John Schreiner (1990).
Kremer's six RBIs were the most by a Nittany Lion in a game since Aaron Novak drove in eight runs at Charleston Southern on March 8, 2015.
Kremer has a tendency for extra base hits—as a freshman, he had five doubles and one triple to go along with five singles.