UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Nittany Lion baseball program has announced their 2021 schedule. Penn State is slated to begin play on March 5 to begin its 13 week, Big Ten only conference regular season.
Penn State opens its 2021 season by traveling to U.S. Bank Stadium to battle Northwestern for a four game series against the Wildcats beginning on March 5. The Nittany Lions continue their road trip the following weekend by traveling to Indiana the weekend of March 12.
The Nittany Lions will host five weekend series: Maryland (March 19-21), Michigan (March 26-28), Nebraska (April 16-18), Michigan State (April 30-May 2), Minnesota and Rutgers (May 14-16)
Penn State will travel to the following teams for weekend series: Northwestern (March 5-7 – U.S. Bank Stadium), Indiana (March 12-14), Rutgers (April 2-4), Michigan State and Purdue (@MSU – April 9-11), Ohio State (April 23-25), Iowa (May 7-9), Illinois (May 21-23) and Purdue and Minnesota (@Purdue – May 28-30).
To allow for maximum flexibility in the potential of rescheduling of games, there will not be a Big Ten Baseball Tournament this season.
All dates are subject to change.
Full Schedule
March 5-7 – vs. Northwestern (U.S. Bank Stadium)
March 12-14 - @ Indiana
March 19-21 – vs. Maryland
March 26-28 – vs. Michigan
April 2-4 - @ Rutgers
April 9-11 - @ Michigan State (Will play Michigan State and Purdue)
April 16-18 – vs. Nebraska
April 23-25 - @ Ohio State
April 30 – May 2 – Michigan State
May 7-9 - @ Iowa
May 14-16 – Minnesota and Rutgers
May 21-23 - @ Illinois
May 28-30 – @ Purdue (Will play Purdue and Minnesota)
2020 Rewind.
The Nittany Lions are coming off the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season that saw Penn State abruptly end the year on March 12, 2020. The Nittany Lions finished the year with a 10-5 record.
Prior to the COVID cancellation, Gavin Homer and Johnny Piacentino were each hitting .400 for the Nittany Lions. Homer led the team in hits with 18 and was tied for the team lead with six doubles and two triples.
Piacentino was named to the 2020 Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-America Team, powered by Diamond Sports following his strong start to his freshman campaign.
Piacentino was one of 18 outfielders and four Big Ten players overall to be named to the team, and he becomes the third Nittany Lion in program history to earn the honor, joining Michael Campo (1997) and Justin Hagenman (2016).
In Penn State's shortened 2020 season, Piacentino tied for the team lead with a .400 batting average, which also ranked tied for seventh best in the Big Ten. Additionally, Piacentino's .511 on-base percentage ranked sixth in the conference, while his .686 slugging percentage ranked seventh. His debut in the starting lineup was impressive, as he went 4-for-4 with a home run, double and five RBIs. He also homered in the final game of the season.
On the bump, the Diamond Lions were led by Tyler Shingledecker, Connor Larkin and Bailey Dees. Larkin and Dees combined to strikeout 55 batters in 50 IP on the front end of the starting staff.
Shingledecker was electric out of the bullpen, tallying a minuscule 0.64 ERA in 14 IP. He also punched out 20 opposing batters while allowing just three hits.