Baseball Begins Spring Break In CaryBaseball Begins Spring Break In Cary

Thomas Bramley (Credit: Kat Haseleu)

Baseball Begins Spring Break In Cary

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State baseball team is set to begin its Spring Break week with a four-game weekend in at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C. On Saturday, March 4, the Nittany Lions will take on Wagner at 11 a.m. and Dartmouth at 2 p.m. Penn State meets Holy Cross on Sunday and Monday with both games beginning at 1 p.m.
 
All games are free admission at the USA Baseball National Training Complex.
 
A live stream will be available for all games on USABaseball.TV. Fans must sign up for an account to watch, but the account is free. Once logged into the site, pick the game you want to view.
 
The Nittany Lions, led by head coach Rob Cooper, are 4-2 after a 3-0 weekend in Cary to end February. Penn State swept its doubleheader against Northern Illinois, 7-3 and 5-1. The blue and white finished the weekend with an 11-3 win over Monmouth.
 
Season and single game tickets for the 2023 Penn State baseball season are available here. Season tickets are $75 for adults and free for youth (ages 12 and under).
 
The 2023 Penn State baseball season is presented by The Family Clothesline.
 
FULL WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Friday, March 3 –
Wagner vs. Dartmouth, 1 p.m.
 
Saturday, March 4 –
Penn State vs. Wagner, 11 a.m.
Dartmouth vs. Holy Cross, 11 a.m.
Penn State vs. Dartmouth, 2 p.m.
Wagner vs. Holy Cross, 2 p.m.
 
Sunday, March 5 –
Wagner vs. Dartmouth, 10 a.m.
Penn State vs. Holy Cross, 1 p.m.
 
Monday, March 6 –
Penn State vs. Holy Cross, 1 p.m.
 
FOLLOW ALONG

 
PROBABLE STARTERS*
Saturday (11 a.m.)  – PSU: RHP Travis Luensmann (2-0, 1.80 ERA) vs. Wagner: TBA
Saturday (2 p.m.) – PSU: TBA vs. Dartmouth: TBA
Sunday (1 p.m.) – PSU: TBA vs. Holy Cross: TBA
Monday (1 p.m.)  – PSU: TBA vs. Holy Cross: TBA
 
*subject to change
 
LEADING OFF

  • Penn State travels to Cary, N.C. to begin its Spring Break trip.
  • The Nittany Lions are set to battle Wagner and Dartmouth on Saturday and Holy Cross on Sunday and Monday.
  • Penn State is 27-14 all-time when playing at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary.
  • The Nittany Lions are coming off a 3-0 weekend in Cary to end February.
  • Penn State earned a 7-3 win in game one against Northern Illinois, highlighted by a five-inning, one-run performance by Travis Luensmann. Billy Gerlott added three hits and three RBI.
  • The blue and white swept the doubleheader against NIU with a 5-1 victory in the nightcap. Daniel Ouderkirk threw seven innings and struck out a career-high 11 batters. Grant Norris drove in three runs, including a two-run homer.
  • Penn State finished the weekend with an 11-3 win over Monmouth. Jaden Henline threw six innings in relief, allowing one run. Anthony Steele collected three hits and four RBI, while Thomas Bramley hit a solo homer.

 
SCOUTING WAGNER, DARTMOUTH, HOLY CROSS

  • Wagner is coached by Craig Noto, in his second season.
  • The Seahawks are coming off a three-game sweep over Radford, outscoring Radford 32-12 in the series.
  • Chris Conniff paces Wagner with a .391 average and nine hits, while David Melfi has two homers and seven RBI.
  • Julian Taudin-Chabot has a 2.08 ERA in two starts with 10 strikeouts in 8.2 innings.
  • Dartmouth is led by head coach Bob Whalen. in his 34th year leading the program.
  • The Big Green started its season last week at Miami, falling in all three games.
  • Tyler Cox went 4-of-11 at the plate for a team-best .364 average. Nathan Cmeyla tallied four hits, including two doubles, and four RBI.
  • Jack Metzger struck out six batters in a five-inning start.
  • Holy Cross is coached by Ed Kahovec, in his fourth season.
  • The Crusaders competed at VMI in a four-game series last weekend, dropping all four games.
  • CJ Egrie paces Holy Cross with six RBI and is tied for the team-lead with eight hits.

 
AGAINST THE SEAHAWKS, BIG GREEN, CRUSADERS

  • Penn State meets Wagner for the fourth time in the series, with Penn State holding a 2-1 lead.
  • The Nittany Lions won two of three games in a series against the Seahawks in 2020.
  • Penn State takes on Dartmouth for the fifth time between the schools and the first time since 1915.
  • Penn State trails the all-time series, 7-0, against Holy Cross and will meet the Crusaders for the first time since 1952.

 
NITTANY LIONS RETURN EXPERIENCED PITCHING STAFF

  • The Nittany Lions welcome back an experienced pitching staff.
  • Penn State pitchers had a strong start to the 2023 season at No. 22 Miami.
  • The Nittany Lions' starting pitchers, Travis Luensmann, Daniel Ouderkirk and Tommy Molsky, combined to throw 13.1 innings, allowing eight hits and four earned runs, while striking out 13 batters.
  • The three starters recorded a 2.70 ERA and held Miami hitters to a .170 batting average.
  • Penn State set a program record with 503 strikeouts in 2022 as six members of the staff recorded at least 40 strikeouts.
  • The Nittany Lions return 406 of their 503 strikeouts (81 percent) from last year.
  • Penn State is one of nine Power Five programs, and the only Big Ten school, returning 400+ strikeouts from last season.
  • Among Power Five schools returning 400+ strikeouts, only Wake Forest (92%) returns a higher percentage of strikeouts returning.
  • In 49 of 55 games last season, Penn State's starting pitcher was a Pennsylvania native.
  • Penn State's pitching staff takes a versatile approach with eight different pitchers recording both a start and a save in 2022.
  • Since 2016, eight Penn State pitchers have been selected in the MLB Draft, including Conor Larkin (9th round, Toronto Blue Jays), Kyle Virbitsky (17th round, Oakland A's) and Bailey Dees (18th round, New York Yankees) in 2021.

 
LUENSMANN'S STRONG START

  • Junior Travis Luensmann has enjoyed a strong start to the 2023 campaign.
  • He has a 2-0 record and a 1.80 ERA and has limited opposing hitters to a .182 average.
  • Luensmann opened the season for the Nittany Lions, starting against Miami.
  • The junior fired five innings, allowing just one run on two hits, while striking out four and holding Miami hitters to a .125 average.
  • He followed that with five innings against Northern Illinois, giving up one run on four hits and striking out three.
  • Luensmann entered the season as the No. 110 starting pitcher by D1Baseball in its preseason player rankings.

 
TRANSFERS PROVIDE SPARK

  • The Nittany Lions welcomed four transfers to the program ahead of the 2023 season and all four have had strong starts to the year.
  • Grad student pitcher Daniel Ouderkirk, a West Virginia transfer, earned his first win as a Nittany Lion in game two against Northern Illinois.
  • Ouderkirk struck out a career-high 11 batters in seven innings, giving up just one run and three hits.
  • Ouderkirk became the first Nittany Lion with 10+ strikeouts in a game since Kyle Virbitsky's 12 strikeouts against Minnesota on May 29, 2021.
  • Through two starts, Ouderkirk has 14 strikeouts in 10.1 innings and an opposing batting average of .167.
  • Fellow grad student Thomas Bramley has started all six games, splitting time between catcher and designated hitter.
  • Bramley is batting .333 with seven hits, including two doubles and a homer, and has drawn a team-high six walks.
  • Bramey launched his first homer as a Nittany Lion against Monmouth.
  • The Mount St. Mary's transfer was tabbed as the No. 19 catcher in the nation in the D1Baseball preseason player rankings.
  • Grant Norris has started all six games at third base after transferring from Duke.
  • This past weekend, Norris batted .455 (5-of-11) with six RBI.
  • Norris hit his first homer as a Nittany Lion off the foul pole in game two against Northern Illinois.
  • Freshman Bobby Marsh, a Bellefonte native and transfer from Florida Atlantic, has two hits, including a double, in three at-bats.

 
BALANCED BATS

  • As a team, Penn State is hitting .294 (62-of-211) and has drawn 26 walks to contribute to a .378 on-base percentage.
  • Five Nittany Lions own above a .300 average, six Nittany Lions have at least seven hits and seven have at least four RBI.
  • Tayven Kelley leads the team with a .364 average to go with eight hits, including a double and homer, four runs and four RBI.
  • Billy Gerlott is hitting .360 with a team-high nine hits to go with two doubles and four RBI.
  • After hitting .556 and .400 last weekend, respectively, Anthony Steele and Thomas Bramley own .333 season averages. Steele has seven hits, including a double, and five RBI, while Bramley has seven hits, with two doubles and a homer, four RBI and five runs.
  • Kyle Hannon is hitting .318 with seven hits, including a homer, four RBI and six runs. He also has a team-high five steals.
  • Grant Norris has a homer and six RBI, while Jay Harry has two doubles, a triple and five RBI.

 
OPENING WIN OVER MIAMI

  • Penn State opened the 2023 season with a 9-5 win over Miami on February 17.
  • The Hurricanes were ranked 22nd in the D1Baseball Poll and No. 8 in the Baseball America rankings.
  • The Nittany Lions earned the program's first win over Miami and collected the program's first win over a ranked non-conference opponent since an 8-7 win over No. 21 Duke in 2019.
  • Travis Luensmann threw five innings in the win, allowing just one run on two hits and striking out four.
  • Penn State tallied 16 hits, including six Nittany Lions with multiple hits.
  • Billy Gerlott and Johnny Piacentino each had three hits, while Kyle Hannon and Tayven Kelley launched solo homers.

 
UP NEXT

  • Penn State plays its first mid-week game on Wednesday, March 8 at No. 13 North Carolina, a 4 p.m. first pitch.
  • The Nittany Lions return to Cary, N.C. the following weekend for a four-game, three-day series against Brown. The series begins on Friday, March 10 with a 2 p.m. first pitch. Saturday will feature a doubleheader, beginning at noon. Sunday's series finale will begin at 11 a.m.