Baseball Hosts Binghamton On TuesdayBaseball Hosts Binghamton On Tuesday
Craig Houtz

Bobby Marsh

Baseball Hosts Binghamton On Tuesday

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State baseball team welcomes Binghamton on Tuesday, March 21 for a mid-week matchup at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. The Nittany Lions and Bearcats are set for a 5 p.m. first pitch.
 
The Nittany Lions, led by head coach Rob Cooper, are 11-5 after a two-game sweep over Georgetown. In Saturday's game, Daniel Ouderkirk and Travis Luensmann combined on the mound to hold the Hoyas to one run in a 6-1 win. Kyle Hannon hit his fourth homer of the year. On Sunday, Jordan Morales, Steven Miller and Jaden Henline combined to give up one earned run and strike out 10 batters in a 7-2 victory.
 
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.
 
PARKING
Parking for Penn State Baseball games at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park will be available at the following locations beginning two hours prior to the start of each game:


Please visit the 2023 Baseball Parking page for additional information.
 
Non-football event parking is managed by Penn State Transportation Services. For more information on parking for this event, please email parking@psu.edu or call 814-865-1436. 
 
PROMOTIONS
Tuesday – Dollar Dog Night ($1 hot dogs)
 
FOLLOW ALONG

 
PROBABLE STARTERS*
Tuesday (5 p.m.)  – PSU: RHP Ben DeMell (0-0, 5.40 ERA) vs. Binghamton: RHP Dan McAliney (0-0, 24.92 ERA)
 
*subject to change
 
LEADING OFF

  • Penn State hosts Binghamton for a midweek matchup at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.
  • The Nittany Lions are 3-1 all-time against Binghamton with the last meeting in 2019, a 5-3 win.
  • The blue and white is coming off a two-game sweep against Georgetown.
  • On Saturday, Travis Luensmann threw five scoreless innings in relief, while Kyle Hannon hit his fourth homer of the season.
  • On Sunday, Jordan Morales, Steven Miller and Jaden Henline combined to allow just one earned run and collected 10 strikeouts.
  • Jay Harry recorded two hits and three RBI on Sunday to raise his average to .313 with a team-high 21 hits and 16 RBI.
  • Kyle Hannon is one of seven DI players with 4+ homers and 12+ steals this season, while leading the Big Ten in steals per game (0.75).
  • Daniel Ouderkirk leads the conference in strikeouts per nine innings (15.59), good for eighth in the nation.

 
SCOUTING BINGHAMTON

  • Binghamton is led by head coach Tim Sinicki, in his 31st season.
  • Sinicki has led Binghamton to four NCAA Regionals since 2009.
  • The Bearcats are 8-7 this season and have won five of their last six games, including a sweep over Lafayette.
  • Tommy Reifler tallied 10 hits, six runs and three RBI in the series against Lafayette.
  • On the season, Binghamton is batting .299.
  • Reifler leads the squad with a .462 average, 24 hits and 13 runs. He also has nine RBI and three steals.
  • Isaiah Corry (.350), Mike Gunning (.348) and Devan Bade (.327) are all hitting above .300, while Nick Roselli leads the team with 16 RBI.
  • The pitching staff has a 5.65 ERA and is allowing a .304 opponent batting average.
  • Nine Bearcats have made five appearances this season. Tommy Snyder leads that group with a 2.00 ERA.
  • John Lumpinski has a 2.19 ERA and a save in five appearances.
  • Gabe Driscoll (25) and Thomas Babalis (20) pace the team in strikeouts.

 
AGAINST THE BEARCATS

  • Penn State meets Binghamton for the fifth time between the schools.
  • The teams last met in 2019 with the Nittany Lions earning a 5-3 win.
  • Tyler Shingledecker threw 4.1 shutout innings in relief, while Connor Klemann tallied three hits and two RBI.

 
OUDERKIRK'S STRONG START

  • Grad student Daniel Ouderkirk, a West Virginia transfer, has made an immediate impact in the Penn State rotation.
  • He is 1-1 with a 3.04 ERA in five starts, while limiting opposing hitters to a .191 average.
  • Ouderkirk has tallied 41 strikeouts in 23.2 innings and has multiple strikeouts in 13 innings this season.
  • The 6-9 righty leads the Big Ten strikeouts per nine innings (15.59) and second in total strikeouts (41). He ranks eighth in the nation in strikeouts per nine and 15th in total strikeouts.
  • Ouderkirk has recorded at least 10 strikeouts in his last three starts: 11 vs. Northern Illinois, 11 vs. Dartmouth and 10 vs. Brown. He allowed just one earned run in each start against NIU, Dartmouth and Georgetown.
  • Ouderkirk became the first Nittany Lion with three straight starts of 10+ strikeouts since at least 2004.
  • He is one of 14 Division I pitchers with multiple starts of 11+ strikeouts and 1 or less earned run this season and one of six DI pitchers with three-straight 10+ strikeout starts this year.

 
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.
  • Joining Ouderkirk are grad students Thomas Bramley (Mount St. Mary's) and Grant Norris (Duke) and freshman Bobby Marsh (Florida Atlantic).
  • Through five starts, Ouderkirk has 41 strikeouts in 23.2 innings and an opposing batting average of .191. His 41 strikeouts sit second in the Big Ten.
  • Fellow grad student Thomas Bramley has started all 16 games, splitting time between catcher, outfield and designated hitter. Bramley is batting a team-high .333 with 19 hits, including three doubles, a triple and two homers, and has drawn a team-high 17 walks.  He recently snapped a 10-game hit streak, but has reached base in 19 straight games, dating back to 2022.
  • The Mount St. Mary's transfer was tabbed as the No. 19 catcher in the nation in the D1Baseball preseason player rankings.
  • Norris has started nine games at third base after transferring from Duke.
  • Norris hit his first homer as a Nittany Lion off the foul pole in game two against Northern Illinois and is batting .300 with two homers and 10 RBI.
  • Freshman Bobby Marsh, a Bellefonte native and transfer from Florida Atlantic, has played in 12 games and started eight. He owns four doubles, two homers and five RBI.
  • Marsh launched his first career homer against Holy Cross and added a solo homer against Brown.

 
BALANCED BATS

  • The Nittany Lion offense has benefitted from multiple strong contributors this season.
  • Thomas Bramley leads the team with a .333 average, 17 walks, a .526 on-base percentage and a 1.019 OPS.
  • Bramley is one of six Big Ten players with both an on-base percentage (.493) and slugging percentage (.526) above .490.
  • Jay Harry is batting .313 with a team-high 21 hits, including five doubles and a triple, and owns three homers.
  • Grant Norris owns a .300 average with two homers and 10 RBI.
  • Kyle Hannon is pacing the team with four homers, 17 runs and 12 steals.
  • Hannon leads in the Big Ten in steals per game (0.75), good for 13th in the nation, while ranking second in the conference in total steals (12).
  • Hannon is one of seven Division I players with 4+ homers and 12+ steals this season.

 
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.

 
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.

 
UP NEXT

  • The Nittany Lions open Big Ten play at Michigan on March 24-26. Friday's game is set for a 4 p.m. start, while Saturday is set for 2 p.m. and Sunday is set for 1 p.m. All games will be broadcast on B1G+.