Baseball Opens Big Ten Play At MichiganBaseball Opens Big Ten Play At Michigan
Craig Houtz

Ben Kailher (left) & Thomas Bramley (right)

Baseball Opens Big Ten Play At Michigan

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State baseball team travels to Michigan for a three-game series this weekend, beginning on Friday, March 24. Both teams are set to open their Big Ten schedule. The series begins on Friday at 4 p.m. followed by Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. All games will be broadcast on B1G+.
 
The Nittany Lions, led by head coach Rob Cooper, are 12-5 after completing a 3-0 homestand with a 15-1 win over Binghamton on Tuesday. Anthony Steele homered and drove in four runs before finishing the game with two strikeouts on the mound. Kyle Hannon added his fifth homer of the year, while Tayven Kelley had a three-run triple. Steele was one of five Nittany Lion pitchers who combined to shutout the Bearcats over the final six innings.
 
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.
 
FOLLOW ALONG

 
PROBABLE STARTERS*
Friday (4 p.m.)  – PSU: RHP Daniel Ouderkirk (1-1, 3.04 ERA) vs. Michigan: LHP Connor O'Halloran (3-1, 1.62 ERA)
Saturday (2 p.m.)  – PSU: TBA vs. Michigan: TBA
Sunday (1 p.m.)  – PSU: TBA vs. Michigan: TBA
 
*subject to change
 
LEADING OFF

  • Penn State begins Big Ten play at Michigan this weekend.
  • Michigan (49-51) is one of five opponents Penn State has played more than 100 times, joining Bucknell (131-31-1), Ohio State (40-73), Pitt (89-46-1) and West Virginia (72-43).
  • The Nittany Lions earned a 15-1 win over Binghamton on Tuesday.
  • Anthony Steele hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs before taking the mound and striking out two in the ninth.
  • Kyle Hannon added a solo homer, while Tayven Kelley had a three-run triple.
  • Hannon is one of six Division I players with 5+ homers and 13+ steals this season, while leading the Big Ten in steals per game (0.76) and tying for the conference lead in total steals (13).
  • Daniel Ouderkirk leads the conference in strikeouts per nine innings (15.59), good for eighth in the nation, and sits second in total strikeouts (41).
  • With an RBI double against Binghamton, Jay Harry raised his season average to .314 to go with a team-high 22 hits and 17 RBI.

 
SCOUTING MICHIGAN

  • Michigan is led by head coach Tracy Smith, in his first season.
  • Smith owns 814 career victories in his 26th year as a head coach.
  • The Wolverines are 9-11 this season and coming off an 11-10 setback against Akron.
  • Last weekend, Michigan took two of three in a series against Bradley.
  • Michigan is batting .237 as a team and averaging 4.9 runs per game.
  • Jonathan Kim paces the team with a .370 average, followed by Jake Marti's .360 average.
  • Ted Burton leads the team with 19 hits and shares the team lead in homers (3) with Gabe Sotres. Cody Jefferis has a team-best 14 RBI.
  • Michigan owns a 5.83 ERA and a .264 opponent batting average.
  • Connor O'Halloran is 3-1 with a 1.62 ERA in five starts. He has 44 strikeouts and only eight walks, while holding opposing hitters to a .187 average.
  • Noah Rennard leads the squad with nine appearances, owning a 3.10 ERA, while Mitch Voit has a 1.46 ERA in seven outings.

 
AGAINST THE WOLVERINES

  • Penn State has played 100 previous matchups against Michigan, with the Wolverines holding a 51-49 lead.
  • Michigan is one of five opponents Penn State has played more than 100 times, joining Bucknell (131-31-1), Ohio State (40-73), Pitt (89-46-1) and West Virginia (72-43).
  • In the last series in 2021, Penn State won the series opener, 3-2 in 10 innings, over No. 18 Michigan on a walk-off single by Cole Bartels.

 
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 17 games, splitting time between catcher, outfield and designated hitter. Bramley is batting .311 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 20 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 13 games (nine starts). 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.
  • Jay Harry is batting a team-best .314 with a team-high 22 hits, including 10 extra-base hits, and 17 RBI.
  • Kyle Hannon is pacing the team with five homers, 19 runs and 13 steals. Hannon has a 1.016 OPS.
  • He is on pace to become Penn State's first player with 10+ homers and 10+ steals in a season since Sean Deegan (12 HR, 15 SB).
  • Hannon leads the Big Ten in steals per game (0.76), good for 13th in the nation, while tying for the Big Ten lead in total steals (13).
  • Hannon is one of six Division I players with 5+ homers and 13+ steals this season.
  • Against Binghamton, Anthony Steele went two-for-four with a homer, four RBI and a stolen base before taking the mound and striking out two. Steele is one of three Division I players this season with a homer, a stolen base and a pitched strikeout in the same game, joining Wright State's Jay Luikart and Lafayette's Seif Ingram.

 
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 host Pitt on Tuesday, March 28 for a non-conference matchup. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. Every Tuesday home game is Dollar Dog Night.
  • Penn State welcomes Indiana next weekend for its Big Ten home-opening series. The series begins on Friday, March 31 with a 6 p.m. first pitch.