UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State baseball team welcomes Delaware State for a non-conference series at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. The series begins on Thursday at 6 p.m. The teams are set for a 6 p.m. first pitch on Friday and a 2 p.m. first pitch on Saturday. All games will be broadcast on B1G+.
The Nittany Lions, led by Rob Cooper, are 14-11 overall and look to bounce back after dropping a 17-14 decision against Bucknell on Tuesday. Penn State rallied to take a 14-13 lead in the eighth, but Bucknell scored four in the ninth. Five Nittany Lions registered multiple hits.
Delaware State is 6-20 after falling 12-9 against Lehigh on Tuesday.
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:
- Porter North, Jordan East, Stadium West
- Free with valid Penn State parking permits
- $5.50 prepaid parking is available through ParkMobile - https://psu.parkmobile.io/medlar-field-lubrano-park. Prepayment is available through 11:59 p.m. the day prior to each event.
- $10 day-of-event (pay station or Park Mobile app – zone no. 95112
- Baseball Parking Interactive Map
- Please note: Due to the Casting Crowns (Friday) and Shinedown (Saturday) concerts at the Bryce Jordan Center, day-of-game parking price will be $20.
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
- Thursday – no promotions
- Friday – 4 for $24 deal (4 tickets, 4 hot dogs, 4 drinks for $24)
- Saturday – SpikesFest – Free Admission
- State College Spikes are hosting their annual SpikesFest with doors opening at 11 a.m.
- Postgame Autographs/Trading Card Giveaway
- Postgame Kids Run The Bases
FOLLOW ALONG
- B1G+ Thursday/Friday/Saturday (Matt Scalzo, Adam Sheetz)
- Listen Thursday/Friday/Saturday – Radio ("Bigfoot Legends" 1450 AM/103.7 FM)/LionVision
- Live Stats Thursday/Friday/Saturday
- Tickets (Saturday – Free Admission)
- Promotions
- Game Notes
LEADING OFF
- Penn State hosts Delaware State for a three-game non-conference series beginning on Thursday.
- The schools have played one previous matchup, an 11-2 Penn State win in 1993.
- The Nittany Lions look to bounce back after falling 17-14 against Bucknell on Tuesday.
- Penn State rallied from a seven-run deficit to take a 14-13 lead in the eighth, but fell in the ninth.
- With two steals on Tuesday, Kyle Hannon now has 17 on the season, tied for 10th in a season at PSU. He is one of three D1 players with 6+ homers and 17+ steals this season.
- Jay Harry paces the Nittany Lions in hits (32), RBI (22) and runs (23), while batting .302.
- Travis Luensmann was the Big Ten Co-Pitcher of the Week after firing four scoreless innings in relief against Indiana, while tallying 10 strikeouts.
- On the year, Luensmann is 4-1 with 36 strikeouts in 32.1 innings.
SCOUTING DELAWARE STATE
- JP Blandin is in his 23rd season as head coach at Delaware State.
- Blandin is the winningest coach at Delaware State with 497 wins.
- He was the 2022 MEAC Coach of the Year after leading the Hornets to the MEAC regular season title.
- Delaware State is 6-20 overall, and 2-10 in Northeast Conference action this season, after falling 12-9 against Lehigh on Tuesday.
- As a team, the Hornets are batting .284 and averaging 6.2 runs per game.
- 2022 MEAC Player of the Year Trey Paige leads the squad with a .402 average, 43 hits, 32 runs and 23 RBI. He owns seven doubles, two triples and seven homers.
- Krew Bouldin is batting .347 with 34 hits, while Wilfredo Mendez is hitting .319 with 19 RBI.
- The Hornets pitching staff has a 9.99 ERA and is allowing a .322 opponent batting average.
- Evan Harris leads the team with 27 strikeouts in 23.1 innings.
AGAINST THE HORNETS
- Penn State and Delaware State have played one previous matchup.
- The Nittany Lions won the only meeting, 11-2, in Jacksonville, Fla. on March 8, 1993.
- Delaware State is in its first year playing in the Northeast Conference (NEC).
- Penn State is 37-5-1 all-time against current members of the NEC, including a 17-6 win over Wagner on March 4.
LUENSMANN, OUDERKIRK LEAD STAFF
- Grad student Daniel Ouderkirk, a West Virginia transfer, has made an immediate impact in the Penn State rotation.
- Ouderkirk has tallied 45 strikeouts in 28.1 innings and has multiple strikeouts in 14 different innings this season. In seven starts, he has limited opponents to a .222 average.
- The 6-9 righty ranks 14th in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings (14.29), sitting second in the Big Ten. He's fifth in the conference in total strikeouts (45).
- Ouderkirk recorded at least 10 strikeouts in three straight starts: 11 vs. Northern Illinois, 11 vs. Dartmouth and 10 vs. Brown. He has 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 eight DI pitchers with three-straight 10+ strikeout starts this year.
- Junior Travis Luensmann was named Big Ten Co-Pitcher of the Week after striking out 10 in four relief shutout innings against Indiana. His 10 strikeouts were a career high.
- In seven appearances (five starts), Luensmann is 4-1 with a 3.06 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 32.1 innings.
- He allowed just one run in five innings at No. 22 Miami, one run in five innings against Northern Illinois and no runs in five innings against Georgetown.
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 seven starts, Ouderkirk has 45 strikeouts in 28.1 innings and an opposing batting average of .222. His 14.29 strikeouts per nine innings sit second in the Big Ten.
- Fellow grad student Thomas Bramley has started all 25 games, splitting time between catcher, outfield and designated hitter. Bramley is batting .330 with 30 hits, including six doubles, a triple and three homers, and has drawn a team-high 24 walks. He has reached base in 29-straight games, dating back to 2022.
- Norris has started 16 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 .298 with two homers and 20 RBI.
- Freshman Bobby Marsh, a Bellefonte native and transfer from Florida Atlantic, has played in 19 games (13 starts). He owns six doubles, two homers and eight RBI.
- Marsh launched his first career homer against Holy Cross and added a solo homer against Brown.
BALANCED BATS
- Thomas Bramley is batting a team-best .330 with 30 hits and 24 walks, while Jay Harry leads the team with 32 hits and 22 RBI to go with 23 runs and a .302 average.
- Billy Gerlott (.302), Johnny Piacentino (.305) and Josh Spiegel (.317) are also hitting above .300 with Piacentino contributing 22 runs and 13 RBI, while Gerlott has 15 RBI and Spiegel has eight RBI in his last five games. Grant Norris is just under .300 (.298) and has 20 RBI.
- Kyle Hannon is pacing the team with six homers, 28 runs and 17 steals. 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). His 17 steals are already tied for 10th in a season at PSU.
- Hannon leads the Big Ten in steals per game (0.68), good for 16th in the nation, and total steals (17), sitting 20th in the country.
- Hannon is one of three Division I players with 6+ homers and 17+ 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
- Penn State continues its home stand against No. 24 West Virginia on Tuesday, April 11. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. with a broadcast on B1G+. Every Tuesday home game is Dollar Dog Night ($1 hot dogs).
- The Nittany Lions travel to Purdue to resume Big Ten action, beginning on Friday, April 14.