Baseball Visits Davidson For Four-Game SeriesBaseball Visits Davidson For Four-Game Series

Tayven Kelley

Baseball Visits Davidson For Four-Game Series

DAVIDSON, N.C. – The Penn State baseball team returns to North Carolina to begin its Spring Break week. The Nittany Lions take on Davidson in a four-game series on March 1-3, including a doubleheader on Saturday. Friday's game is set to begin at 5:30 p.m., while Saturday's doubleheader begins at 1:30 p.m. Sunday's series finale is a 1 p.m. first pitch. Friday and Sunday games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
Penn State, led by head coach Mike Gambino, is 5-2 after taking two of three games at Stanford. The Nittany Lions won 15-4 on Friday and 13-2 on Saturday. The Nittany Lions are receiving votes in the NCBWA Poll.
 
Adam Cecere and Grant Norris both batted .500 on the weekend. Norris had two homers and six RBI, while Cecere collected a homer and five RBI. Bryce Molinaro recorded five hits, including two homers, and drove in five runs. Joe Jaconski added a homer and four RBI.
 
Davidson, coached by Rucker Taylor, is 3-5 this season. The Wildcats won two of three games against Villanova last weekend, but dropped their Tuesday game at No. 12 Duke.
 
For updates on the Penn State baseball team, please check @pennstatebase on X and Instagram.
 
The 2024 Penn State baseball season is presented by The Family Clothesline.
 
FOLLOW ALONG

 
LEADING OFF

  • Penn State travels to Davidson to begin its Spring Break week with a four-game series against the Wildcats.
  • The Nittany Lions and Wildcats will meet for the first time in school history.
  • Penn State is 88-42-1 all-time against current members of the Atlantic 10.
  • The Nittany Lions are receiving votes in the NCBWA Poll.
  • The Blue and White is coming off a series win at Stanford last weekend.
  • Penn State earned a 15-4 win over the Cardinal on Friday and a 13-2 victory, in seven innings, on Saturday.
  • Adam Cecere and Grant Norris both batted .500 on the weekend, with Norris contributing two homers and six RBI and Cecere collecting a homer and five RBI. Bryce Molinaro added five hits, two homers and drove in five runs.
  • On the season, Cecere is batting .412 with a Big Ten-best 1.549 OPS.
  • Matt Maloney leads the team with a .467 average and 12 RBI, while J.T. Marr has a .455 average with a team-best 15 hits.
  • The Nittany Lions lead the Big Ten with a .439 team on-base percentage.

 
SCOUTING DAVIDSON

  • Davidson is led by head coach Rucker Taylor in his sixth season.
  • The Wildcats are 145-91 under Taylor, who has the third-most wins in program history.
  • Taylor was the Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year in 2022.
  • The Wildcats are 3-5 this season.
  • As a team, Davidson is batting .248 and averaging 5.25 runs per game.
  • Michael O'Shaughnessy leads the squad with a .429 average, 12 hits, eight runs, two homers and 12 RBI.
  • Eli Putnam is batting .385 with two homers and six RBI.
  • On the mound, the Wildcats have an 11.18 ERA and allow a .306 opponent batting average.
  • In two starts, Cooper Cavanaugh has a 2.89 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 9.1 innings.
  • Wilson Perkins owns 13 strikeouts in eight innings over two starts.
     

AGAINST THE WILDCATS

  • Penn State and Davidson are meeting for the first time in school history.
  • The Nittany Lions have an 88-42-1 all-time record against current members of the Atlantic 10.
  • Penn State's last meeting against an Atlantic 10 opponent was a 3-2 win over St. Bonaventure on March 30, 2022.

 
NITTANY LIONS SHOW OFF POWER, PATIENCE AT STANFORD

  • Penn State averaged 11 runs, 10.3 hits and 9.3 walks per game in the series at Stanford.
  • The Nittany Lions displayed their power at the plate with four doubles, a triple and six homers among 31 hits.
  • Bryce Molinaro and Grant Norris each launched two homers, while Adam Cecere and Joe Jaconski each hit one.
  • Cecere and Norris each posted a .500 average. Cecere drew four walks and was hit by four pitches, while Norris worked four walks. Jaconski walked six times out of the leadoff spot.
  • In Friday's 15-4 win, Penn State collected 13 hits and 17 walks. Five Nittany Lions reached base at least four times and eight Nittany Lion reached at least twice. Seven PSU players recorded at least one RBI.
  • The 17 walks are Penn State's most in a game since at least 2004 and are the fourth-most in Division I this season.
  • Penn State plated 13 runs on 11 hits on Saturday.
  • The Nittany Lions' wins marked the first time Stanford lost back-to-back home games by 10+ runs to the same opponent since at least 1959 and was the first time Stanford lost back-to-back games by 10+ runs since its 2012 Super Regional at Florida State.
  • With Friday and Saturday's wins, Penn State won back-to-back games by a 10+ run margin for the first time since April 30-May 1, 2010 against Michigan State (18-7, 22-5). The Nittany Lions also won by a 10+ run margin in back-to-back road games for the first time since March 29-30, 2003 at Purdue (13-3, 14-4).
  • Including a 12-4 win against Army on February 18, Penn State scored 12+ runs in three-straight games for the first time since April 4-7, 2000 (13 vs. Cornell, 12 vs. Cornell, 19 at Michigan State).
  • The Nittany Lions scored 12+ runs in three-straight non-home games for the first time since March 23-25, 1986 (21 at Towson, 13 at Gettysburg, 12 at Gettysburg).

 
NEWCOMERS LEADING BALANCED LINEUP

  • As a team, Penn State leads the Big Ten in on-base percentage (.439) and sac flies (5).
  • The Nittany Lions rank second in the conference in walks (44), while sitting third in OPS (.917), batting average (.307), home runs (10), home runs per game (1.43), total runs (58), runs per game (8.3) and slugging percentage (.481).
  • Penn State has five players with a .333 or better average, five with a .500+ on-base percentage and five with a .500+ slugging percentage.
  • Junior Matt Maloney leads the Nittany Lions with a .467 average and 12 RBI to go with seven hits, a homer and five runs.
  • Maloney paces the Big Ten in RBI, ranking 48th nationally.
  • Graduate student J.T. Marr is batting .455 with a team-high 15 hits along with four RBI and six runs.
  • Marr ranks third in the Big Ten (21st nationally) with 15 hits, second in hits per game (2.14) and fifth in batting average (.455).
  • Graduate student Adam Cecere is hitting .412 with an .833 slugging percentage and a  .667 on-base percentage with two doubles, two homers and seven RBI.
  • Cecere leads the Big Ten in OPS (1.549; 43rd nationally), on-base percentage (.667; 13th), hit-by-pitches (6) and walks per game (1.29), while holding second in total walks (9) and third in slugging percentage (.882).
  • Cecere is one of 15 current Division I players with 34+ homers and 123+ RBI in their career.
  • Among active DI players, Cecere is 16th in homers (34) and 46th in RBI (123).
  • Joe Jaconski is hitting .381 with a homer and four RBI, while Bobby Marsh is hitting .333.
  • Jaconski is third in the Big Ten in walks (8), walks per game (1.14) and on-base percentage (.567).
  • Tayven Kelley, Bryce Molinaro and Grant Norris each have two homers, while Molinaro has eight RBI and Norris has seven.
  • Kyle Hannon is tied for the Big Ten lead with one triple.

 
HANNON, KELLEY, NORRIS CLIMB RECORDS LISTS

  • Senior Kyle Hannon already has three steals in 2024, all coming against Monmouth.
  • With three steals this year, Hannon has moved up to a tie for sixth all-time at Penn State with 37 career steals. He is currently tied with Dave Hall (1990-94).
  • Hannon ranked second in the Big Ten in steals per game (0.55) and total steals (27) last season.
  • The Harrisburg native is one of 14 Division I players, and the only Big Ten player, returning for the 2024 season who posted 7+ homers and 27+ steals last season.
  • Senior+ Tayven Kelley owns 11 career triples, tied fifth all-time at Penn State. He is one triple away from tying third place.
  • Graduate student Grant Norris' .539 career slugging percentage sits seventh all-time at Penn State.

 
NITTANY LIONS ENTER FIRST SEASON UNDER GAMBINO, NEW STAFF

  • Mike Gambino was hired on July 3, 2023 as the 15th head coach in Penn State baseball program history.
  • In 13 seasons at the helm of his alma mater Boston College, Gambino tallied 291 wins.
  • He guided the Eagles to a pair of NCAA Regionals in 2016 and 2023 and an NCAA Super Regional in 2016.
  • He recorded five seasons of 25 or more wins and eight seasons with 10 or more ACC wins.
  • Gambino coached 34 MLB Draft selections, including three first round picks and eight picks among the top five rounds. Five of his former BC players have reached the MLB.
  • He coached five All-American selections and five freshman All-American honorees as well as 16 All-ACC selections.
  • Associate head coach Scott Loiseau joins the program after serving as head coach at Southern New Hampshire from 2016-23 and 2008-14. He posted a 480-209-2 record in 16 years as a head coach, while leading the Penmen to five Division II College World Series appearances and 11-straight NCAA Tournament Appearances. He coached 12 MLB Draft selections.
  • Assistant Coach Nick Puccio arrives in Happy Valley after serving as hitting coach and recruiting coordinator at Northeastern from 2019-23, helping the Huskies to three-straight seasons of 30+ wins and CAA titles and NCAA Regional appearances in 2021 and 2023.
  • Assistant Coach Will Jauss steps into the pitching coach role after serving as director of pitching technology at Boston College in 2022 and 2023.
  • Penn State alum Mason Mellott remains on staff as director of pitching technology after helping to coach the Penn State pitching staff to post 411 strikeouts in 2023.
  • Former Nittany Lion standout Ryan Wheeler returned to Happy Valley to serve as director of program development/alumni relations after spending the last nine seasons on the Saint Joseph's staff, including the last five years as associate head coach. He ranks second in PSU history with 109 career walks and sits second with 184 consecutive starts.
  • Director of Operations/Player Development Jake Stone enters his fifth season on the Penn State staff.

 
HENLINE, LUENSMANN POST SOLID STARTS AGAINST STANFORD

  • Penn State's veteran arms in the rotation helped to win Friday and Saturday games at Stanford.
  • On Friday, Travis Luensmann tossed five innings, allowing two runs, to earn his first win of the season.
  • Jaden Henline followed on Saturday, in his season debut, throwing four innings, giving up two runs, to pick up a win in a seven-inning game.
  • On the season, Luensmann has a 3.27 ERA and is allowing a .184 opponent batting average in 11 innings over two starts.
  • Frankie Sanchez is 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA in seven innings over two starts.
  • In the bullpen, Anthony Steele is 1-0 and has not allowed a run on 6.2 innings, while striking out eight.
  • David Lee is also 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 4.1 innings over three appearances.
  • Matt Morash has a 1.69 ERA in 5.1 innings over two appearances.

 
UP NEXT

  • The Nittany Lions take on Virginia in a midweek game in Charlottesville on Tuesday, March 5 at noon.
  • Penn State returns to Cary, North Carolina the following weekend, March 8-10, for a three-game series against Harvard.