Baseball Battles Minnesota For Three-Game SeriesBaseball Battles Minnesota For Three-Game Series

Tayven Kelley

Baseball Battles Minnesota For Three-Game Series

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State baseball team hosts Minnesota for a three-game series this weekend, April 26-28, at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. The series begins on Friday at 5:30 p.m. Saturday's game is set for 12:30 p.m. and Sunday's series finale is at noon. All games will be broadcast on B1G+.
 
All home games are free admission for all ages. Friday will include a trucker hat giveaway to Penn State students. Saturday will feature postgame autographs and a trading card set giveaway. Sunday is National Superhero Day, celebrated with a cape giveaway and postgame kids run the bases.
 
Penn State, led by Mike Gambino, is 19-17 (6-9 B1G) after winning one of three games at Michigan State last weekend.
 
Minnesota, coached by John Anderson, is 18-18 (4-8 B1G) after winning both of its midweek games against St. Thomas.
 
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

 
PROMOTIONS/BALLPARK ITEMS

  • Friday is highlighted by a trucker hat giveaway to Penn State students.
  • Saturday includes postgame autographs and a trading card set giveaway.
  • Sunday celebrates National Superhero Day with a cape giveaway and postgame kids runs the bases.
  • All concessions items at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park this season are cashless transactions.

 
PARKING SATURDAY    

  • Due to the Luke Combs concert at Beaver stadium on Saturday, fans attending Saturday's game should plan to park in campus decks.
  • Fans are encouraged to prepay for athletics event parking at a discounted rate of $5.50 through the ParkMobile app, or by clicking here. Prepayment is available through 11:59 p.m. the day before each event. 
  • Day of Event parking is in the on-campus parking decks (HUB, East, Eisenhower, Nittany, and West) for $40. Eisenhower Deck parking will be cash only and due upon entry, while parking at the East, HUB, Nittany and West decks will be payable by credit card upon exiting at pay-on-foot machines inside each deck.

 
 
PARKING FRIDAY AND SUNDAY
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:

 
LEADING OFF

  • Penn State meets Minnesota this weekend for a three-game Big Ten series.
  • The Nittany Lions are 20-41 all-time against Minnesota.
  • Penn State took two of three at Minnesota in 2022, including a 6-5 win in the series finale after a go-ahead, three-run homer by Billy Gerlott in the top of the ninth.
  • The Blue and White won one of three games at Michigan State last weekend.
  • The Nittany Lions tallied 21 runs, 29 hits and seven homers.
  • After hitting seven homers at Michigan State, the Nittany Lions have 54 this season, its most since hitting 60 in 2000.
  • Penn State's 33 homers in conference games are 12 more than any other Big Ten team.
  • Adam Cecere leads the Big Ten with 13 homers, while Grant Norris is tied second with 12.
  • In Big Ten games, Norris leads the conference with eight homers, while Cecere is second with seven. J.T. Marr and Bryce Molinaro are tied third with five each.
  • Marr is second in the Big Ten in average (.420) and hits per game (1.75).

 
SCOUTING MINNESOTA

  • Minnesota is coached by John Anderson, in his 43rd season.
  • Anderson announced earlier this year that this season will be his last, wrapping up a legendary career.
  • He is the winningest baseball coach in Big Ten history with over 1,380 wins and has led Minnesota to 11 Big Ten titles.
  • In 2024, Minnesota is 18-18 overall and 4-8 in Big Ten play. The Gophers won both midweek games over St. Thomas this week.
  • Minnesota ranks 11th in the Big Ten with a .271 average and 10th in runs per game with 6.8.
  • Josh Fitzgerald leads the Gophers with a .337 average to go with six homers and 24 RBI.
  • Weber Neels is batting .328 with 10 doubles, five homers and 33 RBI, while Brady Counsell has a .311 average, a team-best 46 hits, nine homers and 28 RBI.
  • Minnesota is third in the Big Ten with a 5.12 team ERA.
  • Connor Wietgrefe is fourth in the Big Ten with a 3.30 ERA to go with a 5-2 record and 53 strikeouts in 57.1 innings.
  • Will Semb has made 10 starts and has 58 strikeouts in 46.1 innings.
     

AGAINST THE GOPHERS

  • Penn State is 20-41 all-time against Minnesota.
  • The Nittany Lions won two of three games at Minnesota in 2022.
  • In game three, Penn State won 6-5 after Billy Gerlott launched a go-ahead three-run homer in the top of the ninth.

 
THE MARR-CHINE KEEPS HITTING

  • Grad student J.T. Marr's season average sits at .420 with a team-best 63 hits and 38 RBI.
  • Marr ranks second in the Big Ten with his .420 average, while ranking ninth in the country.
  • He also ranks fifth in the nation, and second in the Big Ten, averaging 1.75 hits per game.
  • Marr holds 25th in the country, and second in the conference, with 63 total hits.
  • He owns 20 multi-hit games, including nine against Big Ten opponents, and 12 multi-RBI games. Marr has two games with four hits and six games with three hits.
  • Marr tied a PSU game record with three doubles against FDU.
  • Among his 63 knocks, he has 11 doubles and six homers to go with 35 runs and a 1.075 OPS, good for 10th in the Big Ten. He has five homers and 19 RBI in conference play.

 
NEWCOMERS LEADING BALANCED LINEUP

  • The Nittany Lions rank Top 5 in the Big ten in total home runs (54; 2nd), home runs per game (1.50; 2nd), slugging percentage (.507; 2nd), sac flies (25; 2nd), batting average (.306; 3rd), runs per game (8.0; 5th) and doubles per game (2.06; 5th).
  • Penn State has five players with a .308 or better average, five with a .401+ on-base percentage and six with a .420+ slugging percentage.
  • Penn State and Indiana are the only Big Ten teams with seven players owning at least 25 RBI.
  • The Nittany Lions' 54 home runs this year are its most since hitting 60 in 2000.
  • PSU's 33 homers in Big Ten games are 12 more than any other Big Ten team.
  • Graduate student J.T. Marr paces the squad with a .420 average and 63 hits. He owns 11 doubles, six homers, 38 RBI and 35 runs.
  • With a 26-of-61 start (.426) and 22 RBI at the plate in conference play, Bobby Marsh is hitting .362 with 47 hits, including nine doubles, one triple, five homers, 36 RBI and 29 runs. His .376 average sits eighth in the Big Ten, while he ranks fifth in the league with his .426 average and leads with 26 hits in Big Ten play.
  • Holding a .351 average (20-of-57) in Big Ten play, Bryce Molinaro owns seven homers, among 43 hits, and 32 RBI to go with a .308 average. He had two homers at Indiana (4/12) and a go-ahead, three-run homer at Michigan State (4/21).
  • Graduate student Adam Cecere is hitting .347 with 43 hits, including 10 doubles and 13 homers, 39 RBI and a team-best 38 runs. He has a team-high 30 walks and nine hit-by-pitches. He is hitting .373 in Big Ten play with seven homers and 20 RBI.
  • He ranks second in Big Ten with a 1.233 OPS and slugging percentage (.742), while sitting sixth in on-base percentage (.491). He leads the conference in homers (13) and  sits second in home runs in conference play (7), while sitting second in homers per game (0.36). He's also sixth in the conference in total walks (30).
  • Cecere is one of 11 current Division I players with 45+ homers and 155+ RBI in their career. Among active DI players, Cecere is 16th in homers (45).
  • Grant Norris has 39 hits, including six doubles and 12 homers, 34 RBI and 28 runs.
  • Norris collected his first career multi-homer game against Northwestern (4/6) and had another at Michigan State (4/20).
  • With Cecere (13) and Norris (12), Penn State has multiple players with 12+ homers for the first time since 1999 (Shawn Fagan, 13; Dan Beers, 13; Chris Netwall, 12).
  • Norris is tied second in the Big Ten with 12 homers and leads with eight homers in conference games.
  • Joe Jaconski is fifth in the Big Ten in walks (31) and owns 41 hits, 36 runs and five homers.

 
MICHIGAN STATE SERIES RECAP

  • Penn State took one of three games in its series at Michigan State.
  • The Nittany Lions collected 21 runs, 29 hits and seven homers in the series.
  • J.T. Marr batted .462 with six hits, including two doubles, two RBI and three runs.
  • Grant Norris launched three homers, while driving in four runs and scoring four times.
  • Adam Cecere had two doubles, one homer and four RBI, while Bobby Marsh hit two homers and Bryce Molinaro had one homer.
  • On Friday, Norris blasted a solo homer, while PSU had three doubles in the eighth.
  • On Saturday, Norris crushed two homers.
  • On Sunday, Marsh had his first career multi-homer game while driving in five runs. Cecere added a homer, while Molinaro hit a go-ahead, three-run shot in the eighth.

 
NITTANY LIONS CLIMB RECORDS LISTS

  • With 12 steals this year, senior Kyle Hannon has moved up to fourth all-time at Penn State with 46 career steals. He is currently four steals behind Doug Keener (50, 1984-87) for third place.
  • Hannon ranks ninth in the Big Ten in total steals (12).
  • Senior+ Tayven Kelley owns 12 career triples, tied third all-time at Penn State. He is tied with Michael Campo (1997-00) and Jordan Steranka (2009-12).
  • Grad student Grant Norris' .564 career slugging percentage sits fifth all-time at Penn State, while sophomore Bobby Marsh's .542 slugging percentage is seventh all-time.
  • Grad student Adam Cecere is tied eighth in a season at Penn State with 13 homers, while Norris is tied 10th in a season with 12 homers.

 
DOLLAR DOG NIGHT RETURNS

  • Penn State's Dollar Dog Nights became popular in 2023 and have returned with strong numbers in 2024.
  • April 16th's contest against Kent State was the Nittany Lions' fourth Dollar Dog Night of the 2024 campaign.
  • Penn State set a new attendance record (5,025), topping 5,000 fans for the first time in program history. PSU fans consumed a Dollar Dog record 8,591 hot dogs, breaking the previous record of 6,151 against FDU.
  • On Tuesday, PSU drew more fans that night than current Top 25 teams Alabama (3,672), Clemson (4,567), Duke (469), North Carolina (3,268), Oklahoma State (4,803), Oregon (2,070), Tennessee (4,617), Virginia Tech (1,035) and West Virginia (4,614) and MLB's Oakland A's (3,296).
  • The Nittany Lions welcomed 4,902 fans against FDU on April 9 and 3,505 fans against Pitt on March 26.
  • Across nine Dollar Dog Nights in 2023 and 2024, Penn State fans have consumed 35,177 hot dogs, averaging 3,908.6 per Dollar Dog Night.