Baseball Welcomes Northwestern For Three-Game SeriesBaseball Welcomes Northwestern For Three-Game Series
Steven Walter

Matt Maloney

Baseball Welcomes Northwestern For Three-Game Series

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State baseball team is set to host Northwestern for a three-game Big Ten series this weekend, April 5-7. On Friday, the teams battle at 4 p.m. Saturday's first pitch is set for 2 p.m. The series finale begins at noon on Sunday. All three games will be on BTN Plus.
 
Penn State, led by head coach Mike Gambino, is 13-12 and looks to bounce back after falling in three games at Illinois last weekend. Penn State tallied 24 runs, 36 hits and eight homers in the series in Champaign.
 
Northwestern, coached by Ben Greenspan, is 10-15 this season. The Wildcats dropped three games at Nebraska last weekend.
 
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 Military Appreciation Night.
  • Saturday is SpikesFest, hosted by the State College Spikes beginning at 11 a.m.
    • Saturday also features postgame autographs and a trading card set giveaway.
  • Sunday includes postgame kids run the bases.
  • All concessions items at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park this season are cashless transactions.

 
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:

  • Due to the Monster Trucks event at the Bryce Jordan Center on Saturday and Sunday, fans are highly encouraged to pre-pay for parking those days to avoid higher day-of-event prices.
  • Porter North and Jordan East
  • 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 visit the 2024 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. 

 
LEADING OFF

  • Penn State welcomes Northwestern for a three-game Big Ten series at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.
  • The Nittany Lions and Wildcats meet for the first time in Happy Valley since 2018.
  • The teams last played in 2022 with Northwestern winning the series.
  • Penn State looks to bounce back after falling in all three games at Illinois.
  • The Nittany Lions had 24 runs, 36 hits and eight homers over the three games against the Illini.
  • J.T. Marr brings a Big Ten-best .437 average into Friday's contest.
  • Marr also paces the Big Ten in hits per game (1.8) and ranks third in total hits (45), while ranking 13th in OPS (1.061).
  • Marr has 14 multi-hit games, including each of the last five contests.
  • Adam Cecere launched two homers last weekend at Illinois and paces PSU with seven this season to go with a team-best 27 runs and 26 walks. He is second in the conference with a 1.180 OPS.
  • Bobby Marsh leads PSU with a .391 average in Big Ten play.

 
SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN

  • Northwestern is playing its first season under Ben Greenspan, who was named head coach on August 18, 2023.
  • Greenspan served as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at Michigan in 2023.
  • Before his time in Ann Arbor, Greenspan spent time on the staffs at Cal Poly (2022), Arizona State (2015-21) and Indiana (2009-14).
  • The Wildcats are 10-15 overall and 0-3 in Big Ten play after falling in three games against Nebraska last weekend.
  • Northwestern ranks 13th in the Big Ten with a .255 team average and six runs per game.
  • Owen McElfatrick paces the team with 36 hits, 10 doubles and four homers to go with a .350 average and 19 RBI.
  • Bennett Markinson is also hitting .350 while owning 35 hits and 20 RBI.
  • Jackson Freeman has a .302 average, four homers and 19 RBI.
  • On the mound, Northwestern has a 6.54 team ERA, sitting ninth in the conference.
  • Nolan Morr is fourth in the Big Ten with a 5.17 strikeout-to-walk ratio and has 31 strikeouts in 36 innings.
  • Northwestern paces the Big Ten with a .977 fielding percentage.
     

AGAINST THE WILDCATS

  • Penn State is 45-44 all-time against Northwestern.
  • In the last series, Penn State took one of three games, all with tight results.
  • Northwestern will make its first time to Happy Valley since April 28-29, 2018.

 
THE MARR-CHINE KEEPS HITTING

  • Grad student J.T. Marr is off to an incredible start to begin the 2024 campaign.
  • Marr's season average sits at .437 with a team-best 45 hits and 26 RBI.
  • Marr leads the Big Ten with his .437 average, while ranking 16th in the country.
  • He also ranks seventh in the nation, and first in the Big Ten, averaging 1.8 hits per game.
  • Marr holds 25th in the country, and third in the conference, with 45 total hits.
  • Marr tallied two hits in each game against Illinois and has two hits in each of the last five games, including a pair of hits against Michigan (3/24) and Pitt (3/26).
  • He owns 14 multi-hit games and seven multi-RBI games.
  • On the year, Marr has two games with four hits and four games with three hits.
  • Among his 45 knocks, he has six doubles and three homers to go with 24 runs and a 1.061 OPS, good for 13th in the Big Ten.

 
NEWCOMERS LEADING BALANCED LINEUP

  • The Nittany Lions sit among the Top 5 in the Big Ten in sac flies (19; 2nd), batting average (.298; 4th), on-base percentage (.405; 5th), runs per game (7.6; 5th) and OPS (.856; 5th).
  • Penn State has four players with a .300 or better average, five with a .400+ on-base percentage and eight with a .400+ slugging percentage.
  • Seven Nittany Lions have at least 21 hits and nine Nittany Lions have at least 11 RBI.
  • Penn State, Indiana and Iowa are the only Big Ten teams with five players owning at least 20 RBI.
  • Graduate student J.T. Marr paces the squad with a .437 average and 45 hits. He owns six doubles, three homers, 26 RBI and 24 runs.
  • With a 9-of-23 start (.391) at the plate in conference play, Bobby Marsh is hitting .321 with 27 hits, including five doubles, one homer, 17 RBI and 17 runs.
  • Junior Matt Maloney is batting .313 with 25 RBI along with six doubles and a homer.
  • Graduate student Adam Cecere is hitting .329 with 27 hits, including six doubles and a team-high seven homers, 20 RBI and a team-best 27 runs. He has a team-high 26 walks and eight hit-by-pitches.
  • He is hitting .360 in Big Ten play with two homers and five RBI.
  • The Pennsylvania native hit two homers on March 15 against UMass Lowell, his sixth career multi-homer game, and launched a three-run homer at Illinois (3/30).
  • Cecere paces the team with a .659 slugging percentage and a .521 on-base percentage.
  • He ranks second in Big Ten with a 1.180 OPS, fifth in slugging percentage (.659) and second in on-base percentage (.521). He's also third in the conference in total walks (26) and walks per game (1.04).
  • Cecere is one of 21 current Division I players with 39+ homers and 136+ RBI in their career.
  • Among active DI players, Cecere is 24th in homers (39).
  • Joe Jaconski is fifth in the Big Ten in walks (22) and owns 26 hits and 21 runs, while Grant Norris has 24 hits, including five doubles and five homers, and 21 RBI.
  • Bryce Molinaro owns three homers, among 28 hits, and 20 RBI. In Big Ten play, Molinaro his hitting .381 (8-of-21) with one double and one homer.

 
ILLINOIS SERIES RECAP

  • Penn State dropped all three games of the series at Illinois.
  • The Nittany Lions took leads into the seventh on Friday, sixth in Saturday's first game and fifth in Saturday's second game.
  • In three games, Penn State combined for 24 runs, 36 hits, seven doubles and eight homers.
  • Adam Cecere (.500), Kevin Michaels (.500), J.T. Marr (.462), Bryce Molinaro (.400), Bobby Marsh(.385), Matt Maloney (.333) and Joe Jaconski (.308) all hit above .300 in the series.
  • On Friday, PSU launched four homers with Cecere, Marr, Marsh and Norris each going yard. Cecere, Marr and Jaconski each had two hits, while Marr, Marsh, Molinaro and Norris all drove in two runs.
  • In Saturday's first game, Marr, Michaels and Molinaro all homered with Marr adding an RBI double.
  • In Saturday's second game, Cecere recorded three hits, including a three-run homer, and a career high-tying four RBI. Marsh and Maloney each had three hits with Marsh driving in two runs.

 
HANNON, KELLEY, NORRIS CLIMB RECORDS LISTS

  • Senior Kyle Hannon already has 10 steals in 2024, including four in the series vs. Harvard.
  • With 10 steals this year, Hannon has moved up to fourth all-time at Penn State with 44 career steals. He is currently six steals behind Doug Keener (50, 1984-87) for third place.
  • Hannon ranks seventh in the Big Ten in total steals (10) and steals per game (0.42).
  • 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).
  • Graduate student Grant Norris' .515 career slugging percentage sits seventh all-time at Penn State.