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Mark Selders

Baseball Travels To Maryland For Regular Season Finale

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State baseball team travels to Maryland for a three-game conference series to wrap up the regular season. The series begins on Thursday at 4 p.m. Friday's first pitch is set for 6 p.m. and the series concludes on Saturday at 2 p.m. All games will be broadcast on B1G+.
 
Penn State, led by Mike Gambino, is 23-23 overall (9-12 Big Ten) after falling at Pitt on Tuesday. PSU won two of three games against Rutgers last weekend.
 
Maryland, coached by Matt Swope, is 34-19 overall (10-11 Big Ten). The Terrapins won the series at Boston College 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

 
LEADING OFF

  • Penn State visits Maryland for the final weekend of the regular season.
  • The Nittany Lions trail 23-19 in the all-time series against Maryland and took one of three games against the Terrapins in 2023.
  • Last weekend, Penn State took two of three games against Rutgers, winning both on walk-offs in the ninth.
  • On Friday, Bryce Molinaro launched two homers and Grant Norris drove in the winning run with a single in the ninth.
  • On Sunday, PSU rallied for four runs in the ninth, starting with homers by Bobby Marsh and Norris and ending with a single by Joe Jaconski.
  • The Nittany Lions have 60 homers this season, its most since hitting 67 in 1999.
  • Grant Norris is tied second in the Big Ten with 14 homers, while Adam Cecere is tied eighth with 13.
  • In Big Ten games, Norris leads the league with 10 homers, while Cecere and Bryce Molinaro are tied third with 7.
  • J.T. Marr is second in the Big Ten in average (.416) and hits per game (1.72).

 
SCOUTING MARYLAND

  • Head Coach Matt Swope is in his first season as head coach at Maryland after serving 11 seasons on the Maryland staff.
  • Swope played at Maryland from 1999-02 and then worked his way up from director of operations (2013-17) to assistant coach (2017-22) to associate head coach (2022-23) before being elevated to head coach.
  • Maryland is 34-19 overall and 10-11 in Big Ten play. Last weekend, the Terrapins won two of three games at Boston College.
  • The Terrapins rank 11th in the Big Ten with a .273 average and 10th in the conference averaging 6.8 runs per game.
  • Eddie Hacopian leads Maryland with a .376 average and 77 hits to go with seven homers, 46 RBI and 50 runs.
  • Chris Hacopian is batting .325 with 69 hits, including 14 homers, and 41 RBI, while Sam Hojnar is hitting .279 with 14 homers and a team-best 54 RBI.
  • Maryland's pitching staff ranks fourth in the Big Ten with a 5.55 ERA.
  • Kenny Lippman paces the staff with 59 strikeouts in 61.2 innings while holding a 4-3 record and 4.52 ERA.
  • Logan Berrier is 7-1 with a 2.85 ERA in 19 appearances.
     

AGAINST THE TERRAPINS

  • Penn State trails 23-19 in the all-time series vs. Maryland.
  • Last season, Penn State won one of three games against the Terrapins.
  • In the win over Maryland on May 19, 2023, PSU won 5-3. Jay Harry hit a go-ahead two-run single in the fifth and C.J. Pittaro delivered an RBI single in the eighth. Tommy Molsky worked six innings, allowing three runs, before Ryan Partridge closed it out with three shutout innings.

 
THE MARR-CHINE KEEPS HITTING

  • Grad student J.T. Marr's season average sits at .418 with a team-best 79 hits and 46 RBI.
  • His 79 hits are fourth in a season at Penn State. He is also approaching 200 career hits, currently sitting at 198.
  • Marr ranks second in the Big Ten and eighth in the country with his .418 average.
  • He ranks sixth in the nation, and second in the Big Ten, averaging 1.72 hits per game.
  • Marr holds 23rd in the country, and second in the conference, with 79 total hits.
  • He owns 25 multi-hit games, including 12 against Big Ten opponents, and 14 multi-RBI games. Marr has two games with four hits and 12 games with three hits.
  • Marr tied a PSU game record with three doubles against FDU.
  • Among his 79 knocks, he has 16 doubles and six homers to go with 46 RBI and a 1.065 OPS, good for eighth in the Big Ten. He has five homers and 24 RBI in conference play.

 
NEWCOMERS LEADING BALANCED LINEUP

  • The Nittany Lions rank Top 5 in the Big Ten in batting average (.303; 2nd), sac flies (26; 3rd), home runs per game (1.30; 4th), slugging percentage (.486; 4th), runs per game (7.5; 5th) and on-base percentage (.401; 5th).
  • Penn State has six players with 49+ hits, five with a .400+ on-base percentage and seven with a .414+ slugging percentage.
  • Penn State, Illinois and Indiana are the only Big Ten teams with seven players owning at least 33 RBI and PSU is one of two Big Ten teams with six players owning 49+ hits.
  • The Nittany Lions' 60 home runs this year are its most since hitting 67 in 1999.
  • PSU's 39 homers in Big Ten games are tied for most among Big Ten teams.
  • Graduate student J.T. Marr paces the squad with a .418 average and 79 hits. He owns 16 doubles, six homers, 46 RBI and 43 runs.
  • With a 33-of-85 start (.388) and 26 RBI at the plate in conference play, Bobby Marsh is hitting .325 with 55 hits, including nine doubles, one triple, six homers, 42 RBI and 32 runs. He ranks seventh in the league with his .397 average and sits sixth with 33 hits in Big Ten play.
  • Holding a .358 average (29-of-81) in Big Ten play, Bryce Molinaro owns nine homers and 10 doubles, among 59 hits, and 37 RBI to go with a .333 average. He had two homers at Indiana (4/12) and vs. Rutgers (5/11) and a go-ahead, three-run homer at MSU (4/21).
  • Graduate student Adam Cecere is hitting .310 with 49 hits, including 11 doubles and 13 homers, 41 RBI and a team-best 43 runs. He has a team-high 40 walks and 10 hit-by-pitches. He owns seven homers and 20 RBI in Big Ten play.
  • He ranks sixth in Big Ten with a 1.094 OPS and fifth in slugging percentage (.627), while tying seventh with Marr in on-base percentage (.467). He's third with Molinaro in home runs in conference play (7). He's also fourth in the conference in total walks (40).
  • Cecere is one of 21 current Division I players with 45+ homers and 157+ RBI in their career. Among active DI players, Cecere is 24th in homers (45).
  • Grant Norris has 52 hits, including nine doubles, a triple, and 14 homers, 42 RBI and 34 runs.
  • Norris collected his first career multi-homer game against Northwestern (4/6) and had another at Michigan State (4/20), while adding an inside-the-park homer vs. Minnesota.
  • With Cecere (13) and Norris (14), Penn State has multiple players with 13+ homers for the first time since 1999 (Shawn Fagan, 13; Dan Beers, 13).
  • Norris is tied third in the Big Ten with 14 homers, while Cecere is eighth with 13. Norris leads with 10 homers in conference games, while Cecere is third with seven homers.
  • Joe Jaconski is fifth in the Big Ten in walks (37) and owns 51 hits, 40 runs and six homers.

 
RUTGERS SERIES RECAP

  • Penn State won two of three games in its series against Rutgers, winning both on walk-offs in the ninth.
  • PSU tallied 31 hits and 19 runs in the series, led by J.T. Marr's six hits. Matt Maloney added five hits.
  • Bryce Molinaro had four hits, two homers, two RBI and five runs, while Grant Norris and Bobby Marsh added homers.
  • On Friday, Molinaro homered twice and PSU walked it off on a single by Grant Norris.
  • Saturday was highlighted by Jaden Henline's seven shutout innings.
  • On Sunday, PSU rallied for four runs in the ninth, started by back-to-back homers from Marsh and Norris and ended on a single by Joe Jaconski.

 
NITTANY LIONS CLIMB RECORDS LISTS

  • With 13 steals this year, senior Kyle Hannon has moved up to fourth all-time at Penn State with 47 career steals. He is currently three steals behind Doug Keener (50, 1984-87) for third place.
  • Hannon ranks ninth in the Big Ten in total steals (13).
  • Senior+ Tayven Kelley owns 13 career triples, tied second all-time at Penn State with Kevin Billotte (1995-98).
  • Grad student Grant Norris' .560 career slugging percentage sits fifth all-time at Penn State, while sophomore Bobby Marsh's .510 slugging percentage is seventh all-time.
  • Grad student Grant Norris ranks fifth in a season at Penn State with 14 homers, while grad student Adam Cecere is tied sixth with 13.
  • Fellow grad student J.T. Marr is now fourth in a season at Penn State with 79 hits.

 
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.