Baseball Takes On Georgetown, Navy In Annapolis This WeekendBaseball Takes On Georgetown, Navy In Annapolis This Weekend
Steven Walter

Jaden Henline

Baseball Takes On Georgetown, Navy In Annapolis This Weekend

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Penn State baseball team travels to Annapolis, Md. this weekend, May 3-5, for three non-conference games. Penn State faces Georgetown on Friday at 4 p.m. The Nittany Lions meet Navy on Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
 
Penn State, led by Mike Gambino, is 20-19 after winning one of three games against Minnesota last weekend.
 
Georgetown, coached by Edwin Thompson, is 29-15 overall and 10-4 in the Big East. The Hoyas dropped a pair of midweek games against James Madison (12-13) and George Mason (2-13).
 
Navy, coached by Chuck Ristano, is 25-20 overall and 15-10 in the Patriot League. The Midshipmen fell 10-0 at No. 11 Virginia on Wednesday.
 
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 Annapolis to take on Georgetown on Friday and Navy on Saturday and Sunday.
  • The Nittany Lions are 29-10 all-time against Georgetown and trail 34-33-1 in the all-time series vs. Navy.
  • The Blue and White won one of three games vs. Minnesota last weekend.
  • Penn State tallied 22 runs, 29 hits and seven extra-base hits.
  • Matt Maloney batted .600 on the weekend, while Joe Jaconski had two doubles, a homer and four RBI. Grant Norris had an inside-the-park homer on Saturday.
  • The Nittany Lions have 56 homers this season, its most since hitting 60 in 2000.
  • Penn State's 35 homers in conference games are nine more than any other Big Ten team.
  • Adam Cecere and Grant Norris are tied third in the Big Ten with 13 homers.
  • In Big Ten games, Norris leads the conference with nine homers, while Cecere is second with seven. J.T. Marr and Bryce Molinaro are tied fourth with five each.
  • Marr is third in the Big Ten in average (.411) and second in hits per game (1.72).

 
SCOUTING GEORGETOWN, NAVY

  • Edwin Thompson is in his fourth year as head coach at Georgetown. The Hoyas are 29-15 overall and 10-4 in Big East play this season but dropped a pair of midweek games against James Madison (12-13) and George Mason (2-13) this week.
  • Christian Ficca leads the Hoyas with a .351 average, 61 hits and 55 RBI while tying for the team lead with 10 homers.
  • Jake Hyde is batting .301 with 16 doubles, 10 homers and 44 RBI, while Michael Eze is 10th in the country with 27 steals.
  • Georgetown has a 4.67 team ERA, while Andrew Williams (2.37 ERA), Everett Catlett (2.93) and Marcello Mastroianni (3.65) form a strong rotation.
  • Navy is led by Chuck Ristano in his first season as head coach after spending the last 13 years as a pitching coach in the ACC with Notre Dame and Florida State. Navy is 25-20 this season and 15-10 in the Patriot League. The Midshipmen dropped a 10-0 decision at Virginia this week.
  • Brock Murtha paces Navy with a .333 average to go with 51 hits, 34 RBI and 40 runs. Logan Keller adds 51 hits and six homers.
  • Zane Raba is 10th in the nation with 27 steals.
  • On the mound, Navy has a 5.89 team ERA, while Tyler Grenn leads the rotation with a 3.03 ERA.
     

AGAINST THE HOYAS, MIDSHIPMEN

  • Penn State is 29-10 all-time against Georgetown and trails 34-33-1 against Navy.
  • The Nittany Lions won both games against Georgetown in 2023. In game one, Travis Luensmann tossed five shutout innings in relief.
  • Penn State last played Navy in 2020. The Nittany Lions threw a combined no-hitter, including current director of pitching technology Mason Mellott, but fell in the 11th inning on an error.

 
THE MARR-CHINE KEEPS HITTING

  • Grad student J.T. Marr's season average sits at .411 with a team-best 67 hits and 41 RBI.
  • Marr ranks third in the Big Ten with his .411 average, while ranking 16th in the country.
  • He also ranks eighth in the nation, and second in the Big Ten, averaging 1.72 hits per game.
  • Marr holds 37th in the country, and fourth in the conference, with 67 total hits.
  • He owns 21 multi-hit games, including 10 against Big Ten opponents, and 13 multi-RBI games. Marr has two games with four hits and seven games with three hits.
  • Marr tied a PSU game record with three doubles against FDU.
  • Among his 67 knocks, he has 13 doubles and six homers to go with 38 runs and a 1.054 OPS, good for 10th in the Big Ten. He has five homers and 22 RBI in conference play.

 
NEWCOMERS LEADING BALANCED LINEUP

  • The Nittany Lions rank Top 5 in the Big Ten in home runs per game (1.44; 2nd), sac flies (25; 2nd), batting average (.303; 3rd), slugging percentage (.497; 4th), total home runs (56; 5th) and runs per game (8.0; 5th).
  • Penn State has six players with a .306 or better average, five with a .403+ on-base percentage and seven with a .417+ slugging percentage.
  • Penn State and Indiana are the only Big Ten teams with seven players owning at least 29 RBI.
  • The Nittany Lions' 56 home runs this year are its most since hitting 60 in 2000.
  • PSU's 35 homers in Big Ten games are nine more than any other Big Ten team.
  • Graduate student J.T. Marr paces the squad with a .411 average and 67 hits. He owns 13 doubles, six homers, 41 RBI and 38 runs.
  • With a 29-of-73 start (.397) and 24 RBI at the plate in conference play, Bobby Marsh is hitting .352 with 50 hits, including nine doubles, one triple, five homers, 38 RBI and 30 runs. His .352 average sits 13th in the Big Ten, while he ranks ninth in the league with his .397 average and sits third with 29 hits in Big Ten play.
  • Holding a .357 average (25-of-70) in Big Ten play, Bryce Molinaro owns seven homers and 10 doubles, among 48 hits, and 35 RBI to go with a .316 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 .331 with 43 hits, including 10 doubles and 13 homers, 39 RBI and a team-best 41 runs. He has a team-high 38 walks and nine hit-by-pitches. He is hitting .338 in Big Ten play with seven homers and 20 RBI.
  • He ranks second in Big Ten with a 1.205 OPS and third in slugging percentage (.708), while sitting fourth in on-base percentage (.497). He sits second in home runs in conference play (7), while sitting third in homers per game (0.33). He's also third in the conference in total walks (38).
  • Cecere is one of 16 current Division I players with 45+ homers and 155+ RBI in their career. Among active DI players, Cecere is 30th in homers (45).
  • Grant Norris has 42 hits, including seven doubles and 13 homers, 37 RBI and 31 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 (13), Penn State has multiple players with 13+ homers for the first time since 1999 (Shawn Fagan, 13; Dan Beers, 13).
  • Cecere and Norris are tied for third in the Big Ten with 13 homers and Norris leads with nine homers in conference games, while Cecere is second with seven homers.
  • Joe Jaconski is sixth in the Big Ten in walks (33) and owns 46 hits, 39 runs and six homers.

 
MINNESOTA SERIES RECAP

  • Penn State took one of three games in its series against Minnesota.
  • The Nittany Lions tallied 22 runs, 29 hits and seven extra-base hits in the series.
  • Matt Maloney batted .600 (6-of-10) with two RBI and a run to go with two walks and two hit-by-pitches.
  • Bryce Molinaro went 5-of-13 with a double, three RBI and three runs, while Joe Jaconski notched five hits, including two doubles and a homer, four RBI and three runs.
  • On Friday, PSU picked up a 7-3 win, taking the lead on a two-run single by Tayven Kelley in the seventh. Molinaro registered three hits and two runs.
  • On Saturday, Grant Norris hit an inside-the-park homer in the fourth. Penn State scored three runs in the ninth to get within a run, but fell 5-4.
  • On Sunday, Jaconski had a double and a homer to drive in three runs.

 
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 eighth in the Big Ten in total steals (13).
  • 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' .561 career slugging percentage sits fifth all-time at Penn State, while sophomore Bobby Marsh's .530 slugging percentage is seventh all-time.
  • Grad students Adam Cecere and Grant Norris are tied eighth in a season at Penn State with 13 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.