Baseball Welcomes Rutgers For Three-Game SeriesBaseball Welcomes Rutgers For Three-Game Series

Tayven Kelley

Baseball Welcomes Rutgers For Three-Game Series

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State baseball team hosts Rutgers this weekend, May 10-12, for a three-game Big Ten series. It begins on Friday with a 5:30 p.m. first pitch. Saturday is a 2 p.m. start and Sunday's Senior Day game begins at 1 p.m. All three games will be broadcast on B1G+.
 
All home games are free admission for all ages.
 
Friday is Alumni Day and Saturday is Little League Day and ALS Awareness Day before Sunday's Senior Day, honoring 14 Nittany Lions.
 
Penn State, led by Mike Gambino, is 21-21 and looks to bounce back after falling at West Virginia on Wednesday.
 
Rutgers, coached by Steve Owens, is 26-21 overall and 4-14 in Big Ten play. The Scarlet Knights won one of three games at Maryland 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 Alumni Day, including honoring former Penn State head coach Joe Hindelang, who passed away in February.
    • Hindelang's 389 wins are the most all-time in program history. He led Penn State to a Big Ten regular season championship in 1996 and an NCAA Super Regional in 2000.
  • Saturday is Little League Day and ALS Awareness Day.
    • ALS Awareness Day includes a first pitch by the Frates family. This summer will mark the 10th anniversary of the ice bucket challenge, started by Pete Frates to raise money for ALS research.
    • Saturday includes postgame autographs and a trading card set giveaway.
  • Sunday celebrates Senior Day as the Nittany Lions recognize 14 seniors: Adam Cecere, Chic DeGaetano, Billy Gerlott, Kyle Hannon, Jaden Henline, Tayven Kelley, Carson Kohls, David Lee, Travis Luensmann, J.T. Marr, Bobby Marsh, Kevin Michaels, Grant Norris and C.J. Pittaro.
  • 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:

 
LEADING OFF

  • Penn State meets Rutgers for a three-game Big Ten series.
  • The Nittany Lions are 49-40 all-time against Rutgers.
  • Penn State looks to bounce back after falling 18-7 at West Virginia on Wednesday.
  • On Sunday, Penn State will recognize 14 seniors: Adam Cecere, Chic DeGaetano, Billy Gerlott, Kyle Hannon, Jaden Henline, Tayven Kelley, Carson Kohls, David Lee, Travis Luensmann, J.T. Marr, Bobby Marsh, Kevin Michaels, Grant Norris and C.J. Pittaro.
  • After Gerlott, Hannon, Kelley, Luensmann and Pittaro graduated last weekend, Penn State has 12 college graduates on the roster.
  • The Nittany Lions have 56 homers this season, its most since hitting 60 in 2000.
  • Penn State's 35 homers in conference games are four more than any other Big Ten team.
  • Adam Cecere and Grant Norris are tied third in the Big Ten with 13 homers.
  • J.T. Marr is second in the Big Ten in average (.413) and hits per game (1.69).
  • PSU has six players with 47+ hits and seven with 31+ RBI.

 
SCOUTING RUTGERS

  • Rutgers is coached by Steve Owens in his fifth season.
  • He ranks seventh among active Division I coaches with 1,044 wins and has led his teams to 13 NCAA Tournament appearances.
  • In 2024, the Scarlet Knights are 26-21 overall and 4-14 in Big Ten play.
  • Last weekend, Rutgers won one of three games at Maryland with all three games being decided by two or less runs.
  • Rutgers leads the Big Ten with a .309 average, sitting 25th in the nation, and 511 hits, ranking 18th in the country.
  • Joshua Kuroda-Grauer paces the Big Ten with a .438 average, ranking second in the nation. He leads the country with 85 hits and 1.81 hits per game, while sitting third in the league with a .509 on-base percentage and second with 22 stolen bases.
  • Tony Santa Maria is htting .321 with team highs in homers (12) and RBI (46).
  • On the mound, Rutgers ranks fourth in the Big Ten with a 5.65 ERA.
  • Justin Sinibaldi is 4-3 with a 3.33 ERA in 12 starts and 62 strikeouts in 78.1 innings.
  • Rutgers also leads the Big Ten with a .981 fielding percentage, ranking seventh in the country.
     

AGAINST THE SCARLET KNIGHTS

  • Penn State is 49-40 all-time against Rutgers.
  • The Nittany Lions dropped all three games in Piscataway last season.
  • In the series finale in 2023, Travis Luensmann threw seven strong innings in relief, allowing three runs and striking out five. He also started a triple play in the first inning with a diving catch on a popped up bunt.

 
THE MARR-CHINE KEEPS HITTING

  • Grad student J.T. Marr's season average sits at .413 with a team-best 71 hits and 44 RBI.
  • Marr ranks second in the Big Ten with his .413 average, while ranking 14th in the country.
  • He also ranks ninth in the nation, and second in the Big Ten, averaging 1.69 hits per game.
  • Marr holds 42nd in the country, and third in the conference, with 71 total hits.
  • He owns 22 multi-hit games, including 10 against Big Ten opponents, and 14 multi-RBI games. Marr has two games with four hits and eight games with three hits.
  • Marr tied a PSU game record with three doubles against FDU.
  • Among his 71 knocks, he has 14 doubles and six homers to go with 42 runs and a 1.063 OPS, good for eighth 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 (1.33; 3rd), sac flies (26; 3rd), slugging percentage (.488; 4th), batting average (.302; 3rd), doubles per game (2.05; 5th), total home runs (56; 5th) and runs per game (7.8; 5th).
  • Penn State has six players with 47+ hits, five with a .413+ on-base percentage and seven with a .400+ slugging percentage.
  • Penn State, Illinois and Indiana are the only Big Ten teams with seven players owning at least 31 RBI and PSU is one of two Big Ten teams with six players owning 47+ hits.
  • 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 four more than any other Big Ten team.
  • Graduate student J.T. Marr paces the squad with a .413 average and 71 hits. He owns 14 doubles, six homers, 44 RBI and 42 runs.
  • With a 29-of-73 start (.397) and 24 RBI at the plate in conference play, Bobby Marsh is hitting .333 with 51 hits, including nine doubles, one triple, five homers, 40 RBI and 31 runs. He owns a .333 average, while he ranks eighth in the league with his .397 average and sits fourth 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 54 hits, and 35 RBI to go with a .331 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 47 hits, including 11 doubles and 13 homers, 41 RBI and a team-best 42 runs. He has a team-high 39 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 1.173 OPS and third in slugging percentage (.683), while sitting fifth in on-base percentage (.490). He sits second in home runs in conference play (7), while sitting third in homers per game (0.31). He's also third in the conference in total walks (39).
  • Cecere is one of 16 current Division I players with 45+ homers and 157+ RBI in their career. Among active DI players, Cecere is 23rd in homers (45).
  • Grant Norris has 47 hits, including nine doubles, a triple, and 13 homers, 39 RBI and 33 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 (35) and owns 47 hits, 40 runs and six homers.

 
GEORGETOWN, NAVY WEEKEND RECAP

  • Penn State split its non-conference games against Georgetown and Navy last weekend.
  • On Friday, the Nittany Lions earned a 7-2 win over Georgetown.
  • Senior Travis Luensmann fired his strongest start of the season.
  • He went a career-high seven innings with a season-best nine strikeouts and allowed two runs on five hits. He had multiple strikeouts in the first, third and fifth innings.
  • Grant Norris collected three hits, including two doubles and a triple, and two RBI, while J.T. Marr contributed three hits, including a double, two RBI and three runs.
  • Adam Cecere added two hits, including a double, and drove in two runs.
  • PSU fell 9-1 at Navy on Sunday.
  • Cecere and Molinaro each had two hits, while Matt Maloney had an RBI double.

 
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 seventh 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' .566 career slugging percentage sits fifth all-time at Penn State, while sophomore Bobby Marsh's .513 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.