UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State baseball team hosts Rider on Wednesday for Country Night at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. First pitch is set for 5:30 p.m. with a broadcast on B1G+.
All Penn State home games are free admission for all ages.
Penn State, led by head coach Mike Gambino, is 25-17 this season (12-12 Big Ten) after falling in three games at No. 15 UCLA last weekend, including two games decided by three or less runs.
Rider, coached by interim head coach Lee Lipinski, is 28-11 overall (18-5 MAAC) after a three-game sweep over Marist last weekend.
For updates on the Penn State baseball team, please check @pennstatebase on X and Instagram.
The 2025 Penn State baseball season is presented by The Family Clothesline.
FOLLOW ALONG
PARKING
- Fan parking is available in Porter North and Jordan East lots.
- Prepaid parking is available until midnight the day before the game for $5.50 at psu.parkmobile.io
- Day of game parking is available through Honk for $10, please see the in-lot signage for the QR code and text-to-pay options.
SUITE TICKETS
- Fans can enjoy the action from climate-controlled Luxury Suites at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.
- These 20-person suites offer a fantastic view of Mount Nittany while providing a luxurious experience for fans and their guests.
- Luxury Suites are available for $400 per game, with a limited number of suites available for each game on a first-come, first-serve basis.
- To book a suite, call 814-272-1711 or emailsuites@statecollegespikes.com.
LEADING OFF
- Penn State hosts Rider for a non-conference, midweek matchup on Wednesday.
- The Nittany Lions look to bounce back after falling in three games at No. 15 UCLA this past weekend.
- Two of the three games at UCLA were decided by three or less runs.
- Jesse Jaconski batted .500 in the series with six hits, including two doubles, and five RBI. Jack Porter added a double and two RBI, while Joe Jaconski had a solo homer.
- Earlier last week, Penn State earned a 3-2 win over No. 17 West Virginia, snapping the Mountaineers’ nation-best 14-game win streak.
- With 63 home runs and 90 steals this season, PSU is one the only D1 team this season with 63+ homers and 90+ steals this year.
- In the series at UCLA, Paxton Kling (12 HR, 13 SB) became PSU’s first player with 12+ homers and 12+ steals in a season since Sean Deegan (12 HR, 15 SB) in 2011.
- PSU is one of only seven teams in D1 with five or more players with 6+ homers and 6+ steals this year.
- Penn State’s 90 steals are 11 more than any other Big Ten team this season.
- Ryan Weingartner’s 24 steals in 2025 are tied for third-most in a season at PSU.
- Weingartner is one of eight D1 players with 8+ HR and 24+ SB in 2025.
YEAR TWO GROWTH UNDER GAMBINO
- With a 21-10 start, Penn State got off to its best 31-game start since going 23-8 to begin the 2000 season.
- With its sweep over Minnesota, the Nittany Lions have won two Big Ten road series (at Northwestern, at Minnesota) in a season for the first time since 2012 (at Iowa, at Minnesota, at Michigan State).
- PSU also has earned two road series sweeps (at Longwood, at Minnesota) in a season for the first time since 2000 (at Norfolk State, at Iowa).
- With its series win against Purdue, Penn State has won at least four Big Ten series in a season (vs. Indiana, at Northwestern, at Minnesota, vs. Purdue) for the first time since 2012.
- Penn State’s 24 wins in Big Ten play over the last two seasons are its most in a two-year span since 2011-12 (not counting the Big Ten-only schedule in 2021).
- PSU is 9-2 in series/weekend openers this season and 20-5 in series/weekend openers over the last two years.
- In non-conference action, Penn State earned a win over Missouri in its season opener, its first win over an SEC team since 1995, and a 3-2 victory over No. 17 West Virginia to snap the Mountaineers’ 14-game win streak.
- With its win in game one against Indiana on March 7, the Nittany Lions had a nine-game win streak for the first time since 2000.
NITTANY LIONS AMONG NATIONAL LEADERS IN HOMERS, STEALS
- Through 42 games, Penn State has slugged 63 home runs, just behind pace to break its team season record of 91 in 2000.
- The Nittany Lions have tallied 10+ runs in 20 games this season, tied for eighth in the country, and 10 times in Big Ten games. PSU has 20 games of 10+ runs in a season for just the second time in program history (22; 2000).
- The Nittany Lions rank 35th in the country, averaging 1.5 homers per game.
- Penn State also ranks 39th in the nation in total home runs.
- Paxton Kling leads the Nittany Lions with 12 homers, sitting 10th in the Big Ten.
- With two steals in game one against UCLA, Kling (12 HR, 13 SB) became the first PSU player with 12+ homers and 12+ steals in a season since Sean Deegan (12 HR, 14 SB) in 2011.
- Kling is the only Big Ten player with 12+ HR and 12+ SB this year.
- Kling is among nine Nittany Lions with at least one home run this season and is one of eight with 4+ homers.
- Jesse Jaconski has 10 homers, Bryce Molinaro owns nine homers and Ryan Weingartner has eight, Jack Porter has seven and Nate Voss has six, while Joe Jaconski has six homers. Cole Wagner has four.
- Molinaro has three multi-homer games this season, tied for eighth in D1.
- With 63 home runs and 90 steals this season, PSU is the only D1 team with 63+ homers and 90+ steals this season.
- PSU is one of 15 D1 teams (only Big Ten) with seven players owning 6+ homers.
- PSU, Arizona State, Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, Samford and Utah Valley are the only teams in the country with five or more players with 6+ homers and 6+ steals.
- Penn State has launched six grand slams, including two by Kling, one by Jesse Jaconski, one by Molinaro, one by Voss and one by Weingartner.
- PSU is tied-seventh in the country with six grand slams this year.
- The Nittany Lions are also 36th in the country in stolen bases per game (2.14), pacing the Big Ten, and 36th in total steals (90).
- Penn State has 11 more steals than any other Big Ten team this season and is approaching its team record of 91 steals in 2000.
- PSU has eight players owning 5+ steals.
- Weingartner leads the Big Ten in total steals (24), sitting 33rd in the country, and steals per game (0.57), holding 40th.
- Weingartner’s 24 steals are tied-third in a season at PSU.
- Weingartner is one of eight players in Division I this season with 8+ homers and 24+ stolen bases.
- Kling has 13 steals and Wagner has 11.
- Penn State has three players with 10+ steals in a season for the first time since 2015 (Greg Guers, 14; Jim Haley, 11; Taylor Skerpon, 11).
HAGENMAN MAKES MLB DEBUT
- Former Nittany Lion Justin Hagenman made his Major League baseball debut for the New York Mets on Wednesday, April 16.
- After entering the game in the second inning, against the Minnesota Twins, Hagenmen went 3.1 innings. He was charged with one run on three hits, while striking out four.
- Hagenman notched two strikeouts in the first inning, including a punch out against the first batter he faced, the Twins’ Ryan Jeffers.
- He is the 24th Penn State player to appear in a MLB game and the first since Nate Bump in 2005.
- After being selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 23rd round of the 2018 MLB Draft, Hagenman’s professional baseball journey includes stops with the Ogden Raptors (2018), Great Lakes Loons (2018-19), Tulsa Drillers (2021-22), Oklahoma City Dodgers (2022-23), Worchester Red Sox (2023-24) and Syracuse Mets (2025).
- Hagenman was traded from the Dodgers to the Boston Red Sox in July 2023 and signed with the Mets in November 2024.
- In his minor league career, Hagenman is 32-16 with 22 saves and a 3.95 ERA in 203 appearances (27 starts) and 433 strikeouts in 419.1 innings.
- He was a three-year starter at Penn State from 2016-18, posting a 4.64 ERA, 10 wins and 190 strikeouts. He is fourth all-time at PSU with 42 career starts.
DOLLAR DOG NIGHT
- The Nittany Lions hosted their sixth and final Dollar Dog Night of the 2025 season against West Virginia on April 22.
- Penn State set records for attendance (6,106) and hot dogs consumed (12,112).
- PSU fans have consumed 39,324 hot dogs over six Dollar Dog Nights this year, an average of 6,554 hot dogs.
- Penn State’s first five Dollar Dog Night totals of 2025: vs. FDU (5,960), vs. St. Bonaventure (7,506), vs. Pitt (6,733), vs. Bucknell (4,429) and vs. Delaware (2,584).
- Across 15 Dollar Dog Nights in 2023, 2024 and 2025, Penn State fans have consumed 74,501 hot dogs, averaging 4,967 per Dollar Dog Night.
UCLA SERIES RECAP
- Penn State fell in all three games in its series at No. 15 UCLA, including two games decided by three or less runs.
- Jesse Jaconski led PSU with a .500 average in the series with six hits, including two doubles, and five RBI. He added a steal.
- Jack Porter had three hits and two RBI, while Joe Jaconski added a solo homer and Paxton Kling had three steals.
- On Friday, PSU rallied for four runs to take the lead in the top of the ninth, including a go-ahead single by Jesse Jaconski, but the Bruins responded with two runs in the bottom of the ninth to walk it off.
- On Sunday, Penn State cut its deficit to one in the fourth and sixth innings, but UCLA answered with two runs in the seventh to hold on for the victory.
- It marked the first ever matchup between the programs.