Baseball Battles Indiana State In The Bahamas

NASSAU, Bahamas – The Penn State baseball team meets Indiana State for a three-game series at Andre Rodgers National Baseball Stadium in The Bahamas. The teams are participating in the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball Series, presented by bdG sports, in the first ever NCAA baseball games in The Bahamas.

 

Friday’s first pitch is set for 6 p.m. ET. Saturday’s game will start at 3 p.m. ET and Sunday’s series finale will begin at noon ET. All games will be broadcast on FloCollege.

 

Penn State, led by head coach Mike Gambino, is 2-4 this season after winning one of three games at Richmond. PSU earned a 5-0 win over the Spiders last Friday.

 

Indiana State, coached by Tracy Archuleta, is 4-5 this year. The Sycamores went 2-1 last weekend with wins over Miami (Ohio) and UMass Lowell before splitting their midweek series against FGCU.

 

For updates on the Penn State baseball team, please check @pennstatebase on X and Instagram.

 

The 2026 Penn State baseball season is presented by The Family Clothesline.

LEADING OFF

• Penn State travels to the Bahamas this weekend for a three-game series against Indiana State.
• The Nittany Lions will battle the Sycamores at Andre Rodgers National Baseball Stadium, a 5-000 seat venue.
• It will mark the first-ever NCAA Division I games on the island.
• The Atlantis Collegiate Baseball Series is run by bdG Sports.
• Penn State and Indiana State last met in 2001 with Indiana State taking both games.
• The Nittany Lions look to bounce back after a 1-2 weekend at Richmond.
• Penn State earned a 5-0 win on Friday as Colin Fitzgerald (6 IP, 8K), Dimond Loosli (2IP, 4K) and Michael Anderson (1IP) combined for the shutout and Spencer Barnett launched two homers.
• On Saturday, Ben DeMell threw four shutout innings in relief in game one.
• In game two, Jack Porter and Anderson homered, while Mason Horwat tossed four scoreless in relief.
• Through two starts this season, Fitzgerald has a 1.93 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 9.1 innings, while Ben Hudson has a 2.00 ERA and 10 strikeouts in nine innings.
• Porter is batting .304 with a team-high six RBI.

YEAR THREE UNDER GAMBINO

• Penn State’s 33 wins in 2025 are the second-most in program history, behind only 45 in 2000.
• PSU reached the Big Ten Tournament Semifinals in back-to-back years for the first time since 2000-01.
• Penn State tallied 30 wins in a season for the first time since 2011, while earning seven series wins and nine winning weekends.
• PSU’s 15 Big Ten wins last season are its most since 2012.
• The Nittany Lions won three Big Ten road series (at Northwestern, at Minnesota, at Rutgers) in a season for the first time since 2012 (at Iowa, at Minnesota, at Michigan State).
• Penn State won at least five Big Ten series in a season (vs. Indiana, at Northwestern, at Minnesota, vs. Purdue, at Rutgers) for the first time since 2012.
• PSU had eight Big Ten road wins last season, its most since winning nine Big Ten road games in 2007.
• Penn State earned a .500 or better record in Big Ten games in back-to-back seasons for the sixth time in program history (1995-96; 2000-01; 2003-04; 2007-08; 2011-12; 2024-25).
• Penn State’s 27 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 was 11-3 in series/weekend openers last season and is 23-7 in series/weekend openers over the last three years.
• The Nittany Lions had five players selected in the 2025 MLB Draft: outfielder Paxton Kling (7th round, Rangers), shortstop Ryan Weingartner (8th round, Cardinals), pitcher Ryan DeSanto (12th round, Guardians), pitcher Chase Renner (13th round, Marlins) and third baseman Bryce Molinaro (17th round, Nationals). Molinaro returned for the 2026 season.

 

RICHMOND SERIES RECAP

• The Nittany Lions picked up a 5-0 win in the series opener against Richmond, but fell 3-0 and 4-3 in a doubleheader on Saturday.
• Penn State’s pitching staff allowed just five earned runs, while striking out 25 batters and giving up six walks in 25 innings.
• At the plate, Penn State hit four home runs.
• On Friday, Colin Fitzgerald led the Nittany Lions to a shutout victory with six scoreless innings. He added eight strikeouts.
• Dimond Loosli added two shutout frames and four strikeouts before Michael Anderson closed out the shutout.
• Spencer Barnett launched two solo homers on Friday. Jayden Davis contributed an RBI double, while Bryce Molinaro and Jack Porter each drove in a run.
• In Saturday’s first game, Ben DeMell made a strong relief appearance, going four scoreless innings after Ben Hudson allowed one earned run in four innings in his start.
• In Saturday’s second game, Anderson and Porter both blasted solo homers. Porter added a double and Kevin Karstetter had an RBI double.
• Mason Horwat threw four scoreless frames in relief.

 

GAMBINO COACHING CONNECTIONS

• Penn State head coach Mike Gambino has coached two current MLB managers.
• Gambino coached Washington Nationals manager Blake Butera at Boston College (2012-15) before Butera was selected in the 35th round by the Tampa Bay Rays. Butera is the youngest manager in the MLB at 33 years old.
• Gambino also mentored Colorado Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer at Virginia Tech in 2007. Schaeffer was selected in the 38th round of the 2007 draft.
• At the Desert Invitational, Gambino went up against Kansas State’s Pete Hughes. Gambino played for Hughes at Boston College from 1999-00 and then served on Hughes’ coaching staffs at Boston College (2003-05) and Virginia Tech (2007-10).

 

NITTANY LIONS DISPLAY POWER, SPEED

• Penn State is one of 13 Division I teams (only Big Ten team) with 152 homers and 168 stolen bases in the last two seasons. The Nittany Lions’ 152 homers rank fifth in the Big Ten.
• In 2025, Penn State slugged 81 home runs.
• The Nittany Lions tallied 10+ runs in 23 games last season, tied for 18th in the country, and 12 times in Big Ten games. PSU’s 23 games of 10+ runs set a new program record, bettering 2000 (22).
• In 2025, Penn State had five players with 10+ homers in a season for the first time in program history, including returners Bryce Molinaro (13), Jesse Jaconski (12) and Jack Porter (10).
• PSU was one of 14 D1 teams with 81+ homers and 108+ steals last season.
• The Nittany Lions paced the Big Ten in total steals (108; 46th nationally) and steals per game (1.93; 46th).
• Penn State had 12 more steals than any other Big Ten team this season and broke the team record of 91 steals in 2000.
• In 2026, four Nittany Lions have a home run.
• Spencer Barnett hit two homers at Richmond, while Michael Anderson and Jack Porter each hit one. Jesse Jaconski had a solo homer against Kansas State.
• Among the Nittany Lions’ 47 hits this season are six doubles and two triples.
• Penn State has four steals so far this year with one each by Barnett, Kevin Karstetter, Justin Turcovski and Nate Voss.

 

PENN STATE SIGNS SATO

• On December 22, the Nittany Lions signed Japanese phenom pitcher Genei Sato.
• The 21-year-old right-handed pitcher is expected to enroll in Penn State classes in Summer 2026 and will join the Nittany Lions in Fall 2026 to compete in the 2027 season. Sato will be eligible for the 2027 MLB Draft.
• He spent three years at Sendai University in Shibata, Japan.
• Sato is considered to be a potential first-round pick in the 2027 MLB Draft.
• Before deciding to pursue a college path, Sato was considered a top prospect in the 2026 Nippon Professional Baseball Draft.
• While at Sendai University, Sato threw 170.1 innings, while posting a 2.22 ERA and 10.7 strikeouts per nine, while allowing six hits per nine and 3.3 walks per nine.
• His fastball has been clocked between 94-97 mph while topping out at 99. He also features a splitter (88-91), slider (82-85) and curveball (71-74).
• Sato competed for Japan in the US-Japan Collegiate All-Star Series last July, serving as the closer for the Japanese Collegiate National Team, recording 4.1 innings, allowing one run and striking out six.
• He is the 12th member of Penn State’s 2026 signing class, which includes the top prospect and three of the top nine prospects in PA, according to Prep Baseball Report. It also includes two of the top seven prospects in New Jersey.

 

UP NEXT

• Penn State hosts St. Johns on Tuesday, March 3 and Wednesday, March 4 for its home-opening slate. Tuesday’s contest is set to begin at 5:30 p.m. and Wednesday’s will start at 4 p.m.
• All games at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park are free admission for all ages.