Baseball Hosts St. Bonaventure, Bucknell For Midweek Contests

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State baseball team welcomes St. Bonaventure and Bucknell for midweek games on Tuesday and Wednesday at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. The Nittany Lions host St. Bonaventure on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. for the first Dollar Dog Night of the 2026 season. PSU takes on Bucknell on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. Both games will be streamed on B1G+.

 

All games at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park this season are free admission for all ages.

 

Penn State, led by head coach Mike Gambino, is 6-15 this season. The Nittany Lions are coming off a 14-9 win over Purdue on Sunday.

 

St. Bonaventure, coached by Jason Rathbun, is 5-16 this year after winning one of three games against Saint Louis last weekend.

 

Bucknell, led by Scott Heather, is 9-11 this season following a series win over Navy.

 

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 hosts a pair of midweek games at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.
• The Nittany Lions are set to host their first Dollar Dog Night of the 2026 season on Tuesday against St. Bonaventure.
• Penn State took the last of three games at Purdue last weekend. The Nittany Lions fell 12-7 on Friday and 2-1 on Saturday before bouncing back for a 14-9 victory on Sunday.
• Penn State plated 11 runs in the second inning on Sunday, including 10 before an out was recorded. It was PSU’s first 10-run inning since April 23, 2023 at Ohio State (10 runs; 4th inning) and its most runs in an inning since May 9, 2022 at Pitt (14 runs; 9th inning).
• Bryce Molinaro finished a double shy of the cycle on Sunday and had a triple and a two-run homer in the 11-run inning. Michael Anderson added a three-run homer.
• On the weekend, Spencer Barnett, Cohl Mercado, Molinaro and Jack Porter all had five hits. Barnett and Mercado had two doubles, while Mercado added a homer. Porter recorded three doubles.
• Anderson owns 10 home runs this season with 26 RBI, a .324 average and a .761 slugging percentage.
• Molinaro sits seventh all-time at PSU with 29 homers.

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 24-11 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.

 

PURDUE RECAP

• Penn State went 1-2 at Purdue last weekend.
• The Nittany Lions dropped Friday (12-7) and Saturday (2-1) games, but bounced back for a 14-9 win on Sunday.
• Cohl Mercado and Jack Porter both batted .417 in the series. Mercado had two doubles, a homer, four RBI and four runs, while Porter had three doubles and two RBI.
• Spencer Barnett added five hits, two doubles, and two RBI. Bryce Molinaro contributed five hits, a triple and a homer, while Michael Anderson hit two homers.
• On Friday, four Nittany Lion errors led to six unearned runs.
• Mercado led PSU with three hits, including a three-run double and a solo homer, and four RBI.
• On Saturday, Ben Hudson allowed just one run over five innings in his start.
• On Sunday, the Nittany Lions plated 11 runs in the second, including 10 runs before an out was recorded. It was PSU’s first 10-run inning since April 23, 2023 at Ohio State (10 runs; 4th inning) and most runs in an inning since May 9, 2022 at Pitt (14 runs; 9th).
• Molinaro had a triple and a two-run homer, while Anderson added a three-run blast.

 

ANDERSON OFF TO HOT START

• After transferring from Rhode Island (2023-24) and Arkansas (2025), senior Michael Anderson is off to a strong start for the Nittany Lions in 2026.
• The Pennsylvania native owns a .324 average this season, going 23-of-71 at the plate. He also owns a .761 slugging percentage and a .484 on-base percentage.
• Anderson leads Penn State in home runs (10), RBI (26) and runs (17), while adding 23 hits, 12 walks and 10 hit-by-pitches.
• He hit two homers against Indiana State.
• In his debut at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, Anderson launched two homers (437 and 399 feet) among three hits and drove in seven runs. The seven RBI were one shy of the PSU game record.
• He followed with four hits, including a two-run homer, and six RBI at Texas Tech. He drove in two runs in all three games.
• Anderson collected five hits, including a homer, and four RBI against Iowa.
• He crushed two homers and drove in four runs at Purdue.
• Among Big Ten hitters, Anderson leads in home runs per game (0.5), while sitting second in total homers (10), third in slugging percentage (.761) and hit-by-pitches (10), sixth in RBI per game (1.3) and ninth in total RBI (26).

 

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 (2024-25). PSU was one of 14 D1 teams with 81+ homers and 108+ steals last season.
• In 2026, Penn State owns 27 homers and 17 steals.
• Michael Anderson paces the team with 10 homers, Bryce Molinaro has five, while Spencer Barnett has four. Jayden Davis, Jesse Jaconski and Cohl Mercado have two.
• In his PSU career, Molinaro ranks seventh at PSU with 29 homers and a .523 slugging percentage, while sitting ninth with 120 RBI.
• Barnett and Mercado are tied for the team lead with three steals.

 

BAHAMAS SERIES RECAP

• Penn State met Indiana State in the first NCAA Division I baseball games in The Bahamas.
• The Atlantis Collegiate Baseball Series, run by bdG Sports, was played at Andre Rodgers National Baseball Stadium.
• Penn State fell in tight battles on Friday, 8-5, and Saturday, 2-1, but bounced back to win 9-8 in 11 innings on Sunday.
• In Sunday’s win, Michael Anderson, Jayden Davis and Bryce Molinaro all launched homers.
• After a Preston Yaucher single tied the game in the ninth, Jesse Jaconski scored the winning run in the 11th on a fielder’s choice by Cohl Mercado.

 

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).

 

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

• The Nittany Lions welcome Illinois for a three-game Big Ten series next weekend.
• Friday is set for a 5:30 p.m. first pitch. Saturday is slated to start at 2 p.m. and Sunday is set for an 11 a.m. start.
• Saturday features a White Out, encouraging fans to wear white, and postgame autographs. Sunday includes postgame kids run the bases.
• All games at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park are free admission for all ages.