Baseball Hosts St. John’s For Home Opener

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State baseball team meets St. John’s for its home opener on Wednesday at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. The Nittany Lions and the Red Storm are set for a 4 p.m. first pitch with a livestream on B1G+.

Penn State, led by head coach Mike Gambino, is 3-6 this season after winning the series finale against Indiana State. PSU earned a 9-8 win in 11 innings.

St. John’s, coached by Mike Hampton, is 1-9 this year after falling in all three games at No. 22 Kentucky last weekend.

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.

• Penn State welcomes St. John’s for its home opener on Wednesday at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.
• The Nittany Lions meet the Red Storm for the 24th time in program history and first time since 2018.
• Penn State is coming off a 9-8 win in 11 innings over Indiana State on Sunday. PSU dropped two tight games to start the series, falling 8-5 on Friday and 2-1 on Saturday.
• On Sunday, Michael Anderson, Jayden Davis and Bryce Molinaro all homered. Jesse Jaconski scored the winning run on a fielder’s choice by Cohl Mercado.
• The Nittany Lions got strong starts on the mound on Friday and Saturday.
• On Friday, Colin Fitzgerald tied a career high with 10 strikeouts over six innings. He became the first Nittany Lion with 10+ strikeouts in a game since Travis Luensmann in 2023.
• On Saturday, Ben Hudson threw 7.2 innings, allowing two runs on six hits, and struck out seven.
• Anderson hit two home runs on the weekend, while Spencer Barnett added a homer on Saturday.
• Anderson and Barnett are tied for the team lead with three homers this season.

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 23-8 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.

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.
• On Friday, Colin Fitzgerald fired six innings and tied a career high with 10 strikeouts. He secured multiple strikeouts in four different innings.
• Anderson blasted a two-run homer, while Davis and Molinaro had RBI doubles.
• On Saturday, Ben Hudson went 7.2 innings in his start, giving up two runs and tallying seven strikeouts. He held ISU scoreless through the first 3.2 innings.
• Spencer Barnett hit his third homer of the year among two hits.

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 (2024-25). The Nittany Lions’ 152 homers rank fifth in the Big Ten.
• 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).
• 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).
• In 2026, six Nittany Lions have a home run.
• Michael Anderson and Spencer Barnett share the team lead with three homers. Jayden Davis, Jesse Jaconski, Bryce Molinaro and Jack Porter each have one homer.
• The Nittany Lions own 11 doubles, two triples and 10 homers among their 72 hits this season.
• Barnett also leads the team with three steals, while Justin Turcovski has two and Kevin Karstetter, Cohl Mercado and Nate Voss all have one.

FITZGERALD, HUDSON SHINE IN EARLY SEASON STARTS

• With three starts each, Colin Fitzgerald and Ben Hudson have enjoyed solid beginnings to their 2026 campaigns.
• Fitzgerald has started all three Friday night games, posting a 3.52 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 15.1 innings.
• Against Richmond, Fitzgerald tossed six shutout innings and struck out eight batters.
• Against Indiana State, he threw six innings and tallied a career-high-tying 10 strikeouts.
• Hudson has made three starts on Saturdays with a 2.16 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 16.2 innings.
• He picked up a win over Grand Canyon, going five innings and allowing one run. He recorded six strikeouts.
• Against Indiana State, Hudson threw a career-high 7.2 innings and notched seven strikeouts.

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 travels to Lubbock, Texas for a three-game series against Texas Tech.
• Friday’s contest is set for 7:30 p.m., Saturday’s game is scheduled for 3 p.m. and Sunday’s game will start at 2 p.m.
• All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+.