Baseball Hosts No. 23 UCF For Dollar Dog Night

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State baseball team welcomes No. 23 UCF for Dollar Dog Night on Wednesday, April 1 at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. First pitch is set for 5:30 p.m. with a stream on B1G+. It is also Little Sluggers Day, encouraging youth baseball players to attend.

 

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 8-18 this season after taking one of three games against Illinois last weekend.

 

UCF, coached by Rich Wallace, is 18-8 on the year and ranked No. 23 in the D1Baseball Poll after sweeping Arizona this past 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.

LEADING OFF

• Penn State hosts UCF for Dollar Dog Night on Wednesday at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.
• The Nittany Lions went 1-2 against Illinois last weekend.
• Penn State rallied from a 6-0 deficit in the fourth inning to earn a 9-8 victory on Friday.
• After tying the game in the fifth and sixth, Michael Anderson launched a go-ahead, 413-foot homer in the eighth.
• Anderson batted .636 (7-of-11) in the Illinois series with multiple hits in all three games.
• Mason Butash and Kyle Emmons combined for seven innings in relief on Friday, allowing one run and striking out seven.
• On the season, Anderson leads PSU in average (.356), slugging percentage (.744), on-base percentage (.491), hits (32), runs (21), home runs (11), RBI (29) and hit-by-pitches (11).
• He ranks second in the Big Ten in homers and is averaging 403 feet per homer.
• After his three-run homer in game two against Illinois, Bryce Molinaro now sits in sole possession of fifth all-time at Penn State with 31 career homers. He also sits seventh in slugging percentage (.535) and RBI (127).

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 25-11 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.

 

ILLINOIS SERIES RECAP

• Penn State went 1-2 in the Illinois series last weekend.
• The Nittany Lions rallied from down 6-0 in the fourth to earn a 9-8 win on Friday.
• PSU tied the game in the fifth and sixth before Michael Anderson launched a go-ahead, 413-foot homer in the eighth.
• Penn State fell 16-5 on Saturday and 6-0 on Sunday.
• Anderson batted .636 (7-of-11) in the series with a double, a homer, two RBI and three runs.
• Bryce Molinaro added four hits, a double and a homer, three RBI and four runs, while Jayden Davis tripled and drove in three runs. Avery Smith added three RBI.
• On the mound, Mason Butash and Kyle Emmons combined to throw seven innings in relief on Friday, giving up one run on two hits and striking out seven.
• On Friday, Anderson tallied two hits, including his solo homer, two runs and two RBI. Davis recorded three hits, including a triple, and three RBI. Molinaro contributed two hits and two runs, while Smith drove in two runs.
• On Saturday, Molinaro hit a three-run homer among two knocks. Anderson added three hits and a run.

 

ANDERSON, MOLINARO HEATING UP

• 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 leads Penn State in average (.356), slugging percentage (.744), on-base percentage (.491), hits (32), runs (21), home runs (11), RBI (29), total bases (67) and hit-by-pitches (11).
• In Big Ten play, Anderson is batting .441 with 15 hits, four homers and 10 RBI.
• 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 and went 7-of-11 (.636) at the plate in the Illinois series with a homer, two RBI and three runs.
• He is one of 13 players in Division I with 11+ homers and an average home run distance of 403+ feet this season.
• Among Big Ten hitters, Anderson ranks second in home runs (11) and home runs per game (0.44), third in slugging percentage (.744), fifth in hit-by-pitches (11), eighth in on-base percentage (.491) and 10th in RBI per game (1.16).
• Bryce Molinaro is batting .295 on the season and .353 in Big Ten play. He has launched seven homers and driven in 20 runs.
• He’s hit two homers and recorded eight RBI against Big Ten opponents.
• In his PSU career, Molinaro ranks fifth at PSU with 31 homers, seventh with a .535 slugging percentage and 126 RBI.

 

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 travel to Lincoln for a three-game Big Ten series at Nebraska this weekend, April 3-5. All games will be streamed on B1G+.
• Friday’s game is set for 7 p.m. ET, while Saturday is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET. Sunday’s series finale is set for 1 p.m. ET.
• Penn State returns home to take on FDU on Tuesday, April 7 at 5:30 p.m. for Dollar Dog Night.
• All games at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park are free admission for all ages.