Baseball Meets No. 15 West Virginia In Hagerstown

HAGERSTOWN, Md. – The Penn State baseball team is set to take on No. 15 West Virginia on Wednesday at Meritus Park in Hagerstown. First pitch is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at the home of the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars.

 

Penn State, led by head coach Mike Gambino, owns 10 wins this season after taking one of three games at Ohio State last weekend.

 

West Virginia, coached by Steve Sabins, is 24-8 overall and ranked No. 15 in the D1Baseball poll after winning its series at Texas Tech 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 meets No. 15 West Virginia for a midweek contest at Meritus Park in Hagerstown on Wednesday. The teams will meet for the first time this year.
• Penn State won the last meeting, 3-2, on April 22, 2025.
• The Nittany Lions took one of three games at Ohio State this past weekend, earning a 10-6 win on Friday, but fell 3-2 on Saturday and 15-10 on Sunday.
• Kevin Karstetter went 6-of-12 at the plate at OSU including a triple, a homer and five RBI. Michael Anderson added six hits, including three doubles and two homers, and five RBI.
• Among Big Ten hitters, Anderson ranks first in OPS (1.321), slugging percentage (.835), home runs (15), home runs per game (0.47) and total bases (101), fourth in batting average (.380), fifth in RBI per game (1.25), sixth in RBI (40) and on-base percentage (.486) and 10th in hits per game (1.44). He’s also first in the conference in home runs (8) and OPS (1.420) in conference-only games.
• Anderson is fifth nationally in slugging, 10th in home runs and 19th in total bases.
• Anderson is one of two D1 players with 15+ homers and an average of 410+ feet this season.
• Bryce Molinaro launched his ninth homer of the year at Ohio State and now sits in a tie for third all-time at PSU with 33 career 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 26-12 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.

 

OHIO STATE SERIES RECAP

• Penn State went 1-2 in its series at Ohio State last weekend.
• The Nittany Lions earned a 10-6 win on Friday.
• PSU fell 3-2 in a tight game on Saturday and had a late rally come up short on Sunday, dropping a 15-10 decision.
• Kevin Karstetter went 6-of-12 at the plate with a double, a homer and five RBI. Jayden Davis added five hits, three doubles, one RBI and three runs.
• Michael Anderson contributed six hits, including three doubles and two homers, five RBI and three runs. Bryce Molinaro had a two-run homer.
• On Friday, Penn State erased an early 5-0 deficit to earn a 10-6 victory.
• Anderson tallied three hits, including two doubles and a homer, three RBI and two runs. Molinaro added a two-run homer and Karstetter had a three-run homer.
• The PSU pitching staff allowed just one run and five hits over the final 7.2 innings.
• On Saturday, PSU pitching held OSU scoreless for five innings and limited the Buckeyes to one run and two hits over the last 5.2 frames.
• On Sunday, Anderson secured three hits, including a solo homer and an RBI double, while Davis added three hits, two doubles, and two runs.

 

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 (.380), slugging percentage (.835), on-base percentage (.486), hits (46), runs (29), home runs (15), RBI (40), total bases (101) and hit-by-pitches (12). In Big Ten play, Anderson is batting .426 with 26 hits, seven doubles, eight homers and 20 RBI.
• His 15 homers are tied for fifth-most in a season at PSU with Shawn Fagan (15; 2000) and his .835 slugging percentage is on pace to be the second-best in a season at PSU.
• 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 tallied five hits in the Nebraska series and hit two homers in the series finale.
• Anderson collected six hits, three doubles, two homers, five RBI and six runs in the series at Ohio State.
• Anderson is one of two players in Division I with 15+ homers and an average home run distance of 410+ feet this season.
• Among Big Ten hitters, Anderson ranks first in OPS (1.321), slugging percentage (.835), home runs (15), home runs per game (0.47) and total bases (101), fourth in batting average (.380), fifth in RBI per game (1.25), sixth in RBI (40) and on-base percentage (.486) and 10th in hits per game (1.44). He’s also first in the conference in home runs (8) and OPS (1.420) in conference-only games.
• Anderson is fifth nationally in slugging, 10th in home runs and 19th in total bases.
• Bryce Molinaro is batting .285 on the season and .281 in Big Ten play. He has launched nine homers and driven in 26 runs. He’s hit four homers and recorded 12 RBI against Big Ten opponents.
• With one more homer this season, Molinaro will join Shawn Fagan (19997-00) as the only PSU players to have three 10+ homer seasons in their career.
• In his PSU career, Molinaro is tied-third at PSU with 33 homers and sits sixth with 132 RBI and seventh with a .537 slugging percentage.

 

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 return to Medlar Field at Lubrano Park for a three-game series against Rutgers on April 17-19.
• Friday is set for a 5:30 p.m. first pitch on 800 Strong Night, encouraging Penn State student-athletes to attend.
• Saturday is Ice Cream Day, featuring Double Play Peanut Butter Cup Presented By Penn State Baseball, and postgame autographs. Game time is set for 2 p.m.
• Sunday is a 1 p.m. start as we host the Nittany Lion’s Birthday Party. Sunday also includes postgame kids run the bases.
• All games at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park are free for all ages.