Baseball Welcomes Bucknell For Dollar Dog Night On Tuesday

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State baseball team hosts Bucknell on Tuesday evening at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. First pitch is set for 5:30 p.m. on Dollar Dog Night Presented By Venmo, with a live stream on B1G+. All games at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park are free admission for all ages.

 

Tuesday is also Faculty and Staff Appreciation Day.

 

Penn State, led by head coach Mike Gambino, owns 11 wins this season (five in Big Ten play) after picking up a 14-13 win over Rutgers on Sunday.

 

Bucknell, coached by Scott Heather, is 21-18 overall and 14-6 in Patriot League. The Bison took one of four games in their series at Army.

 

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 host Bucknell on Tuesday for Dollar Dog Night Presented By Venmo.
• The Nittany Lions will host their third Dollar Dog Night of the 2026 season with fans consuming 11,115 hot dogs.
• Penn State took one of three games against Rutgers last weekend.
• PSU earned a 14-13 win over Rutgers on Sunday. Michael Anderson, Bryce Molinaro and Spencer Barnett hit back-to-back-to-back homers in the fourth inning.
• Molinaro added a homer in the fifth and Jack Porter launched a homer in the third.
• With his 10th and 11th homers of the season, Molinaro joined Shawn Fagan (1997-00) as the only Nittany Lions with three seasons of 10+ homers in their careers.
• Among Big Ten hitters, Anderson ranks first in OPS (1.300), slugging percentage (.809), home runs (16) and home runs per game (0.44), second in total bases (110), fourth in RBI (44), fifth in RBI per game (1.22) and On Base percentage (.491) and ninth in average (.375). He’s also second in the conference in home runs (9) and OPS (1.338) in conference-only games.
• Anderson is eighth nationally in slugging, 14th in home runs and 25th in total bases.
• With his homers against Rutgers, Molinaro moved into second in program history with 35 career homers. He also sits tied-fifth with 137 RBI and seventh with a .538 slugging percentage.

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 26-13 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.

 

RUTGERS SERIES RECAP

• Penn State went 1-2 in its series vs. Rutgers last weekend.
• The Nittany Lions tallied 26 runs and 45 hits in the series.
• Penn State fell 13-11 on Friday and 4-1 on Saturday before a 14-13 win on Sunday.
• Kevin Karstetter went 7-of-12 (.583) with two doubles and two RBI, while Jayden Davis had seven hits, two doubles and four runs.
• Bryce Molinaro and Jack Porter each launched two homers. Molinaro drove in five runs while Porter drove in six.
• On Friday, rallied from down 11 entering the bottom fifth, posting four runs in the fifth, one in the seventh and four in the ninth before ending the game with the tying run on first.
• PSU pitchers retired the final 13 batters of the game.
• Davis, Karstetter and Porter each recorded four hits. Porter’s four hits included a two-run homer and a pair of RBI singles.
• On Saturday, Ben Hudson worked 6.2 innings, surrendering no extra-base hits and holding Rutgers scoreless through the first 4.2 innings.
• On Sunday, Penn State held a 13-2 lead going into the sixth and held off a fierce comeback by the Scarlet Knights.
• Michael Anderson, Molinaro and Spencer Barnett hit back-to-back-to-back homers in the fourth, while Molinaro added a homer in the fifth and Porter homered in the third.

 

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 (.375), slugging percentage (.809), on-base percentage (.491), hits (51), runs (33), home runs (16), RBI (44), total bases (110) and hit-by-pitches (13). In Big Ten play, Anderson is batting .400 with 30 hits, eight doubles, nine homers and 24 RBI.
• His 16 homers are tied for fourth-most in a season at PSU with Dan Beers (16; 1998) and his .809 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 three players in Division I with 16+ homers and an average home run distance of 412+ feet this season.
• Among Big Ten hitters, Anderson ranks first in OPS (1.300), slugging percentage (.809), home runs (16) and home runs per game (0.44), second in total bases (110), fourth in RBI (44), fifth in RBI per game (1.22) and On Base percentage (.491) and ninth in average (.375). He’s also second in the conference in home runs (9) and third in OPS (1.338) in conference-only games.
• Anderson is eighth nationally in slugging, 14th in home runs and 25th in total bases.
• Bryce Molinaro has launched 11 homers and driven in 31 runs. He’s hit six homers and recorded 17 RBI against Big Ten opponents.
• With two homers against Rutgers, Molinaro joined Shawn Fagan (19997-00) as the only PSU players to have three 10+ homer seasons in their careers.
• He is one of 17 current D1 players with three 10+ home run seasons.
• In his PSU career, Molinaro is second at PSU with 35 homers and sits tied-fifth with 137 RBI and seventh with a .538 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

• Penn State travels to No. 19 Oregon this weekend, April 24-26, for a three-game Big Ten series.
• Friday’s game is set to begin at 9:05 p.m. ET. Saturday’s game will start at 7:05 p.m. ET and Sunday will start at 3:05 p.m. ET.
• All three games will be streamed on B1G+.
• The Nittany Lions host No. 12 West Virginia on Wednesday, April 29 for its final Dollar Dog Night Presented By Venmo of the 2026 season. First pitch is set for 5:30 p.m.
• All games at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park are free admission for all ages.