Paul will be an extremely important part of the Penn State bullpen in this, his senior year. A native of Central Pennsylvania, Paul will perhaps be the most relied-upon reliever to bridge the gap between Penn State[apos]s outstanding starters and its outstanding closer, Drew O[apos]Neil. A relief pitcher throughout his career, he stepped into a starting role out of necessity at the end of the last year and just like he did out of the bullpen during the rest of the year, he excelled and gave his team a chance to win in every start, which it did in all three starts. Paul improved his numbers in each of his first three years with the Nittany Lions and if that pattern continues this year, he should have what may turn out to be a year worthy of All-Conference, All-Region and perhaps even All-American honors.
Summer 2007: For the second straight summer, played with Johnston Realty of the Altoona All-American Amateur Baseball Association (AAABA) and was once again teammates with Seth Whitehill.
'Hawk is another one of our team captains and his strong leadership has helped guide some of the younger guys on the pitching staff. He was instrumental in our team[apos]s success last year after pitching well in some pressure situations. This year he will once again provide relief out of the bullpen and also help lead our staff. He has improved in each of his last three seasons and we are looking for more of the same this year. Paul represents Penn State and our baseball program well on and off the field. It has been a pleasure for us to have had the opportunity to coach him.'
From the Coaches[apos] Suite
|
2007 (Junior): Exclusively a reliever through his career, he made his first career start against Michigan the second-to-last weekend of the regular season and made another one the final weekend vs. Ohio State, picking up wins in both starts....He also started in Penn State[apos]s Big Ten Tournament win over Michigan, getting a no decision as the game went into extra innings but leaving with the lead as the pitcher of record....He also had two wins out of the bullpen, both in Big Ten games, to give him a perfect 4-0 record, all in Big Ten games....Had a string of 14.2 consecutive innings, which spanned over nine appearances from March 25-April 22 in which he did not allow a walk....Had an impressive 3.32 ERA in 19 appearances, including three starts....Finished third on the team behind only Matt Ogrodnik and Drew O[apos]Neil in appearances....Held opponents to a respectable .255 batting average and allowed just 15 earned runs in 40.2 innings....His workload dramatically increased compared to 2006 as he doubled and went beyond his career innings pitched total entering the season, which was just 22.2....Had allowed 20 earned runs in his career in those 22.2 innings compared to just 15 ER in 2007 in 40.2 innings....Held opponents without any earned runs in 10 of his 16 relief appearances and did not allow any walks in 12 of 19 appearances overall....In Big Ten games, had an even lower ERA of 2.59 in 11 appearances, including two starts, and allowed just seven earned runs in 24.1 innings while limiting opposing hitters to a .258 average.
Game-by-Game Highlights: Pitched two innings with allowing a hit or a run and struck out one in his first appearance of the year vs. Kansas State (2-16)....Worked out of a jam with the lead still intact by striking out the side in an inning at Centenary (2-18) to help the Nittany Lions to their first win of the year....Threw a scoreless inning vs. Central Connecticut (3-25)....Threw three scoreless innings vs. Bucknell (4-3), allowing just three hits and preserving a lead....Tossed two innings, allowing three hits and one unearned run vs. Temple (4-11)....Stranded a runner on third base by retiring the final batter of the sixth inning in the second game vs. Michigan State (4-15)....Went two innings, stranding a pair of inherited runners and allowing two hits and one run to pick up the win in relief in the series finale win at Michigan State (4-16)....Won his second straight Big Ten game by going 1.1 innings and allowing three hits and one run with one strikeout in the series opener vs. Northwestern (4-20)....Threw two perfect innings in the win over Northwestern in the third game of the series (4-21)....Stranded runners at second and third after Northwestern had taken the lead in the seventh inning of the series finale by retiring the final hitter of the inning vs. Northwestern (4-22)....Allowed one hit in 1.2 innings and held onto the lead in relief of Seth Whitehill in the series-opening win over Indiana (4-27)....Pitched a career-high four innings of relief out of the bullpen and allowed just two hits and no runs in the series finale at Indiana (4-29)....In his first career start, equaled his career high with four innings pitched and allowed six hits but only two runs while striking out three to improve to 3-0 on the year vs. Michigan (5-13)....Held Ohio State to just one earned run and five hits in a career-high five innings pitched in his second start of the year (5-19) to pick up his second straight win in his second career start....Threw five innings, allowing two runs and left as the pitcher of record on the winning side before eventually getting a no decision in the Big Ten Tournament win over Michigan (5-25).
Summer 2006: Played for Johnston Realty of the Altoona All-American Amateur Baseball Association (AAABA) and was teammates with Ryan Boonie and Seth Whitehill.
2006 (Sophomore): Appeared in 13 games out of the bullpen and went 2-1 and lowered his ERA by nine runs from his freshman season....Did not allow a run in seven of his 13 appearances and did not allow an earned in nine of 13 appearances....Had a string of 8.2 innings without allowing an earned run from March 4-April 12, spanning eight appearances....Ended the year with a positive walk to strikeout ratio.
Game-by-Game Highlights: Picked up the win, the first of his career, vs. Bethune-Cookman in an extra-inning affair, pitching a perfect top of the 11th inning, which was followed by Penn State winning it in the bottom of the 11th....Gave up an unearned run at Furman (3-18) in one inning of work....PItched scoreless innings at Arizona State (3-24) and Minnesota (4-2)....Pitched 1.1 scoreless innings vs. Iowa (4-7)....Got his second win of the year by throwing three scoreless innings of relief vs Duquesne (4-12)....Allowed just one hit and struck out a career-high three while walking none in his longest career outing....Pitched two innings vs. Bucknell (4-25), allowing just two hits and one unearned run....Allowed one run in one inning of work at Villanova (5-16).
2005 (Freshman): Made first career appearance vs. Gonzaga (3/8); Pitched 1.0 scoreless inning in win over Bucknell (3/30); Gave up a hit and no runs in 1.0 inning of work against Minnesota (4/15); Pitched 1.0 perfect inning, striking out one, at Iowa (4/23).
Moshannon Valley HS: 7-1 record senior year ([apos]04), with a 2.06 ERA, 79 Strikeouts; Four-year varsity letter winner.
Background: Paul Michael Hawkins was born on May 28, 1986 in Altoona, Pa; Son of James and Lisa Hawkins; Brothers Tim (26) and Ryan (24); Paul is majoring in crime, law and justice.