GoPSUSports: Baseball Set to Host No. 10 TCU Friday-Sunday
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -Â Penn State will face one of its stiffest tests of the season when No. 10 TCU visits for a rare late-season, non-conference three-game series starting Friday at 6:30 p.m. The series will continue Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
Purchase Penn State baseball tickets by visiting GoPSUsports.com or calling the Medlar Field at Lubrano Park ticket office at 814-272-1711. For more information on Penn State baseball tickets please call 814-272-1711 or email Stephen Christ schrist@statecollegespikes.com.
PARKING NOTICE
Fans attending the Penn State Baseball series against TCU are strongly encouraged to park in Porter North, accessing Park Avenue from the North off I-99. Parking is free of charge, and gates open 90 minutes prior to game time on Friday and Saturday and 60 minutes prior on Sunday. Â Fans should anticipate heavy traffic on Park Avenue including one-way traffic patterns outbound on Porter Road to College Avenue following commencement ceremonies held in the Bryce Jordan Center and Pegula Ice Arena.
PROMOTIONS/THEMES
Friday, May 6 — 6:30 p.m.
Noisemaker Night
- Thunderstix giveaway while supplies last
- 2015 Red Land Little League World Series U.S. Championship Team Autograph Session (5 p.m.)
Saturday, May 7 — 2 p.m.
Graduation Day
- Kindle giveaway to a graduating senior
- Graduating seniors can take a graduation photo with the Nittany Lion
- Penn State baseball trading card giveaway while supplies last
- Shaker giveaway while supplies last
- Postgame autograph session with Penn State baseball team
Sunday, May 8 — 1 p.m.
Vs. Cancer Day
- Postgame head shaving — Many Nittany Lions will have their heads shaved.
Ice Cream Sunday
- Ice Cream Sunday for the first 100 kids! Kids 12 and under will receive a scoop of ice cream in a Penn State helmet cup.
Rally Towel Giveaway
- While supplies last
Essentials
Live Video: N/A
Live Audio: GoPSUsports.com
Live Stats: GoPSUsports.com
TV: N/A
Radio: ESPN Radio 1450 AM (Brian Tripp/Ryan Stevens)
Series History: First Meeting
Last Meeting: N/A
Streak: N/A
Friday Probables
PSU LHP Taylor Lehman (1-8, 4.66 ERA)
TCU LHP Dalton Horton (7-0, 2.13 ERA)
Saturday Probables
PSU RHP Sal Biasi (5-4. 3.61 ERA)
TCU RHP Brian Howard (5-2, 4.25 ERA)
Sunday Probables
PSU RHP Justin Hagenman (6-2, 2.83 ERA)
TCU RHP Mitchell Traver (First Appearance)
Finals Week
For the first time since February, the Nittany Lions did not play a midweek game this week, as it was finals week at Penn State.
Uncommon Opponent
No. 10 TCU will become the first team from Texas and the first from the Big 12 other than West Virginia to play on the diamond at Penn State. The last time Penn State hosted a College World Series participant from the previous season was Indiana in 2014, and the last non-conference opponent to visit after going to Omaha was Kent State in 2013. TCU will be the highest ranked non-conference opponent to ever play at Medar Field at Lubrano Park and the highest ranked since No. 8 Illinois played at Medlar in April last season. Penn State last defeated a top-10 team in 2007, taking one game at No. 1 North Carolina.
Diamond Lions Improving
At 25-20, Penn State owns its best record through 45 games since 2011. Penn State’s 25 wins are its most since winning 29 in 2012.
Home Sweet Home
Penn State is 14-6 in the friendly confines of Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. The Lions have already surpassed their 2015 total for home wins and secured their 10th winning season in the stadium. After a loss in the home opener, the Lions rewarded the home crowd with 10-straight victories for its longest streak ever in Medlar. See Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, Page 6
Historic Closer
Jack Anderson lowered his earned run average to 0.63 in his last outing Saturday, also breaking the team’s career saves record with his 23rd and tying the single-season saves record with his 11th. Anderson entered last week as the NCAA ERA leader, but he dipped below the minimum workload of one inning per team game at 42 2/3 innings pitched in 45 games. His 11 saves this season leads the Big Ten and rank sixth nationally.
Pitching Success
Penn State’s pitching has seen a dramatic improvement, bringing a 3.41 team ERA into the weekend to rank fourth in the Big Ten and 37th in the country after finishing with a 5.01 ERA last season. The bullpen has been particularly strong, boasting a 9-4 record, 13 saves and 2.74 ERA in 167 2/3 innings pitched. Penn State’s three shutouts are its most since earning four in 2011.
All-Time vs. TCU
This is the first ever meeting between Penn State and TCU.
Scouting TCU
TCU is ranked as high as 10th in the nation by both the USA Today Coaches Poll and the NCBWA poll. The Horned Frogs are 20-12 overall and 11-7 in the Big 12. They rank first in the Big 12 in batting at .307 and second in ERA at 3.26, with both figures ranking in the Top 30 nationally. Starters Luken Baker and Dalton Horton are among national and conference leaders with ERAs of 1.70 and 2.13, respectively. TCU is one of just seven programs to have appearanced in the College World Series in three of the last six years (2010, 2014 and 2015).
Postseason Success
There will be a combined eight College World Series appearances and 32 NCAA Tournament appearances on the field when Penn State and TCU meet.
Penn State has appeared in the NCAA Tournament 19 times and advanced to the College World Series five times.
TCU has appeared in the NCAA Tournament 13 times and advanced to the College World Series three times, including each of the past two seasons.
Penn State vs. the Big 12
TCU will become the seventh team in the current alignment of the Big 12 to face Penn State.
The Nittany Lions are most familiar with recent Big 12 addition West Virginia. Otherwise, Penn State has not faced any other Big 12 team since playing a four-game series at Texas in 2009.
Penn State owns a 73-58 record against the current alignment of the Big 12, but is just 3-18 against members other than West Virginia.
Penn State vs. Texas Schools
TCU will become the 11th different team from Texas Penn State has faced on the diamond.
TCU will be the first Texas school to travel to Penn State.
Most of Penn State’s games against Texas schools have come in early season games on the road or in postseason play.
Penn State last played a Texas school last season when it visited Texas A&M for a three-game series.
Texas hosted Penn State in the 2000 NCAA Super Regional, eliminating the Nittany Lions in two games.
Late Non-Conference Series
Penn State will be playing a three-game non-conference series in May for the first time since 1996 and the first time in the history of Medlar Field at Lubrano Park (2007).
Penn State swept Richmond at home May 5-6, 1996.