Tag: Penn State Baseball

Penn State hires new baseball coach away from Boston College

Penn State hired a new baseball coach this week.

Penn State baseball will have a new look this season.

After 10 years as the head coach of the team, Rob Cooper announced his resignation would come at the end of the 2023 season. Cooper was previously at Wright State before coming to Penn State in 2013.

He had seven 30-win seasons out of his nine years at Wright State and made the NCAA Tournament three times.

Cooper was hired by Penn State to lead the baseball program back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000.

However, the success never quite came for Cooper.

Penn State made the Big Ten Tournament one time in 2022 when they finished sixth in the conference standings with an 11-13 record. That was the best finish for Penn State under Cooper.

After Cooper’s resignation, Athletic Director Pat Kraft was tasked with finding his replacement. He went to a familiar face at Boston College and hired Mike Gambino to be the new head coach of the baseball program.

Gambino is coming to Penn State after 13 seasons at Boston College.

He just lead the Eagles to their best season in program history when they finished with a record of 37-20 and an NCAA Tournament appearance.

Gambino also was able to develop talent while at Boston College. He had 33 of his players get drafted by the MLB, including three first round picks and six in the first five rounds.

In a press release talking about the hiring, Kraft said, “I am thrilled to welcome Mike and his family to Happy Valley as our new baseball coach. We worked with Mike at Boston College and know how he grows a program to find success on a national stage.”

Gambino is taking over the program immediately and will attempt to get Penn State back into the NCAA Tournament for the first time in over 20 years.

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MLB Draft: Penn State catcher Matt Wood selected by Brewers at pick No. 132

Penn State catcher Matt Wood makes program history after being drafted in MLB Draft.

Penn State baseball history was made on Monday when junior catcher Matt Wood was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2022 MLB Draft. Wood was selected by the Brewers in the fourth round with the No. 132 overall pick, making him the highest-selected position player in Penn State program history.

“We are so fired up for Matt to realize his dream of playing professional baseball,” Penn State head coach Rob Cooper said in a released statement following the draft selection. “He has worked extremely hard to get this opportunity and now the real work begins. Congratulations Woody, the Brewers are getting a good one!”

Wood was a two-time All-Big Ten selection with 106 starts in 107 career games with Penn State. HE owned a .340 batting average with 132 hits, 26 doubles, four triples, and 16 home runs with 79 RBI and 81 runs scored. Wood is coming off a season in which he was named CoSIDA Academic All-America Third Team and first-team All-Big Ten.

Former Penn State pitcher Drew O’Neil is still the Penn State program’s highest-selected draft pick in school history, going No. 120 overall to the Chicago White Sox in 2008. Wood is also the program’s 15th top-10 round selected in program history.

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Twitter reacts to Penn State baseball’s Big Ten Tournament run

Twitter reacts to Penn State baseball’s run in Big Ten tournament following upset of Iowa

Penn State and baseball don’t usually go hand in hand on the national scene but a big upset to kickstart things has brought new attention.

Heading into the tournament, Penn State baseball had a measly record of 26-28 with them never gaining traction throughout the whole year. Like any tournament though, teams are able to find ways to click and get momentum at a moment’s notice and this Nittany Lion team seemed poised to do just that after an upset of Iowa to start things.

Iowa, who was 34-18 on the year, was seen as a heavy favorite in the tournament but the surprising loss to Penn State has left them reeling. Penn State would go on to lose to Rutgers in heartbreaking fashion in a 10-inning game but regardless, they remain alive for a Big Ten championship and social media was buzzing over that fact.

MLB draft: Three Penn State baseball players drafted on Day 3

What MLB franchises drafted baseball players from Penn State?

Major League Baseball held its amateur draft this week, and a handful of players with Penn State ties were fortunate to have their name selected by one of the franchises in search of developing some new talent in the farm system.

Penn State Class of 2021 wide receiver Lonnie White Jr., a multi-sport star athlete in high school, was selected with a comp pick on Monday by the Pittsburgh Pirates. But three additional Nittany Lions were selected on day three of the draft on Tuesday.

Penn State third baseman Justin Williams was selected by the Houston Astros in the 17th round.

 

“Justin is a hard-working player with good power and arm strength,” Penn State baseball manager Rob Cooper said in a released statement. “I believe Justin is just now beginning to realize his offensive potential. We are thrilled for Justin to realize his dream of a professional opportunity.”

Ten picks later, Penn State right-hander Kyle Virbitsky was selected by the Oakland Athletics.

 

“In my entire coaching career, I haven’t been around many individuals who love competition as much as Kyle,” Cooper had to say about one of his pitchers. “His progression from his first year to now is a testament to his dedication and work ethic. Congratulations to Kyle on being drafted and getting the opportunity to start his professional career.”

In the 18th round, the New York Yankees selected Penn State right-handed pitcher Bailey Dees.

“Since the day Bailey arrived in Happy Valley, he has worked extremely hard to improve his craft,” Cooper said about Dees. “I believe he is only beginning to scratch the surface of his talent and we are very excited to see him get an opportunity to sign a professional contract.”

As for White, an official decision on his future remains unconfirmed, although it should be expected White will begin his journey to professional baseball with the Pittsburgh Pirates and leave behind his scholarship to play football for Penn State.

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Penn State football recruit awaits MLB draft fate

Penn State wide receiver in Class of 2021 faces big decision as MLB draft continues

As the Major League Baseball season hits its midway point for the all-star break, teams began drafting for their future Sunday night. The first round of the MLB Draft took place Sunday, and it will continue on Monday. One Penn State multi-sport recruit could be faced with a big decision in the coming days.

Lonnie White Jr., a member of Penn State’s Class of 2021, is expected to be drafted as early as the second round of the MLB draft. Once a team drafts him, White will have to make a decision on whether to leave college football behind before he gets started or begin his journey through professional baseball.

This is a decision that is difficult to make and may be influenced heavily by money, as many decisions are. Depending on how much financial security an MLB team is able to offer as a signing bonus, White’s decision could be incredibly easy or extremely challenging.

White previously decommitted from a scholarship offer to play baseball for Clemson, leading him to sign a scholarship offer to play football for Penn State. White is expected to play baseball for the Nittany Lions as well, which would make him a real home run signee for Penn State. White is among the top-rated high school players in Pennsylvania and would be a great addition to Penn State’s wide receiver unit (he was rated a four-star recruit) and as an outfielder for Penn State’s baseball prorgam.

Penn State head coach James Franklin wished White well through this MLB draft process. While Franklin publicly wishes the absolute best for whatever White decides, you just know he’d love to be able to keep White in a football uniform for the next few years given his speed and potential as a receiver.

But we shall wait to see what exactly White’s situation will be. Whatever the case, it will be an exciting time for White.

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Ohio State baseball drops third game of weekend series vs. Penn State

The Ohio State baseball team couldn’t complete the sweep of Penn State, dropping the last of three at Bill Davis Stadium on Sunday.

The Ohio State baseball team went into today’s game with Penn State trying to pull off the three-game weekend sweep but it was not meant to be.

It was a back and forth affair until Penn State took the lead for good in the seventh inning 8-6 before adding a pair of insurance runs and getting out of Columbus with a 10-6 win at Bill Davis Stadium.

The Nittany Lions jumped out to a 3-0 lead through three and 1/3 innings, but Ohio State exploded for five runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 5-3 lead. Connor Pohl plated the first two OSU runs on a line-drive, two-run homer to right field. That was followed by a three-run homer by Nate Karaffa, and it looked like the Buckeyes might be on their way to sweeping a series at home for the second time in a row.

But it wasn’t meant to be.

Penn State came back with three runs in the sixth inning to take a 6-5 lead. OSU would tie it up again on a Brent Todys homer in the bottom of the sixth, but that would end the scoring for the Buckeyes. The Nittany Lions would bring home two runs in the seventh, and two more in the ninth for the final tally.

With the loss, Ohio State drops to 15-13 on the year and will look to get back in the win column on Friday when it hosts Purdue for three games at home. The loss moves OSU 1/2 game back of Maryland for fifth place in the league. It’s time to make a move.

Ohio State 2021 baseball schedule

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Pitcher Seth Lonsway dominates during win over Penn State Saturday

Ohio State used dominating pitching from Seth Lonsway to take care of Penn State 7-0 on Saturday. The win clinched the weekend series.

The Ohio State baseball beat Penn State on Saturday by the score of 7-0 to clinch the weekend series. The Buckeyes took care of business on Friday night with a lot of offense en route to an 11-6 victory, and used a whole lot of pitching from Seth Lonsway to win Saturday.

The OSU ace went seven innings, giving up just three hits and two walks while striking out six. He slung a cool, even 100 pitches on the day to notch his second win of the year.

On offense, the Buckeyes broke out the bats for the second-straight time. They jumped on Penn State starter Conor Larkin for three runs in the first inning. Mitchell Okuley walked, advanced to third on a single by Zach Dezenzo, and later scored on Kade Kern’s single to center. Then with one out, Brent Todys lofted a sacrifice fly to score Dezenzo, and Kern later scored on a wild pitch.

The score stayed that way until the fifth inning when Nick Erwin tripled, then scored on a sac fly by Okuley to extend the lead to 4-0 for OSU. The Buckeyes got two more the next inning on two doubles, one by Todys, and another by Marcus Ernst, and Ohio State was up by a commanding 6-0 lead after six innings of play.

OSU would add one more run on a bases-loaded walk in the eighth inning for the final tally of 7-0.

With the win, the Buckeyes run their record to 15-12 on the season and remain in fifth place in the league, just one game behind the Iowa Hawkeyes for fourth. Ohio State and Penn State will do battle for the last game of the series on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Bill Davis Stadium.

Time to break out the brooms.

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Ohio State baseball takes game one of weekend series vs. Penn State

The Ohio State baseball team scored in almost every inning to pull away from Penn State in game one of their weekend series Friday night.

If the Ohio State baseball wants to get back in the race for a Big Ten title, it needs to take care of business against teams it should beat. You can check that box for game one of the weekend series against Penn State Friday.

The Buckeyes scored all but one inning and cruised to an 11-6 victory over the Nittany Lions at Bill Davis Stadium. OSU scored at least one run in each of the first six innings and clubbed three home runs to snap a five-game losing streak.

OSU got the scoring going early by jumping on the board first thanks to a Zach Dezenzo solo home run to put the Buckeyes up 1-0 after one inning of play. Sam Wilson matched that effort with a bomb of his own in the second inning to put Ohio State up 2-0 after just two innings.

After Penn State put a four-spot on the scoreboard to take a 4-2 lead, the Buckeyes got one back with another solo shot from Kade Kern in the bottom of the third inning to cut the Nittany Lion lead to 4-3. OSU then tied the game with an RBI single by Nick Erwin an inning later to tie the score at 4 runs each after four innings of play.

The Nittany Lions continued to battle, adding another run to take the lead again 5-4, but Ohio State answered right back in the bottom of the fifth inning to tie things up yet again 5-5 with a Connor Pohl RBI double.

OSU finally put more than one run on the board, grabbing the lead for good when it put up two because of a couple of bases-loaded RBI walks by Pohl and Brent Todys in the bottom of the sixth inning to lead 7-5. Penn State would add one more run, with the Buckeyes playing add-on with four more runs in the eighth to seal the victory.

With the win, Ohio State improves to 14-12 to take sole possession of fifth-place in the Big Ten. The Bucks will take on Penn State again on Saturday at 12:05 pm.

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