Michigan
Penn State
Michigan's Three-Game Set at Penn State Now Includes Saturday Twinbill
3/24/2021 10:53:00 AM | Baseball
UPDATE (March 25, 3:45 p.m.): This weekend's series between No. 18 Michigan and Penn State has been altered due to weather, with Sunday's scheduled game now part of a noon doubleheader Saturday (March 27) at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park in State College, Pa. The teams will play a single game, as scheduled, Friday (March 26) at 4 p.m. All of the games will be streamed live on Big Ten Network Plus.
» Michigan begins its first three-game series of the season Friday at Penn State.
» Michigan (9-3) enters the weekend a half-game behind Indiana (9-2) in the Big Ten Conference standings.
» Michigan is ranked No. 18 by D1baseball.com, No. 19 by Baseball America and No. 10 by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.
THIS WEEK
Friday, March 26 -- at Penn State (State College, Pa.), 4 p.m.
TV: Big Ten Network+ | Live Stats | Live Video
Saturday, March 27 -- at Penn State (State College, Pa.), Noon
TV: Big Ten Network+ | Live Stats | Live Video
Saturday, March 27 -- at Penn State (State College, Pa.), 3Â p.m.
TV: Big Ten Network+ | Live Stats | Live Video - to come
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 18-ranked University of Michigan baseball team (9-2, 9-2 Big Ten) takes to the road for its first three-game weekend series of the 2021 season as the Wolverines clash with Penn State (3-8, 3-8 Big Ten), Friday through Sunday (March 26-28) in State College, Pa., at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.
The teams will open the series on Friday (March 26) at 4 p.m. with Saturday's (March 27) game beginning at 1 p.m. The series finale will start at noon, and all three contests will be streamed live on Big Ten Network Plus.
About the Rivalry
• Michigan leads, 50-47, in the all-time series with Penn State, which dates back to 1909. The teams have not met since the 2018 season when Michigan swept the Nittany Lions in a three-game series by a combined score of 41-8. That series did include an extra-innings affair in which U-M scored seven times in the top of the 11th inning en route to an 8-1 victory. Michigan has won eight consecutive games in the series dating back to 2015.
About U-M
• Michigan is ranked No. 18 by D1Baseball.com, No. 19 by Baseball America and No. 10 by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper after winning a pair of games last weekend against Illinois and Michigan State.
• Michigan was in the national news last week following an extraordinary ninth-inning comeback victory against Michigan State on Sunday (March 21). The Wolverines trailed, 7-0, in the bottom of the ninth after managing just three hits in the first eight frames. Michigan strung together seven hits in the fateful inning, including a two-run walk-off home run from Jimmy Obertop.
• Obertop hit three home runs during the weekend, adding a pair of homers in a Friday (March 19) game against Illinois, with his second long ball traveling 440 feet and clearing the better's eye in center field at Ray Fisher Stadium. He added two doubles on the weekend to finish with a 1.215 slugging percentage and a .529 on-base-percentage.
• Michigan received an outstanding pitching effort on Saturday (March 20) in a win over Illinois. Cameron Weston (2-1, 2.45 ERA) went eight innings, scattering four hits without a walk and struck out five batters.
• Christian Molfetta leads the offense, batting .326 while Griffin Mazur (.306) and Benjamin Sems (.302) are both over the .300 mark. The offense has hit 12 homers through the first 12 games, including grand slams from Mazur, Obertop and Clark Elliott. Jimmy Obertop and Clark Elliott have both recorded multi-home-run games and Mazur homered in three straight games early in the season. On the basepaths, Jake Marti and Christan Bullock are tied for the Big Ten lead in stolen bases with five each.
• Michigan will look to lefty Steven Hajjar (1-0, 3.06 ERA) on Friday, righty Cameron Weston on Saturday and either Jacob Denner (1-0, 5.40 ERA) or Blake Beers (0-1, 4.50 ERA) on Sunday to start games on the mound.
• Michigan's bullpen has been solid through the first quarter of the season with a combined record of 4-1, a .231 batting average against and 48 strikeouts in 40.0 innings of work. Graduate student Joe Pace (0-0, 0.00, 5.1 IP, 2 H, 8 K), sophomore Jack White (0-0, 1.59, 5.2 IP, 4 H, 9 K), and Ben Dragani (1-1, 1.42, 6.1 IP, 4 H, 3 K) have carried the workload while close Willie Weiss (1-0, 2.08 ERA) continues to rank among the conference leaders in strikeouts per innings pitched with eight Ks through 4.1 innings of work.
Scouting Penn State
• Penn State enters play at 3-8 following a 1-2 weekend at home against Maryland. The Nittany Lions enter play ninth among Big Ten teams with a .247 batting average but have struggled on the mound, ranking 12th with a 6.55 team earned-run average.
• Friday starter Conor Larkin has been a bright spot, striking out 23 batters against just three walks and 15 hits with just four going for extra bases, for a 2.87 ERA in three starts. The Nittany Lions have a lineup of power pitchers, with five significant contributors all striking out more than a batter per inning, including closer Tyler Shingledecker (1-1, 6.48) who has 16 strikeouts in 8.1 innings work. PSU's pitchers enter the weekend with an impressive 93-43 strikeout-to-walk disparity.
• Offensively, Josh Spiegel (.342, 3 2B, 3 HR, 8 RBI) leads the way while Gavin Homer (.300, 3 SB) and Johnny Piacentino (.282, 3 HR, 8 RBI) add speed and power, respectively.
Up Next
Sat-Sun., April 3-4 -- vs. Northwestern (College Park, Md.)
Sun-Mon., April 4-5 -- at Maryland (College Park, Md.)
