Penn State baseball defeated FDU in home opener, now winners of eight straight

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- It was a back-and-forth game as the Nittany Lions prevailed in the 2025 Penn State home opener by a score of 7-6 on Tuesday. It was also Dollar Dog Night at the ballpark, with hot dog lines stretching to the corners of Medlar Field.

The action started with a Jeremy Cheeseman RBI single to bring in Jimmy Mantuano in the top of the second for FDU.

Penn State responded with a Jesse Jaconski RBI sacrifice fly to drive home Bryce Molinaro in the bottom of the second to make it a 1-1 game.

Freshman left-handed pitcher Matthew VanOstenbridge made his first start in a Penn State uniform, pitching three innings and striking out three.

“I think [he’s] gonna be really good for us,” head coach Mike Gambino stated when discussing his prospects for the future. “He’s a kid we believe in.”

The Nittany Lions stole seven bases against the Knights, placing an emphasis on speed as a means of winning.

“We want to create chaos on other teams, put pressure on them, and make them make mistakes,” infielder Joe Jaconski replied regarding how speed is a big key to winning games. “We want to try to speed other teams up, and stealing bases is a big part of that.”

Energy, execution, and competitive edge have been Mike Gambino’s points of emphasis for the Penn State program, especially with the conference opener on Friday.

“It’s going to be important for us going into Indiana to talk about fixing those three,” Gambino said.

Redshirt sophomore right-handed pitcher Chase Renner recorded the save for the Nittany Lions tonight, his first since 2022. He’s been proud of what Penn State has been able to do in staying focused each game.

“If we start to lose sight of what’s next in our life, that’s when things start to go sideways,” Renner stated. “But if we stick to our process, like what we’ve been doing, good things are going to happen.”

The Nittany Lions are now 9-1 / 8-2 and begin conference play against Indiana at home this weekend. Penn State improves to 1-0 at home and 38-25 in the Mike Gambino era.

Penn State has snapped/extended their seven-game win streak, their longest since 2016/eight-game win streak, their longest since 2001.

Penn State has started the season 9-1, which is their best start to a season since 1980.

The atmosphere was outstanding for the Nittany Lions’ home opener, with 4,049 fans showing up to Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.

“Some of these guys that we got in the transfer portal are coming here to play in front of these students and these fans,” Gambino commented. “This town and these students are legitimately changing the program, it’s awesome.

Bryan Portney is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him please email bryanportney01@gmail.com.