Penn State baseball meets Longwood for weekend tilt

Back from Puerto Rico, Penn State hits the road again, heading to Lamore Field at Gray-Minor Stadium for a series against the Longwood Lancers. Originally scheduled to play at Buddy Bolding Stadium, the winter conditions turned the series into a neutral site clash.

Now, what was once a four-game set is now a three-game series, with a doubleheader on Saturday.

The Nittany Lions enter the weekend 2-1, hoping to build off a strong opening performance. Many players look to stay hot both on the mound and at the plate.

Mason Horwat and Ryan DeSanto threw gems in their season debuts, combining for 13 strikeouts and zero earned runs. Joe Jaconski sits at a .462 batting average early, with six hits including a home run. Paxton Kling has thrived so far in the leadoff spot and has displayed great defense in center field.

The Nittany Lions lineup holds plenty of depth, ready to pounce on the opposing team’s pitching staff. In Puerto Rico, batters totaled six home runs in their three games.

For the 1-2 Lancers, they had problems keeping runners from crossing the plate in their first few games. In their series against the Wright State Raiders, 26 runs were scored against them. They bounced back with a 6-3 win against VCU, but Mike Gambino’s lineup can do serious damage against the Lancers.

Ray Noe just began his first season as the head coach of the Lancers, looking to make the team a contender in the Big South Conference.

Graduate pitcher Alek Elges opened the season for the Lancers and struggled mightily. He gave up seven runs on seven hits in just 3.2 innings against the Raiders. In the next game, Guillermo Garcia Jr. faced the same fate. The Raiders shelled him, giving up eight runs, five earned on seven hits through 4.1 innings.

With the bat, Myles Webb was great smacking multiple doubles and scoring three during the series.

In that game against VCU, the pitching improved. Braydon Gray limited batters to just three runs in four innings while the bullpen took care of business the rest of the way. Joe Castrichini and Justin Gunter had the Rams silent.

The iron is hot for the Nittany Lions to continue their strong offensive surge. As the Lancers’ arms struggle, this series is key for the group to build momentum early before Big Ten play eventually creeps in. The road to Omaha has just begun, but this series is a stepping stone to a bigger goal.

The series kicks off Saturday at noon, followed by the second half of the doubleheader around 4 p.m. The finale takes place Sunday at 1 p.m.

For all things Penn State baseball be sure to follow CommRadio insiders Anthony Desher (@Ranch_Deshing), Bryan Portney (@29Bport) and Daniel Studer (@DanielStuderPSU).

Anthony Desher is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email desher1119@gmail.com.