Penn State hosts Michigan in final home series of the season

The Penn State Nittany Lions (33-12, 11-6 Big Ten) will host 35-14 Michigan who brings a second-place 14-3 Big Ten record into Beard Field this weekend.

Penn State has won five straight Big Ten series with series victories over Indiana, Maryland, Nebraska, Michigan State, and Wisconsin with their hardest matchup yet this weekend.

During Penn State’s weekend win over Wisconsin, Bridget Nemeth recorded her 19th and 20th wins of the season in games one and three. For game one, Gaby Garcia led the attack with a 3-3 day and will look to stay hot after going 5-10 on the weekend with three RBIs and a home run.

Liana Jones smashed a grand slam to cap off Sunday’s 10-2 series-clinching win along with Nemeth recording her 20th win on the season. Bridget Nemeth recorded 19 Ks in 14 innings of work between her two starts along with two complete games while only allowing three earned runs.

A Tuesday night nine-inning win over St. Francis, capped off by a walk-off wild pitch allowing ghost runner Jiselle Hernandez to score from third, will lead the blue and white into the weekend on a two-game win streak. Nemeth went eight strong, giving up no runs with seven strikeouts in her outing.

This would improve her record to 21-3, leaving her one shy of matching the program record, and two shy of moving into sole possession for the Nittany Lions all-time.

She has the opportunity to set the record this weekend, likely starting both Friday and Sunday, but will face a tough task against a high-powered Michigan offense.

Michigan will carry a 10-game winning streak, including eight straight Big Ten wins, into their matchup with their only Big Ten losses being to No. 21 Northwestern. The blue and maize have swept five conference series this year.

Freshman Ella Stephenson was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week, for the third time in four weeks and the second time in a row, after a .463 BA over the weekend and two triples in Sunday’s 11-3 victory over Nebraska.

She also added three hits and four RBI in their midweek win over Oakland, 9-4.

Junior Ellie Sieler also led the way going 6-9 against Nebraska, scoring 5 runs and adding two RBIs. She currently leads the team with her .374 batting average and has set career highs this season in batting average, runs, hits and RBIs.

Michigan is 75-9 all-time against Penn State but lost their last matchup 3-2 last season in round one of the Big Ten tournament.

Friday will be Dollar Dog Night and a “Wear White” game for the fans, with a 5 p.m. first pitch. The teams will then square off on Saturday at 1 p.m. with Sunday being Senior Day, and the final regular season home game for Penn State, also scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.

Jeremy Rose is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jmr8177@psu.edu.