Penn State Baseball Series Preview vs Omaha
Penn State gets set to take a break from Big Ten conference play this weekend.
The blue and white will return home to host the Omaha Mavericks for a three-game series.
Following Penn State’s last series against Minnesota, the Nittany Lions both won and lost a game against West Virginia and Bucknell respectively.
The Nittany Lions opened up this two-game stretch with a one-run loss to Bucknell where the Bison scored two runs in the top of the eighth inning to take the lead which they would never give up.
One day later, the Nittany Lions found themselves in Morgantown, West Virgnia, and defeated the Mountaineers, 8-4.
Catcher Josh Spiegel hit a home run out of the cleanup spot while outfielder Johnny Piacentino recorded three RBIs.
Penn State had played West Virginia in University Park earlier in April, but fell by the same 8-4 score.
The Nittany Lions now take on a Omaha team which finds itself having won three of its last four games following a sweep over Western Illinois.
Two of the three games were decided by one run while the third was an 11-5 blowout.
Those victories helped boost the Mavericks’ record on the year to 19-19 with a 10-5 conference mark.
Offensively, the attack is led by infielder Mike Boeve who is the only player on the Mavericks hitting over the .300 mark.
Boeve currently has a staggering .378 average on the year to go along with seven home runs which also leads the team.
The Mavericks have two reliable starters for this series as both Charlie Bell and Mark Timmins both have below an ERA of four while making ten starts.
So far this season, the Mavericks have found themselves gaining lots of experience playing against Big Ten opponents.
Most notably, the Mavericks took two out of three games against a Rutgers Scarlet Knights team that currently sits atop the conference standings.
While that series came back in March, the Mavericks didn’t have that same success in their last game against another Big Ten team in Nebraska as they lost 14-3 on Wednesday.
This should be a great test for both teams as the Nittany Lions only have two more non-conference matchups following the series.
Logan Bourandas is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email lxb5412@psu.edu.
