The Penn State Nittany Lions concluded the regular season with a bang, taking the first two of a three-game set against the Xavier Musketeers. Finishing up the home slate, the Nittany Lions have shown their potential heading into the postseason. Here are the biggest storylines from last week.
Top arms were given some rest
Thanks to the series starting on Thursday and ending on Saturday, the Penn State pitching staff got some extra time between outings to prepare for the Big Ten Tournament next week. Ace left-handed pitcher Ryan DeSanto left the game on Thursday after just two innings, tossing 40 pitches. Left-handed pitcher Anthony Steele and right-handed pitchers Ben DeMell, Dimond Loosli, and Chase Renner also got some weekend rest after pitching the final seven innings of the 7-1 win that day.
Maloney leaves his mark in Medlar finale
Catcher and designated hitter Matt Maloney has gotten hot at the plate just before postseason play with three great performances last weekend. Maloney hit in every game and mashed home runs on Friday and Saturday. Overall, he went 8-for-12 with three doubles and five runs batted in against Xavier. Maloney has earned his way back into the lineup during the second half of the season, and in his final home games in Happy Valley, he has made that sentiment clear.
Righting the ship after Tuesday setback
The Nittany Lions headed to PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, last Tuesday to face the Pittsburgh Panthers in the midweek finale. However, the excitement for a rivalry matchup in an MLB park was quickly dulled to the tune of a 15-1 loss in seven innings. It was Penn State's worst defeat of the season in terms of run margin. The Nittany Lions responded to that with two wins over the Xavier Musketeers and ended up winning the series to end the regular season, showing the type of fight that this team has.
Adding to the resume
Even though Penn State's chances at receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament are slim to none, the Nittany Lions finished the regular season with a series victory over a Top 50 RPI team in the Xavier Musketeers. The Musketeers had quite the non-conference slate, having played games against SEC members Tennessee, Vanderbilt and LSU. Being the three seed in the Big East Tournament next week, Xavier provided for a great resume-booster for Penn State.