The Penn State Nittany Lions took the first two games of their final Big Ten three-game set of the season against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. With those wins, the Nittany Lions have now locked up a spot in the Big Ten Tournament. Here are the biggest storylines from last week.
Late-season heroics continue for Nittany Lions
Carrying over from last season, Penn State has shown up when it needed to in the big moments. The Nittany Lions clinched their first series victory since taking two of three from Purdue at home three weeks ago. With those two wins last weekend over Rutgers, Penn State has now made the Big Ten Tournament in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 2011-2012 seasons and just the fourth time in their history as a Big Ten member. The "every game is Game 7" mentality has been in full effect in the first two seasons of the Mike Gambino era.
Power bats were on display
The Nittany Lions went yard five times last weekend against the Scarlet Knights, with two of them being from right fielder Jack Porter in the 11-7 victory on Saturday. The Penn State bats now have four hitters with double-digit home runs in 49 games this season, which is a seismic difference from when they had zero batters do so in 50 games just two years ago. Third baseman Bryce Molinaro also hit two home runs last weekend to push ahead of center fielder Paxton Kling for the team lead this season at 13.
Bullpen concerns continue to loom large
Big Ten competition has made for much variability between Penn State relief pitchers. 11 out of the Nittany Lions' 21 earned runs were from their bullpen, which may not sound terrible until learning that the relievers pitched 16.1 out of the 26 innings. The relief pitcher with the lowest earned run average is now right-handed pitcher Chase Renner at 3.38. With the Big Ten Tournament coming soon, the Penn State pitching staff may need to make some late-season adjustments.
History being made
Shortstop Ryan Weingartner has now stolen 27 bases this year, tying for the Penn State single-season individual record with left fielder Michael Campo in 2000 and second baseman Kyle Hannon in 2023. With the win over the Scarlet Knights on Saturday, the Nittany Lions set a new school record with 23 games in a season, having scored double-digit runs. Lastly, the Nittany Lions' four batters with double-digit home runs is the first time occurring for Penn State since 1999.