The Penn State Nittany Lions were successful in their five-game road trip last week. After splitting a two-game midweek set at Georgetown, Penn State took the first two contests and lost the series finale against Northwestern. Here are the biggest storylines from last week.
Offense carried the heavy lifting
In a week that saw the Nittany Lion defense allow an average of almost seven runs per game, it is surprising to see that Penn State took three of five games. The Nittany Lions mashed 13 home runs and scored double-digit runs in all but one game during the stretch.
After these five games, Penn State improved to 10.1 runs per game, which puts them at eighth in the nation in that stat category. Now with 2.1 home runs per game, the Nittany Lions rank eighth in the nation in that category.
Tough time adjusting after Horwat injury
After sophomore right-handed pitcher Mason Horwat left the second game of a doubleheader against Indiana early two weeks ago, the Nittany Lion arms turned shaky. In the final two games of the weekend series against Northwestern, the Penn State starters--Matt Morash and Matthew VanOstenbridge--combined for nine hits and seven earned runs allowed in six innings.
Porter shines during weekend series
Junior designated hitter Jack Porter climbed to the top of the team ranks in batting average after last week, now hitting .387. Over the course of last week, Porter went 9-for-20 with five runs batted in. He also hit a home run in each game during the weekend series against Northwestern.
Good standing after first two weekends
After taking two of three from Northwestern, the Nittany Lions won their first two conference series for the first time since 2014. With a 4-2 conference record in the Big Ten, Penn State is now third in the conference standings. If the season ended today, the Nittany Lions would be in Pool D with sixth-place Purdue and 10th-place Illinois.