Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Penn State's Weekend Opposition

The Penn State Nittany Lions are about to open their season with four games. Robbie Wine's side will have two games against Centenary and two more against Kansas State.

Centenary has already played seven games this season. Their record as of tonight is 3-4. Their leading hitter is 3B Cameron Penny who has collected 12 hits in 29 at bats. That's a .414 clip. RF Matt Webb is slugging a mere .750 with two double, a triple and a homerun. And, unless I'm reading it incorrectly (which is possible), Mr. Webb has also walked 10 times. That an OPS of 1.356. Not bad even if it is only seven games. Catcher Alex Moldonado leads the Gents with seven RBI.

Brandon Fulenchek is 1-0 with a 2.77 ERA in 13 innings pitched. Will Kaage (0-0, 4.76) and Jeremy Sheehan (1-1, 5.56) have each tossed 11.1 innings in '07. The lone save of the year was credited to Aaron Bronson. Freshman Dakota Robinson has pitched in only four innings, but has one of the Gents wins and a loss, as well.

The Nittany Lions first opponent will be KSU. The Wildcats, just like PSU, have yet to play a game this season. KSU lost six of its top seven hitters from a year ago, so they will lean heavily on sophomore OF Byron Wiley. As a freshman, Wiley started 44 games while hitting .297 with five homers, 10 doubles and 27 RBI.

On the mound, Chase Bayuk and Brad Hutt both return. Bayuk, a LHP, was 7-2 with a 3.52 ERA in '06. Hutt, a junior RHP, went 7-4 with a 4.01 ERA.

No comments: