{"id":646156,"date":"2026-03-27T08:27:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T08:27:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/646156\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T08:27:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T08:27:25","slug":"theres-a-lot-left-in-this-ball-club-penn-state-baseball-trying-to-right-the-ship-as-big-ten-play-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/646156\/","title":{"rendered":"‘There’s A Lot Left In This Ball Club’: Penn State Baseball Trying To Right The Ship As Big Ten Play Continues"},"content":{"rendered":"

The success of the first two years of the Mike Gambino era raised expectations for Penn State baseball to levels we haven\u2019t seen in a long time. Between making waves with earning the commitment<\/a> of star Japanese prospect Genei Sato, the success of Dollar Dog Night bringing record crowds,<\/a> and the founding of a new student section<\/a>, all signs pointed towards a steady ascent for a long-dormant program.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think this is the deepest roster we\u2019ve had here, and it\u2019s the toughest schedule,\u201d Gambino said a few weeks ago after the team\u2019s home opener against St. John\u2019s. \u201cThis is the first schedule that really gives us a real chance, as far as the RPI goes, to get in, which is something I\u2019ve really been pushing hard on.\u201d<\/p>\n

But progress isn\u2019t always linear, and Gambino and his team are learning that the hard way. With that tougher non-conference schedule to open the season, the Nittany Lions are just 7-16 and sitting outside the top-200 in the RPI after a 9-0 loss against Bucknell at home on Wednesday. There have been bright spots and occasional signs of brilliance, but it\u2019s been a grueling start to the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just been a funky couple of weeks,\u201d Gambino said on Wednesday. \u201cWe got a food bug running through us, and during this stretch, we\u2019re trying to figure out who\u2019s going to be available to play each day.\u201d <\/p>\n

The issues that the team has had have gone beyond illness, keeping guys sidelined. There have been days when it seems like the lineup is clicking top to bottom, but others when they\u2019re leaving ducks on the pond all night long. They\u2019ve held a steady weekend rotation through six weeks, but the results have been inconsistent as well. Some outings, they\u2019re untouchable; some, they just can\u2019t seem to get back in the dugout. The defense has had warts all season long.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot of talent that makes you optimistic that they can hit a groove and get a win streak going. Michael Anderson is well on pace to break the program\u2019s single-season home run record, while fellow transfer Spencer Barnett is still sporting an OPS over 1.000. When you surround those two with guys like Cohl Mercado, Jayden Davis, Jack Porter, and Bryce Molinaro, who\u2019ve shown sparks of brilliance this season and last, you should have a hitting core that can more than compete in the Big Ten.<\/p>\n

Baseball games are won and lost with the little things. Getting hits with runners on base, not giving your opponent free passes with walks, playing clean defense, not making outs on the bases, etc. When Penn State is at its best, it\u2019s doing all of that and then some, but it\u2019s had too many games in this first chunk of the season where one or two areas of fundamental baseball have alluded.<\/p>\n

There was a game against Purdue last weekend where Colin Fitzgerald was tagged for nine runs, but only three were earned due to four errors. There are days like Wednesday, when the Nittany Lions went 1-for-14 with runners on base and were unable to score once, despite frequently putting multiple runners on base. There are days when things are going fine until someone comes out of the bullpen and is just unable to consistently throw strikes. It happens to everyone during the ebbs and flows of a baseball season, but the more it happens, the bigger hole you\u2019re digging for yourself.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s important to note that Penn State has not only played a tougher schedule than in years past, but has also done a lot of traveling, playing games in Arizona and the Bahamas, with only six of its 23 games coming at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. Warmer days are ahead, with plenty of Dollar Dog Nights and weekend series where Section 814 can really start to impact games.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty cool. The guys love it, we all get excited about it,\u201d Gambino said about the turnout on Tuesday in the chilly weather. \u201cIt\u2019s Section 814, but also the other 2,500 people tonight here. As we\u2019re trying to build a championship-caliber program, we need the support from the fans. It comes up in the transfer portal, it comes up with high school recruiting, it\u2019s program changing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it was great,\u201d said Anderson. \u201cThe energy is there the whole game, which is great. They\u2019re awesome, and I\u2019m happy for them to come out and show love.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSection 814 really gets into the game,\u201d Molinaro said. \u201cHaving them there definitely rallies our team and gets us fired up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coach Gambino\u2019s teams have always seemed to peak at the right time, and after delivering two of the team\u2019s best seasons in recent memory, there\u2019s reason to believe him when he says there\u2019s a lot better baseball left in his Nittany Lions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot left in this ball club,\u201d he said. \u201cOur best baseball is in front of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"\t<\/p>\n

Michael is a sophomore from Eastampton, NJ, majoring in international politics. He’s a diehard Knicks, Yankees, Rangers, and Giants fan. When he’s not watching old OBJ highlights, he likes to bowl and play pickup basketball. He’ll forever believe that Michael Penix Jr. was short. You can contact him at @MichaelZeno24 on Twitter or [email\u00a0protected]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The success of the first two years of the Mike Gambino era raised expectations for Penn State baseball…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":646157,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2290],"tags":[5,6201,14928,648,78471,82797,14707,2341,5148,5150,14708,82798,5152,14709,82799],"class_list":["post-646156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-baseball","tag-baseball","tag-big-ten","tag-big-ten-baseball","tag-college-baseball","tag-dollar-dog-night","tag-michael-anderson","tag-mike-gambino","tag-ncaa-baseball","tag-onward-state","tag-penn-state","tag-penn-state-baseball","tag-penn-state-illinois-baseball","tag-psu","tag-psu-baseball","tag-section-814"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116300196321441081","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=646156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646156\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/646157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=646156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=646156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=646156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}