Happy Valley Hardball with a sabermetrics twist

People in the News Written by Don K. Clements Over the years most ministers have had conversations with proud mamas and papas who want to tell you how wonderful one of their kids is. Most of us have done the same thing ourselves. But seldom is it from the parent of a college baseball player who [...]

Zach Ell, a senior at Holy Redeemer High School, recently accepted an athletic scholarship to Penn State University to continue his baseball career. Recruited as an outfielder, Ell has been selected to the 2010 Under Armour All American Team, and last year he participated in the Commander Cup and the Under Armour Team Showcase and [...]

Penn State places a pitcher on the Academic All-America squad for second consecutive year. UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State senior pitcher David Lutz (West Chester, Pa.) was named to ESPN The Magazine's Academic All-America® Third Team, as announced by CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) on Tuesday. Lutz becomes the second Nittany Lion [...]

Nittany Lions place a pair on All-Conference and All-Freshman Teams. COLUMBUS, Ohio – Following an action-packed 2010 season, three Penn State baseball players were honored with postseason Big Ten awards, as announced at the Big Ten banquet on Tuesday evening. Junior catcher Ben Heath (Huntersville, N.C.) was named First Team All-Big Ten while freshman outfielder [...]

Team W-L Pct RPI 1 Michigan 34 – 20 – 0 0.630 67 2 Michigan State 34 – 19 – 0 0.642 82 3 Indiana 25 – 25 – 0 0.500 91 4 Ohio State 28 – 21 – 0 0.571 92 5 Iowa 25 – 26 – 0 0.490 123 6 Minnesota 24 – [...]

Team W-L GB Pct 1 Minnesota 15 – 9 – 0 – 0.625 2 Michigan 14 – 10 – 0 1 0.583 3 Iowa 13 – 11 – 0 2 0.542 3 Northwestern 13 – 11 – 0 2 0.542 5 Purdue 12 – 12 – 0 3 0.500 5 Indiana 12 – 12 – [...]

Nittany Lions wrap up and down campaign with hard-fought defeat. UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Despite holding a 4-3 lead after six full innings, the Michigan bats exploded for four runs in the seventh to down the Penn State baseball team, 7-4 on Saturday’s Senior Day at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. Freshman Steve Snyder (West [...]

By Ryan Loy Collegian Staff Writer Faced with a scenario every baseball player dreams about, Jordan Steranka came through for the Penn State baseball team to cap a 6-5 comeback win over Michigan Friday night at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. The Nittany Lions (22-29, 9-14 Big Ten) trailed 5-1 entering the bottom of the [...]

Jordan Sterenka comes up with a two out full count bases loaded game winning single. As good as the moment was, the play at the plate was a lot closer than it ever should have been. Robbie Wine inserted pitcher Jesse Alfreno as a pinch runner for Sean Deagan after Deagon had smashed a ground [...]

Despite the thrilling comeback, Penn State was eliminated from postseason contention due to scores in other Big Ten games. UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Trailing by four runs heading into the bottom of the ninth and down to the game’s final strike, sophomore Jordan Steranka (Pittsburgh, Pa.) capped a furious five-run Penn State rally with a [...]

From CTPost.com Nate Bumps Lowers ERA to 2.29 — Nate Bump continues to get better in his quest to return to the major leagues. The right-hander, who started last season with an 8-2, 2.49 run in a dozen starts for Camden, N.J., in the Atlantic League, turned in his best performance in a series of [...]

Down 5-1 in the ninth, they come back to score five to top Michigan. Jordan Steranka lines a two out bases loaded single up the middle to score two for the win. Despite getting a poor jump on the 3-2 pitch, pinch runner Jesse Alfreno scores the winning run on a close play at the [...]

Junior catcher a semifinalist for prestigious award named in honor of the former Cincinnati Reds great. UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State junior catcher Ben Heath (Huntersville, N.C.) has been named one of 16 semifinalists for the 2010 Coleman Company-Johnny Bench Award delivered by Papa John’s Pizza, as announced by the Wichita Sports Commission on [...]

Johnny Bench Award Semifinalist Ben Heath blasts his 19th home run of the season in the loss. UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State baseball team sent the go-ahead run to the plate in the eighth and ninth innings, but fell short in a 6-3 setback to Michigan on Thursday night in the opening game [...]