Hot off a 12-2 win over Western Michigan from Wednesday, the MSU baseball team will play in a three-game home series against Penn State, hoping to even its conference record to 6-6.

This series will be Penn State's first in East Lansing since 2015. The Nittany Lions are coming into the series at 18-15 overall and 5-7 in the Big Ten, while the Spartans are at 15-19 overall and are 3-6 in conference play. 

Penn State's offense is spearheaded by catcher J.T. Marr, who leads the team in batting average at .416, which is also third in Big Ten, and has accumulated six home runs and 36 runs batted in, or RBIs. Outfielder/first baseman Bobby Marsh is not far behind, as he has a .376 batting average on the season and three home runs and 31 RBIs. Outfielder Adam Cecere has also tallied up 12 home runs so far this season and brought in 35 runs with a .342 batting average. 

The Penn State pitching staff, on the other hand, has had a rough season. Just one pitcher has below a 4.0 earned run average (ERA), and the whole pitching staff has a combined 6.74 ERA.

MSU's pitching is something to be wary of, as it has allowed 44 runs over its last four games, two from Central Michigan and 42 from Purdue.

The series will begin on Friday, April 19 at 8:02 p.m. MSU's usual Friday starter, Joseph Dzierwa, will come into the game with a 3-2 record and a 3.99 ERA. Penn State’s starter will be right-hander Travis Luensmann, who comes in at 4-1 with a 4.78 ERA.

Saturday's game will begin at 3:35 p.m. Left-handed pitcher Nick Powers will be on the mound for MSU, who comes in at 5-3 with a 4.15 ERA. Penn State’s starter will be right-hander Jaden Henline, who has a 3-0 record and an 8.63 ERA in the season.

Sunday's game will be played at 1:05 p.m. Nick Ferazzi will start for MSU, who has a 0-3 record and a 6.75 ERA. Penn State's starting pitcher will be right-hander Frankie Sanchez, who comes in at 2-1 with a 5.40 ERA.