By: Frank Maira, Assistant Director of Athletics/Sports Information Director

MONT ALTO, Pa. – With warm weather across the state of Pennsylvania, the Penn State Mont Alto baseball team opens its season this weekend when they travel to Penn State Greater Allegheny for a Saturday doubleheader. It begins a stretch of 28 games for the Nittany Lions who will once again be competing in the highly competitive PSUAC Western Division.

The Nittany Lions will feature an impressive core of returners and newcomers who are expected to step up as the team looks to compete for a PSUAC postseason appearance. Now entering his third season at the helm of the program, Shawn Kissel is excited to showcase the depth of his roster.

"We have a lot of new faces and second year guys from last year that were only able to get a couple games under their belt because of COVID-19," said Kissel. "That mix with the veteran guys we have coming back will hopefully lead to something special. So far, the guys have looked pretty good. It's just a matter of defining everyone's role and fitting it all together."

During the pandemic-shortened season, shortstop Jared Pine (Mercersburg, Pa. / James Buchanan) got off to a blazing start and led the Nittany Lions in total hits (19), ending the season with a .404 batting average. He along with fellow middle infielder and pitcher Chance McClure (Chambersburg, Pa. / Chambersburg Area) form a dynamic offensive punch atop the Mont Alto batting lineup. McClure hit .323 in 2019, while racking up 27 RBIs and threw 17.0 innings. Senior Joseph Wunsch (Dover, Del. / Dover Area) will be one of PSUMA's impactful catchers as he is expected to split time with battery mate Owen McCleaf (Waynesboro, Pa. / Waynesboro Area). The outfield corners will also be rotated this season with Coach Kissel riding the hot-swinging bats. Key returners that will be competing include Alberto Fabian (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic / KCAPA), Michael Scott (Accokeek, Md. / Bishop McNamara) and Matt Gelhard (Mount Airy, Md. / Linganore).

Overall, the Nittany Lions return 12 players from last season's roster, while also welcoming 13 newcomers to their squad. After navigating through the COVID-19 landscape with minimal baseball activity for nearly one full year, it's been an interesting process prepping and evaluating for the upcoming season.

"Having the facilities on campus to practice indoors has been a great help with getting guys throwing, conditioned and working on fundamentals," added Kissel. "With limited activity over the fall and spring so far it has been a little more challenging than usual to evaluate everything as a whole. Hitters tend to look good in a cage but it's going to be fun seeing how they compete against live pitching outdoors." 

Penn State Mont Alto is scheduled to play 25 conference games beginning with this weekend's doubleheader against Greater Allegheny. The three-game series against Penn State York are considered non-conference contests. Mont Alto's first home doubleheader is slated against Penn State DuBois on Sunday, March 21. The Nittany Lions close out the month of March with a nine inning home game against Penn State Beaver. They then play four straight road games before returning home on Saturday, April 10 to host Penn State New Kensington for a doubleheader. The regular season will conclude on April 27 with a nine inning home game against Penn State York. The Penn State University Athletic Conference (PSUAC) playoffs are scheduled to begin the weekend of May 1-2.

Fans will be able to watch and follow along with live stats for most, if not all, of Penn State Mont Alto's games this season. Just simply head to the team's 2021 schedule page to see the live stats and watch links for each respective contest. New this year, all home competitions will be live streamed directly to the Mont Alto athletics Facebook page.

Be sure to check the schedule page throughout the spring season for any potential schedule changes as well as live stats for most games! Stay up to date on all your Penn State Mont Alto news, scores, and awards by following @PSUMAathletics on Twitter and by liking the "Penn State Mont Alto Athletics" Facebook page.