Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1467458
J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 2 2 15 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M Penn State Adds Syracuse To Future Football Slates Penn State will resume one of its dormant Eastern rivalries when it faces Syracuse in a home-and-home series in 2027 and '28. The series, which was announced in early May, will begin when the Orange visit Beaver Stadium on Sept. 4, 2027, and will conclude on Sept. 9, 2028, when the Nittany Lions travel to the Car- rier Dome. Three nonconference matchups are now set on Penn State's 2027 schedule. After taking on Syracuse in what will likely be the season opener, the Lions will face Delaware on Sept. 11 and Temple on Sept. 18. Penn State and Syracuse have met 71 times over the years, with the Lions holding a 43-23-5 advantage. The two former Eastern Indepen- dents last met in 2013, when PSU pulled out a 23-17 victory in freshman quarterback Chris- tian Hackenberg's first game as a Nittany Lion. That game was played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. Penn State has won the past five matchups in the series and last lost to the Orange in 1988. As for the most recent Beaver Stadium meet- ing, the Nittany Lions recorded a 28-7 triumph in 2009. In the teams' most recent game at Syracuse, PSU left with a 55-13 victory over their hosts in 2008. Numerous nonconference matchups are set for the Nittany Lions over the next few years. Penn State will host Ohio and Central Michi- gan this year, while also traveling to Auburn. In 2023, the Lions welcome West Virginia, Delaware and Temple to Beaver Stadium. Moving on to 2024, PSU will go to Morgan- town to face the Mountaineers while also host- ing Bowling Green and Kent State. A year later, it will face Nevada and Villanova, with one non- conference game still to be scheduled. Finally, in 2026, Penn State will travel to Tem- ple while welcoming Marshall and San Jose State to State College. Additional matchups will need to be added in the future, but those could take time. One rea- son is the possibility of an expanded scheduling agreement between Pac-12, ACC and Big Ten schools. There has also been talk of the Big Ten going back to eight conference games instead of the current nine. Penn State opens its 2022 season on Thurs- day, Sept. 1 at Purdue. — Greg Pickel PENN STATE'S TOP PERFORMERS Derek Cease — Baseball A freshman infielder from Plymouth, Pa., Cease has flashed his potential throughout the season. During a four-game stretch in late April, he went 5 for 7 at the plate, with four walks, four runs scored, two RBI and a stolen base. He was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week after that performance, which included an 8-7 nonconference victory over Omaha April 29 in which Cease went 2 for 3 with an RBI single and two runs scored, the second of which tied the game in the seventh inning. Cease came to Penn State after a three-year career at Greater Nanticoke Area High in which he excelled both at the plate and on the mound, batting .317 while also compiling a 3.36 ERA in 98 innings pitched. Bailey Parshall — Softball A senior pitcher from Belle Vernon, Pa., Parshall has been brilliant for the Nittany Lions all year, and her surge con- tinued on the final day of the regular season. She struck out seven Illinois batters and pitched her ninth complete game of the season in Penn State's 2-0 shutout victory May 8 in Champaign. Parshall improved her record to 21-8, the second-highest win total in the program's history, trailing only Kelly McCann's 22 wins in 2001. Her 201 strikeouts during the regular season were tied for the fourth-most in any season in Penn State softball history. Parshall's pitching was one of the main reasons why the Nittany Lions amassed 13 Big Ten victories this year, the team's third-highest total ever. Victoria Tachinski — Women's Track & Field Tachinski, a senior from Winnipeg, Manitoba, anchored two of the best performances in school history during Penn State's recent appearance at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia. The Nittany Lions claimed first place in the 4x800-meter race and the sprint medley relay. Their time of 2:24.49 in the 4x800 was the fastest in the country to that point in the season and also broke the school record. Their time in the sprint medley relay — 3:48.47 — was fourth-fastest in school history. Tachinski, who set six Canadian age-group records as a high school runner, has twice been named Big Ten Track Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season. Brett Wildman — Men's Volleyball Wildman received first-team All-America honors from the American Volleyball Coaches Association following a senior season in which he totaled 302 kills and 41 aces, both single-season career highs. His .342 hitting percentage was also the best of his career. Wildman had never been named a first-team All-American previously, but he was a second- team honoree in 2021 and an honorable mention choice in 2020. He became the program's first three-time All-American since Dennis Del Valle was recognized four times from 2008-11. A native of Virginia Beach, Va., Wildman has said he plans to use his bonus year of eligibility and will return to PSU as a super senior next season. — Matt Herb