Blue White Illustrated

Spending Thanksgiving break far from home, it wasn't turkey and warm stuffing for Penn State's baseball team this holiday. Instead, it was chicken and cold green beans, and that was perfectly OK. Coaches and players were grateful, es- pecially for the hospitality of the people in Cuba who had prepared the meal. In late November, the Nittany Lions became the first Americans to play baseball on the Caribbean island nation since before the Cold War, and the Cubans' welcoming gesture to celebrate the U.S. holiday was one of many experiences head coach Rob Cooper said that his players "will be able to talk about for the rest of their lives." As part of the Baseball Friendship Tour- nament and in partnership with the Centro de Estudios Martianos (Center for Marti Studies) in Havana, PSU baseball players spent a week in the country in late No- vember. They played four exhibition games, winning one, and coming just one run short against the Industriales – con- sidered by many to be the Yankees of Cuban baseball. "Playing in a foreign country and to have a game like that, I am really proud of our kids," Cooper told GoPSUsports.com. Away from the field, the Nittany Li- ons immersed themselves in the Cuban culture through sightseeing tours and lec- tures. "For me it was really [about] leaving the airplane and seeing just a totally new place," junior outfielder Nick Riotto said. "Really, it was just seeing the old cars, no real cellphones, no real TVs, in the airport just a conveyor belt [for] your suitcases, and then the outside world." In the third game, a 9-3 PSU win over Mayabeque, Riotto drove in three runs with a triple. Infielder Christian Heisel hit a home run, and in the second inning alone Penn State had 13 batters come to the plate. It was the first time that a U.S. team had ever beaten a Cuban National Series opponent. Following the win – which occurred on Thanksgiving day – PSU took in lectures in and tours, learning about the history of Cuban sports. In return, the Cubans prepared a local version of a Thanksgiving dinner. It was one of many memories Cooper took away from the history-making in- ternational trip, an opportunity that the NCAA grants to collegiate athletic teams once every four years. Penn State was the third U.S. collegiate team to visit Cuba this year. The Princeton track and field team traveled there in June, while the Coastal Carolina men's basketball squad visited in August. Additionally, a group of Vanderbilt student-athletes and staff made the trip in July. Giving thanks to PSU's Cuban task force chair Dr. John S. Nichols, who has long helped the university hold an official policy of engaging Cuba on educational fronts, Cooper said he appreciated the opportu- nity. Not only to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday on foreign soil, but also for the close bonding time he had with his team, which includes 11 players with freshmen eligibility. Cooper hopes the experience will con- tinue to pay off when the team resumes baseball activities in late January ahead of the 2016 season. "You never know what guys are going to do when they're put in that type of po- sition, when they're away from their fam- ilies, when they have zero access to the outside world, really, so it was just each other," he said. "To see some guys open up and some guys handle it was pretty cool, and hopefully that could springboard us into being a closer team come spring- time." – TIM OWEN WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL Nittany Lions' season ends in regional semis Hawaii swept Penn State out of the NCAA tournament in the regional semifinals, dealing the defending national champions a 3-0 loss Dec. 11 in Des Moines, Iowa. Aiyana Whitney had 10 kills and fellow senior Kendall Pierce had a career-high 14 digs for the Nittany Lions, who ended their season with a 28-6 record. "If another team beats you, then you give them the credit they de- serve," coach Russ Rose said. "Hawaii played terrific tonight." BASEBALL Hosts' hospitality among the highlights of Cuban trip SLIDE SHOW Riotto is tagged out at second on an attempted steal during PSU's 2-1 loss to the Indus- triales. Photo by Kelsie Netzer

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