CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard University will open its 2024 spring break trip with a revised three-game series against Penn State at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina with a doubleheader on Friday, Mar. 8 starting at noon and a single game on Sunday, Mar. 10 at noon.

What to Know

• The Crimson (1-5, 0-0 Ivy) meets the Nittany Lions (7-4, 0-0 Big Ten) in a neutral-site three game set with Penn State serving as the home team for the weekend. Officials altered the original Friday-Saturday-Sunday format to a doubleheader on Friday at noon and single game on Sunday at noon due to weather. USABaseball.TV will broadcast all three contests from the set.
• Harvard's weekend rotation will feature RHP Sean Matson (1.74 ERA, 0-0) in game one, LHP Brian Dowling (8.31 ERA, 0-0) in game two, and RHP Callan Fang (9.58 ERA, 0-2) in game three. Penn State will counter with RHP Travis Luensmann (7.71 ERA, 1-1) in game one, TBA in game two, and RHP Jaden Henline (5.00 ERA, 2-0) in game three.
• Harvard holds a 2-0 series lead against Penn State all-time, taking a 5-3 decision on June 19, 1909 and a 5-0 victory on April 30, 1932.
• Senior Ben Rounds has posted a .478 average, a .520 OBP, and 11 hits on the season. He ranks third in the Ivy League in average (.478), fourth in OBP (.520), and third in hits (11). In the NCAA rankings, he stands 30th in average (.478) and 22^nd in hits per game (1.83). He hit .556 (5-for-9) in the team's opening weekend at Troy (Feb. 23-25).
• Senior Chris Snopek has hit .318 on the year with a .375 OBP and seven hits. He went 5-for-13 with three runs and a home run in The Citadel (Mar. 2-3) series.
• Senior Peter Messervy posted a .500 batting average (4-for-8) in the team's opening weekend at Troy (Feb. 23-25). He has hit .273 on the year.
• Junior right-hander Sean Matson has posted a 1.74 ERA with 12 strikeouts over 10.1 innings on the year. He leads the Ivy League in strikeouts (12) and ranks third in ERA (1.74) and opponent batting average (.167). He earned Ivy League Pitcher of the Week on Mar. 4 after throwing 6.1 scoreless innings with seven strikeouts at The Citadel (Mar. 2).
• First-year right-hander Andrew Abler has tallied a 2.35 ERA with seven strikeouts over 7.2 innings on the season. Abler ranks second in the Ancient Eight in opponent average (.120) and strikeouts looking (five), while standing fifth in ERA (2.35). He threw 4.0 innings of relief against Troy (Feb. 23), permitting one run on one hit with four strikeouts. He stands 18^th in the NCAA in hits allowed per nine innings (3.52).
• As a team, Harvard ranks first in the Ivy League in fewest strikeouts at the plate (37), third in average (.260), third in home runs (five), and second in pitching strikeouts (44). The Crimson stands 24^th in the NCAA in double plays per game (1.00).
• Harvard will play its first 17 games of the season on the road. The Crimson makes four trips to the South, facing Troy (Feb. 23-25), The Citadel (Mar. 1-3), Penn State in Cary, North Carolina (Mar. 8-10), ETSU (Mar. 13), and Western Carolina (Mar. 15-17) before returning to the Northeast for road contests at Columbia (Mar. 23-24) and Holy Cross (Mar. 26). The Crimson will play its first home games vs. Brown (Mar. 30-31).
• Harvard was selected to finish third in the 2024 Ivy League Baseball Preseason Media Poll. The Crimson totaled 97 points to land in the top half of the eight-team poll. Penn took the top spot with 128 points and 16 first-place votes. Columbia (101 points) and Princeton (87 points) claimed the second and fourth spots respectively. Yale (66 points), Cornell (37), Brown (35), and Dartmouth (25) rounded out the fifth through eighth spots in the poll. 

Up Next

Harvard plays at East Tennessee State on Mar. 13 at 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+) before closing its spring break trip with a three-game series at Western Carolina from Mar. 15-17 (ESPN+) with game one on Mar. 15 at 4:00 p.m., game two on Mar. 16 at 2:00 p.m., and game three on Mar. 17 at 11:00 a.m.