Program Timeline 1952
1963
The Performance: The Lions posted a 17-6 record en route to their first College World Series appearance in school history.
The Performance: In Chuck Medlar’s first season at the Penn State coaching helm, his Lions posted a 14-6 record in making their first and last College World Series appearance of the decade.
The Story: Anchored by freshman Keith Vesling (7-3, 2.40 ERA, 82.1 IP), Penn State’s three-man rotation dominated opposing hitters. Bill Everson and Jack Krumrine each posted 5-1 marks to round out a rotation that combined for all 17 of the Lions’ wins. The Result: After a fine season and back-to-back wins in the District II Regionals, the Nittany Lions bowed out of their first CWS appearance. They fell to eventual champion, Holy Cross, and took home a tie for third.
1956 The Performance: The “Technology Bandwagon” made its way through Happy Valley as coach Joe Bedenk invested in an early model of today’s pitching machine. The machine, an awkward and inefficient contraption, was able to hurl one ball every eight seconds. The Story: After having his spring batting practices delayed weeks at a time due to weather conditions, Bedenk was finally able to take his men indoors to get their swings. In addition to buying his batters over two weeks of extra batting practice, the machine also kept his pitchers’ arms fresh as they threw batting practice in previous years. The Result: It didn’t take long to see a return on the technological investment. The 1957 squad made a run to the College World Series Finals.
1957 The Performance: After reeling off a school-record 21 consecutive wins to start the year, the 1957 Nittany Lions became arguably the best team in school history and in doing so, became the benchmark for success in Happy Valley. Finishing with a 22-2 record and a school-best second place finish in the College World Series. The Story: Legendary hurler Ed Drapcho (12-0, 1.52 ERA; single-season school record wins) and two-sport star Cal Emery (10-1, captain of basketball team) posted all 22 of the Lions’ wins. The tandem also tallied an astounding 15 complete games and gave up a combined 29 earned runs. Drapcho became the school’s first-ever First Team All-American and Emery, despite the Penn State loss to California in the CWS Finals, became the only NCAA Tournament MVP in school history. The Result: After a 17-0 regular season and four consecutive postseason victories, the squad ran into a juggernaut in the University of California. Penn State fell defeat in both the second round and finals to take runnerup honors while making its mark in the record books.
1959 The Performance: Reminiscent to the 1952 season in which Penn State made its first College World Series, the 1959 squad posted an identical 17-6 record while making the school’s third CWS appearance.
The Story: In addition to posting a 10-2 mark (10 wins, tied for third on school’s single-season wins list) and a miniscule 1.94 ERA, Bob Fenton also tallied no-hit games in wins over Cornell (17-0) and Rider (3-0, District II Regionals). He became just the third of eight Nittany Lions to toss no-hitters and the first to accomplish the feat twice. The Result: Medlar debuted in fine fashion, leading his squad to the College World Series after a three-year absence. The Lions, after finishing the regular season 11-4, won three of their five postseason matchups to close the season with a 14-6 record and a fifth-place CWS finish.
1973 The Performance: Penn State, again led by a dominant pitching staff, posted a 19-7 record and made the last of its five College World Series appearances. The Story: Mitch Lukevics, a freshman, turned in one of the most dominating pitching performances in school history to lead a rock-solid Nittany Lion squad. Lukevics, from nearby Bellefonte, posted a 7-2 record with a 1.23 ERA in the first of his three seasons at Penn State. To go along with his impressive stats, he finished the season with 86 strikeouts in just 65.2 innings of work, a ratio of 11.7 K per nine innings (seventh in the nation). Lukevics in the Penn State Record Book Career Record: 24-5 (3rd in wins) ERA: 1.24 (1st) Strikeouts: 266 (3rd) Shutouts: 9 (1st) Single-Season Shutouts: 3 (2nd) Wins: 11 (1975, 2nd) The Result: Despite going 0-2 in the College World Series, the Lions finished the postseason with a 3-2 mark and an overall record of 19-7.
1976 The Performance: The Lions posted an 18-8 record on their way to the school’s last NCAA appearance until 2000. The Story: The most notable of the squad’s 18 wins came on April 19 in a 9-3 handling of George Washington. The win marked the team’s eighth of the season and 1,000th in school history. The Result: After posting an 18-6 regular season record, the Lions dropped their first two postseason games and bowed out of the Regionals. Greg Vogel was rewarded for an outstanding season by nabbing First Team All-America status. He became just the third of four Nittany Lions to receive the honor. Vogel was rewarded again after the season by becoming the first-ever Penn Stater to be selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball Draft.
The Story: As per the theme of the 1950s, dominant pitching led the Lions into the postseason. The staff as a whole posted a skimpy 2.66 ERA for a Nittany Lion squad that outscored its opponents by a 172-89 margin. The Result: Penn State defeated Connecticut, 5-3, in the first round before falling into the losers’ bracket after an 8-6 loss to eventual College World Series champion Oklahoma State. The persistent Lions fought back through the losers’ bracket by shutting out Clemson 7-0, only to fall to the same Oklahoma State Cowboys, 4-3, when the Cowboys rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning. It marked the third time in the decade in which Penn State lost to the eventual College World Series Champion. The Nittany Lions finished fourth.
GoPSUsports.com • PENN STATE 2013
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