The Penn State baseball team will welcome No. 23 University of Central Florida for Dollar Dog Night at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park on April 1, with the first pitch scheduled for 5:30 p.m. The event also features Little Sluggers Day, encouraging youth baseball players to attend.
The matchup is part of a season in which all games at Medlar Field are free admission for all ages. Head coach Mike Gambino leads Penn State, which holds an 8-18 record after winning one out of three games against Illinois last weekend. UCF, coached by Rich Wallace, enters the game with an 18-8 record and is ranked No. 23 in the D1Baseball Poll following a sweep over Arizona.
Wednesday marks Penn State’s second Dollar Dog Night this season, offering $1 hot dogs with a limit of nine per transaction. Last week, fans consumed more than six thousand hot dogs during the promotion against St. Bonaventure; since its inception in 2023, nearly eighty-one thousand hot dogs have been sold over sixteen such nights.
In recent play, Michael Anderson has led the Nittany Lions offensively and defensively—batting .636 during the Illinois series and hitting a go-ahead home run in Friday’s victory after overcoming a six-run deficit. Bryce Molinaro contributed significantly as well and now ranks fifth all-time at Penn State with thirty-one career home runs.
Under Gambino’s leadership since his arrival three years ago, Penn State achieved thirty-three wins last year—the second most in program history—and reached consecutive Big Ten Tournament Semifinals for the first time since early last decade. Five players were selected in the Major League Baseball Draft last year including Molinaro who returned for this season.
Looking ahead, Penn State will travel to Nebraska for a three-game Big Ten series from April 3 to April 5 before returning home to face FDU on April 7—another designated Dollar Dog Night.
