UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (May 13, 2004) - Six Penn State baseball players will take the field in their final four regular season home games at Beaver Field with a chance to play for a Big Ten title this weekend when Michigan State comes to town for a four-game series.

The Nittany Lions are 26-21 overall, 15-9 in the Big Ten and in a second place tie with Ohio State, one game behind Minnesota in the standings. The Spartans are 27-21 overall, 14-10 in the conference and one game behind Penn State in fourth place. Three games separate the top six teams in the conference with two weekends to play. Six teams make the Big Ten Tournament and the top two seeds receive first round byes. Penn State travels to Ann Arbor, Mich. to take on Michigan next weekend.

Friday¡¯s contest will start at 2 p.m., Saturday¡¯s doubleheader will begin at 1 p.m. and Sunday¡¯s ¡°get-away¡± game will start at 1 p.m. at Beaver Field. All four games can be heard live on ESPN Radio WMAJ 1450 AM and a link to the broadcasts will be available at www.GoPSUsports.com. Admission is free to all four games.

Seniors Jim Farrell (Harleysville, Pa.), Clayton Hamilton (Beaver Falls, Pa.), Matt Harter (Centre Hall, Pa.), Jared Hopewell (Watsontown, Pa.), Brett Showalter (Waynesboro, Pa.) and Aaron Tressler (Pennsylvania Furnace, Pa.) will play their last four regular season games on Beaver Field.

Farrell will throw Game 1 of the series, Tressler will take the mound in Game 3 and Hamilton will pitch Game 4. Sophomore Sean Stidfole (New Bloomfield, Pa.) will pitch Game 2 of the series.

Penn State finished its 2003 season on the road at Michigan State, where the Nittany Lions earned a four-game split and the No. 4 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, which was hosted by regular-season champion Minnesota. Penn State leads the all-time series 20-17.

The Nittany Lions are 10-6 and Michigan State is 8-8 against common opponents in the conference.

For more information on Penn State baseball, please visit the official athletic website at www.GoPSUsports.com.

Big Ten Standings Big Ten Overall Teams W L T Pct. W L T Pct. Minnesota 16 8 0 .667 30 17 0 .638 Ohio State 15 9 0 .625 28 19 0 .596 Penn State 15 9 0 .625 26 21 0 .553 Michigan State 14 10 0 .583 27 21 0 .563 Michigan 13 11 0 .542 25 22 0 .532 Purdue 13 11 0 .542 24 23 0 .511 Northwestern 11 13 0 .458 22 23 1 .489 Illinois 8 16 0 .333 19 28 0 .404 Iowa 8 16 0 .333 15 31 0 .326 Indiana 7 17 0 .292 23 25 0 .479 *Top six teams make Big Ten Tournament. **No. 1 seed hosts Big Ten Tournament.