University Park, Pa.; May 18, 2006 ¨C While it is the State College Spikes that will have the honor of playing the first game at the new Medlar Field at Lubrano Park next month, the Penn State baseball team did the honors of having the first workout on the field. Prior to departing for Columbus on Thursday for their final regular season series of the year at Ohio State this weekend, the Nittany Lions worked out at the new facility on Wednesday afternoon in an event that was kept secret up until the last minute.

After the team completed their regularly scheduled practice at Beaver Field, the Nittany Lions gathered for a post-practice meeting at second base, where they were told by head coach Robbie Wine that they were not yet done with practice and that they would be going over to ¡°The Med¡± to finish their workouts for the day. Kept under wraps and only known to a few people, the plans to workout at the new stadium were not known by the Nittany Lion players until after they finished practice at Beaver Field.

With most of the serious work already done for the day at Beaver Field, the portion of time spent at the new facility was mainly loose and informal. The team took batting practice, which also featured Coach Wine taking some cuts. The players were able to walk and run around the field and get accustomed to not only the field but also all of the various angles that will make up their future home.

¡°While they unfortunately won¡¯t get a chance to play an actual game on the field, we really wanted to just be able to come in here and give our seniors, which have meant so much to this program over the last few years, a chance to set foot on the field and take some swings,¡± said Coach Wine.

Medlar Field at Lubrano Park is scheduled for 100 percent completion on June 1st. The Spikes will host the first game there on June 20th while Penn State¡¯s first game in the new park will come next March. The baseball coaching staff is scheduled to move into the facility in early June, after all of the occupancy certificates have been issued.

Pictures of the team¡¯s workout can be viewed at live.psu.edu.