Penn State and Michigan had a special guest for their matchup in the Big Ten Baseball Tournament on Thursday evening. During an in-game interview, Penn State head coach Mike Gambino revealed how thankful he was for Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti to be in attendance.
“To have Commissioner Petitti here tonight, to have a guy, the commissioner of your conference that cares this much about our game, both within our conference [and out of it], as we continue to try to elevate Big Ten baseball — we think we can turn this into a top two or three baseball conference in the country,” Gambino said.
“But when you have the commissioner showing up at the tournament and spending as much time and effort as he is helping our game and our conference, it’s pretty special. It means a lot to all of us that he’s here.”
Gambino is in his first year at the helm of the Nittany Lions. Penn State hired Gambino in July after he previously spent 13 seasons as Boston College’s head coach. Evidently, he’s already formed quite a bond with his new commissioner.
Petitti’s dedication to growing Big Ten baseball is no surprise. Before taking the reins of the storied conference, Petitti served as the president and chief executive officer of the MLB Network, where he oversaw all of the network’s day-to-day operations.
Petitti was named the Big Ten Conference’s seventh commissioner in April 2023, and Gambino joined the league only three months later. Gambino has exceeded expectations in his first season against Big Ten competition.
Penn State entered Thursday night with a 27-23 record and a 12-12 mark against conference foes. The Nittany Lions have won their last four games. If Mike Gambino and Co. can defeat Michigan, they will advance to face off against No. 1 Illinois on Friday.
2024 Big Ten Baseball Tournament bracket, schedule
All times CT
Tuesday, May 21st
Game 1: No. 3 Indiana 8, No. 6 Purdue 6
Game 2: No. 7 Ohio State 15, No. 2 Nebraska 2
Wednesday, May 22nd
Game 3: No. 8 Penn State 8, No. 1 Illinois 4
Game 4: No. 4 Michigan 3, No. 5 Iowa 2 (10 innings)
Game 5: Nebraska 6, Purdue 2
Thursday, May 23rd
Game 6: No. 1 Illinois 4, No. 5 Iowa, 2 (10 innings)
Game 7: Indiana 14, Ohio State 7
Game 8: Penn State vs. Michigan – 7 p.m. on BTN
Friday, May 24th
Game 9: Loser of Game 7 vs. Nebraska – 2 p.m. on BTN
Game 10: Loser of Game 8 vs. No. 1 Illinois – 7 p.m. on BTN
Saturday, May 25th
Game 11: Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 9 – 9 a.m. on BTN
Game 12: Winner of Game 8 vs. Winner of Game 10 – 1 p.m. on BTN
Game 13 (if necessary): Winner of Game 11 vs. Loser of Game 11 – 5 p.m. on BTN
Game 14 (if necessary): Winner of Game 12 vs. Loser of Game 12 – 9 p.m. on BTN
Sunday, May 26th
Game 16: Championship game – 2 p.m. on BTN
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