The Washington Huskies baseball team will travel to University Park, Pennsylvania, to play Penn State in their last road series of the regular season this weekend, according to a May 7 announcement. The first two games of the series will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus, while the third game will air on Big Ten Network. Live statistics for all three games will be available at HuskyStats.com.
This matchup holds significance as it marks the first time Washington and Penn State meet in a Big Ten conference series. Both teams are tied 1-1 in their all-time meetings, with Penn State winning their most recent contest during the 2025 Big Ten Baseball tournament.
Jackson Hotchkiss has been a standout performer for the Huskies this season. He recently hit his 17th home run of the year at Seattle University, setting a new career high and moving up to eighth place in school history for single-season home runs. Hotchkiss leads Washington in several offensive categories including batting average (.359), slugging percentage (.758), runs scored (42), hits (55), home runs (17), RBIs (40), and total bases (116). His performance ranks him among national leaders despite missing part of the season due to injury.
The Huskies have shown strength both offensively and defensively this year. They have recorded 57 home runs—ranking tenth in the Big Ten—and excelled early in games with a record of 14-7 when scoring first. The pitching staff is also notable for its rankings: they are among national leaders for walks allowed per nine innings, strikeout-to-walk ratio, WHIP, and strikeouts per nine innings.
Eddie Smith is leading his second season as head coach after being named to the position on July 9, 2024 by UW Director of Athletics Pat Chun. Smith previously coached at Utah Valley before joining Washington.
Looking ahead, Washington seeks its second consecutive appearance at the Big Ten Tournament after qualifying as a No. 5 seed last year—their inaugural season in the conference. The team currently sits just outside tournament qualification but has six conference games remaining: three against Penn State followed by three versus top-ranked UCLA at Husky Ballpark.
