Spring has sprung and summer is officially here. While most students left the crazy life here at Dear Old State, others stayed behind to finish out the spring sports season. Here's a quick Penn State SportsCenter-like recap of what we missed.

Baseball

It's often called America's pastime, but baseball isn't often thought of in Happy Valley.

The Nittany Lions barely finished out the year with a winning season, losing their last game of the season to Michigan, 8-4. The loss spoiled the team's shot at making an appearance in the Big Ten tournament.

While the season ended on a sour note, the off-season had plenty of ups for the team. Juniors Sean and Alan Stidfole and freshman Scott Gaffney were all-Big Ten selections.

Senior Josh Palm and Sean Stidfole were both drafted during the first day of the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. Stidfole was drafted by Toronto in the 14th round, and Palm was drafted by Washington in the 16th round. The right-handed pitchers become the first pair of Nittany Lions to be taken on the first day of the draft since Chris Netwall and Rod Perry were taken in the 13th round of the 2001 draft. The 2005 draft also marks the sixth straight year, and eighth time in the last nine, that Penn State baseball players were drafted. In addition, senior shortstop Michael Milliron was taken by Colorado in the 30th round.

Penn State also secured a top recruit for next season, with left-handed pitcher Mike Lorentson from Springfield coming aboard.

In addition, the Nittany Lions will also have a new field to call home, thanks to the groundbreaking of Medlar Field at Lubrano Park in late May. The new park will be able to hold approximately 6,000 and will be shared with a minor league team to be named at a later date.

Men's golf

The Nittany Lions got off to a slow start for their spring season but never looked back. The team won its home tournament, setting a new Rutherford Intercollegiate 54-hole record by shooting a 277 to finish with a first place score of 843 (-21). Even though the team took a disappointing eighth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships, the Lions were able to advance to the NCAA East Regional, finishing their season placing 20th out of 27 teams.

Seniors Mark Leon and Ted Neville and freshman Robert Rohanna were named to the Golf Coaches Association of America 2005 Mid-Atlantic Region Team.

Men's lacrosse

It was an up-and-down year mentally for the Lions. Team captain Mike Jacober, who lost his mother, father and younger brother in a plane crash en route to the team's March 26 game against Fairfield at Bigler Field, led the Nittany Lions to a 9-6 season. Penn State shared the top spot in the Eastern College Athletic Conference with Massachusetts.

"We really needed those last two games," Penn State coach Glenn Thiel said before the last three games of the season. "We needed to win both games to make the playoffs. We definitely had to beat Georgetown. The players know they have to win."

The team won two of the last three games to advance to the NCAA tournament, where it lost to Maryland.

Thiel was honored as ECAC Coach of the Year. Midfielder Patrick Heim, defenseman Jesse Tarr and attackman Nate Whitaker were also named to the squad.

Chris Garrity, a former men's lacrosse goalkeeper, was named to the 2006 U.S. men's lacrosse team that will participate in the 2006 International Lacrosse Federation World Championships in London, Ontario.

Women's lacrosse

The Nittany Lions bounced back after last year's disappointing 6-11 finish to go 12-5.

The biggest highlight of the season was Penn State's back-to-back wins against No. 1-ranked teams on the road. The Nittany Lions defeated last year's national champion Virginia and the next weekend took down Princeton in a game that lasted three overtimes.

The team's season ended in heartbreak when it lost in triple overtime to North Carolina in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Former Penn State All-American Joanne Connelly, and now a Penn State assistant coach, became one of 16 players that were named to the 2005 International Federation of Women's Lacrosse Associations World Cup team. In addition, former Penn State All-American Michelle DeJuliis was named as an alternate on the squad.

Men's and women's outdoor track

The track season exploded off the blocks early. The women's team took second at the Big Ten Championships. The highlight of the meet belonged to freshman sensation Shana Cox, who took first place in the 400 meters and anchored the winning 4x100 relay, while junior Jen Leatherman took home the gold in the hammer throw.

"Jen's very focused on certain people, and she was definitely on a mission," coach Beth Alford-Sullivan said early in the season.

Penn State took fifth at NCAA East finals. Leatherman went on to win the hammer throw at the tournament.

While the men weren't as successful at Big Tens, placing a disappointing seventh, two Penn State seniors were.

Jaret Campisi and Bret Kershner finished their Big Ten careers as golden boys, as they both claimed titles at the Big Ten outdoor championships. Campisi won the 400-meter hurdles in a career-best time of 50.10 seconds, the fourth best in school history. Kershner won the javelin title with a career-best mark of 211 feet 10 inches, making him the second straight Nittany Lion to win the conference javelin title.

"Sometimes you don't get the performance you want because the wind is blowing in the wrong direction," coach Harry Groves said.

Softball

The Nittany Lions had a successful 2005 season, finishing 36-23 and making their fifth NCAA tournament appearance in six years.

Penn State lost to Texas A&M in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The squad watched an early lead disappear as the Aggies scored seven runs in the third inning.

The team signed three all-star players for the 2006 season: California native Danielle Kinley, New York native Shana Madura, and Texas native Kayce Zielinski.

Zielinkski was an all-district, all-state shortstop and also has top honors in volleyball and basketball. Kinley could play both in the outfield and at first base for the Nittany Lions, and was a first team all-county honoree. Madura was the last recruit signed by Penn State. A Pepsi Award winner for Most Athletic in her county, she brings many four years of high school varsity starting experience to Penn State.

Men's and women's tennis

The year was full of love for the men's tennis team, while the women's team was all about rebuilding.

The men took second place at Big Tens, led by junior Mark Barry who played well at No. 1 singles. Barry also played at the NCAA championships, losing to No. 1-seeded Benedict Dorsch of Baylor.

"Our destiny is in our own hands," junior Malcolm Scatliffe said early in the season.

The women fell to Northwestern in the Big Ten quarterfinals despite outstanding performances by senior Maaria Husain and freshman Jenny Schular in doubles play. The loss ended the Lions' season at 7-11 and 2-8 in conference play.

Men's volleyball

The No. 2 Nittany Lions killed almost every one of their opponents, advancing to the NCAA semifinals before falling to UCLA, 3-0.

Earlier in the year, Penn State won its 17th EIVA Tournament championship, which allowed them to advance to their 20th NCAA tournament.

"How well we can pass against the strong serving teams will determine how far we go," Pavlik said prior to the NCAA tournament.

Senior Keith Kowal was named a 2004-05 ESPN The Magazine first team at-large Academic All-American. This is the second straight year he won the prestigious honor.

Penn State signed two top recruits for the 2006 season, Matt Anderson and Max Holt, both members of the USA Youth National Team this summer.