UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Between winter workouts and the upcoming spring practices, wide receiver Mac Hippenhammer will be busy getting acclimated to the sport he last played in high school.
Hippenhammer, a rising redshirt freshman, came to Penn State to play football but made it known during his recruitment that he wanted to try and play baseball here as well. That was part of his attraction to Penn State and with baseball season starting this weekend the timeshare between football and baseball is starting to play out. It’s one that James Franklin has been supportive of, Penn State baseball coach Rob Cooper said.
“The thing about Mac is he has a real love to compete. Whether it’s on the football field or the baseball team,” Cooper said Tuesday. “We’re just trying to get him to understand, ‘OK, here’s how we practice, here’s how we do stuff.’ We’re trying to get him up to speed on playing the game at this level and he’s doing a great job. He’s really worked hard to make an impact on a short period of time. To be honest with you, I’m kind of blown away by his progress.”
Hippenhammer, who played shortstop at his high school in Indiana where he batted .431 with 19 runs scored and 15 stolen bases during his senior season, is listed at Penn State as an infielder/outfielder. He's also one of three scholarship wide receivers who redshirted last season and therefore should have a chance to make an impression during spring ball. Until then, he’s also busy asking his new baseball teammates about anything and everything. That’s impressed them right away and so too has his high energy.
“One of the cool things is how much he’s trying to learn and trying to learn from everybody,” Justin Hagenman said. “I’m pitcher, a junior, and he’s a freshman infielder/outfielder and he’s still asking me plenty of questions and I’m trying to help him as best I’ve could. His want to learn is pretty impressive.”
How Hippenhammer balances football's winter conditioning in the morning, lifts in the afternoon, baseball practice at night and classes in between will have him running in different directions every day. He’s not the lone two-sport athlete on the baseball roster though as senior wrestler Matt McCutcheon, who worked out with the baseball team in the fall, is part of the team, too. MuCutcheon has been hurt this season though, forcing him to miss out on wrestling and while he won’t be able to suit up for the baseball team as a catcher because of the injury, he’s still part of the team and will be around them this spring, Cooper confirmed.
Penn State hasn’t had many scholarship athletes try and play two sports and especially not when one of them is football. Walk-on linebacker Jan Johnson was a member of the wrestling team as a true freshman in 2015 when he competed at heavyweight in eight duals but since then shifted his focus to football. In the past Penn State had players with aspirations of pitching, competing in track & field or in the case of Mike Gesicki playing volleyball or basketball, but those ideas usually were tossed by the wayside once the rigors of football and college life set in.
That’s a challenge Hippenhammer, who didn't practice with the baseball team at all in the fall because of football, will face head on this spring.
“He’s going to have some challenges ahead of him because obviously he’s missed some time and he’s got to learn to play the game at this level besides just practicing with us he’s doing all the football conditioning and lifting," Cooper said. "He’s also a really good student so he’s burning that candle on both ends so he’s going to have some days where he hits that wall mentally and physically. I love coahing him I can tell you that, and more importantly, I think it’s really cool that coach Franklin and the football staff are 100 percent behind him playing baseball.”