Punxsutawney product Ryan Sloniger has had that “Aha!” moment.

 

The Penn State freshman catcher has figured out how his talents fit into the college game over the last few weeks.

 

“It’s been recently that I’ve been really confident in myself again,” says Sloniger, the current Big Ten Freshman of the Week. “When I was struggling I lost a little bit of my confidence, but lately, I’ve felt a lot better. Obviously my coaches have been helping me a lot with that. The upperclassmen they’ve all been great in helping me out.”

 

One third of Sloniger’s hits this season have come in the last week.

 

In that stretch he also drove in five runs and belted his first collegiate home run for the Nittany Lions.

 

“I think he’s been able to kind of embrace his role and kind of let his talents really shine,” PSU assistant coach Brian Anderson says. “We all knew what he can do. Now he’s able to let everybody else know what he can do on the field as well.”  

 

Sloniger and the Nittany Lions host Kent State Wednesday night.

 

Penn State is looking to avenge a 10-9 heartbreak loss a week ago against the Golden Flashes.