Penn State filed a lawsuit this week seeking to evict the State College Spikes from Medlar Field at Lubrano Park after the university said the minor league baseball team failed to renew its lease for the ballpark by the required deadline last fall.
A university spokesman characterized the filing as a necessary legal step and said Penn State is willing to work with the Spikes on a new agreement.
“Penn State values the partnership it has maintained with the Spikes over the years and the role that the Spikes play in our community,” the spokesperson wrote in an email. “Before the Spikes’ prior operating agreement expired, before filing any legal action, and even after litigation was initiated, the University repeatedly attempted to work with the Spikes organization to establish a new facility usage agreement that reflects our shared goals.
“Despite the ongoing legal action, Penn State continues to be willing to work with the Spikes organization to explore a new facility usage agreement to keep the Spikes in State College.”
The team, however, said in a statement that the university “has been engaged in a calculated effort to drive the State College Spikes out of business.”
“There is zero merit to Penn State’s lawsuit or its allegations,” the team wrote.
The statement added that the Spikes “are the reason Medlar Field at Lubrano Park was built” with funding from the commonwealth and the team, and why the ballpark received millions of dollars in state grant money for renovations that took place in 2023.
“Penn State’s actions are an affront to the history of the ballpark, the wishes and best interests of the Happy Valley community, the financial contribution of Commonwealth taxpayers, and the agreement of and history between the parties,” the team wrote.
The university owns the ballpark on Porter Road and has had a lease agreement with the Spikes since November 2005. The agreement included two 10-year renewal options which required the team to give Penn State 180 days notice of its intention to re-up.
According to the lawsuit, the Spikes missed the deadline for the first renewal in 2015, but the university accepted the team’s renewal anyway.
That, Penn State attorney Philip Miles wrote, did not exempt the team from providing the required notice for the second renewal in 2025.
The lease was set to expire on Sept. 30, meaning the team was required to notify the university by April 3, according to the lawsuit.
Penn State says it received no written notice and on Aug. 18 informed the Spikes that their operating agreement would end on Sept. 30.
“The parties engaged in additional correspondence, with Penn State attempting to work with Spikes Baseball to establish a new facility usage agreement that reflected the parties’ shared goals,” Miles wrote. “The parties did not agree to new terms, and Spikes Baseball insisted that it had provided timely written notice that it was exercising the second renewal option (which it had not), and therefore would not vacate the premises.”
The university alleges that it gave the team “numerous opportunities to provide proof of any such written notice.”
On Oct. 1, Penn State posted notices on the ballpark for the Spikes to vacate the premises within 30 days, and when the club did not do so, the university filed a landlord/tenant complaint in December.
District Judge Casey McClain in February ruled in Penn State’s favor, granting the university possession. The Spikes appealed to the Centre County Court of Common Pleas, leading to the university’s lawsuit filed on Tuesday.
Penn State claims the Spikes also owe $1.7 million in termination rent, as well as $29,238 in unpaid rent installments through the end of the operating agreement.
In a statement, the Spikes vowed to fight the lawsuit.
“The Spikes will defend themselves, not only for their own sake, but also for the sake of everyone who has loved and supported the Spikes for two decades,” the club wrote. “The Spikes look forward to hosting our 20th anniversary season of fun, affordable, family entertainment in Happy Valley this summer at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.”
Previously a short-season A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates, the Spikes became a founding member of the MLB Draft League in 2021 after Major League Baseball restructured its minor league system.
