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State College Spikes Reach Agreement With Penn State To Remain At Medlar Field & Resolve Lease Dispute

 

The State College Spikes will continue to call Medlar Field at Lubrano Park home after reaching a new agreement with Penn State, resolving a lease dispute that saw the university seek the minor league club’s eviction from the ballpark.

Penn State said in a statement on Wednesday that the two sides reached “a mutually agreeable resolution” for their shared use of the facility.

“The revised agreement allows the Spikes to continue calling the ballpark home and provides stability for fans and the broader community,” the university wrote. “Both organizations look forward to moving ahead together and continuing to make the facility a premier destination for baseball, family entertainment and community events.”

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. A joint filing in Centre County Court states that the team and Penn State have “resolved all claims and disputes” and asked a judge to dismiss the case with prejudice, meaning the specific claims cannot be refiled.

Penn State had claimed the Spikes failed to provide notice of renewal of their lease and owed $1.7 million in termination rent, as well as $29,238 in unpaid rent installments through the end of the operating agreement.

“The agreement provides a framework for a continued partnership between both parties and allows the Spikes to continue calling Medlar Field at Lubrano Park home,” a university spokesperson wrote in an email to StateCollege.com. “We are pleased to move forward together and remain focused on serving our fans and the community.”

A spokesperson and an attorney for the Spikes did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Penn State, which owns the ballpark on Porter Road and has rented it to the Spikes through a series of agreements since 2006, sued to evict the Spikes in early March after the university said the team failed to provide notice it would exercise a 10-year lease option when the previous term expired in September 2025.

The team was required to notify the university by April 3, 2025 of its intent to re-up and Penn State informed the club on Aug. 18 that since it received no written notice to renew, the lease would terminate on Sept. 30. On Oct. 1, 2025, 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.

A magisterial district judge in February granted the university possession of the property, but the Spikes appealed in the Centre County Court of Common Pleas, leading to Penn State’s filing of the lawsuit.

The Spikes organization responded that the lawsuit had “zero merit” and alleged that Penn State “has been engaged in a calculated effort to drive the State College Spikes out of business.”

According to the lawsuit, the Spikes insisted that they provided timely notice of renewal, while Penn State said it gave the team “numerous opportunities to provide proof,” to no avail.

In a subsequent filing, the university alleged that it has been keeping the team financially afloat for years through previously forgiven “significant” amounts of unpaid rent and overpayment for certain costs and fees as part of the shared use agreement. Penn State also claimed that the organization has not properly cared for the property, alleging the Spikes failed to clean bathrooms and dugouts, allowed dirt and bird waste buildup, and failed to repair cracks, leaks, an HVAC system in suites and a fire suppression system, among other issues.

The club said it has “operated the ballpark in exemplary fashion” and that “to portray the Spikes in the false light the university has concocted in an ever escalating attempt to force the Spikes out of business is reckless and should be beneath the university.”

Penn State and the Spikes entered mediation in the spring, and despite the legal wrangling throughout much of the year, the team continued, with the university’s permission, to play at Medlar Field for its 20th anniversary season.

The Spikes, which had previously been class A short-season affiliates of the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals, will begin their 80-game sixth season in the MLB Draft League on June 2 in Trenton, followed by a home opener against Mahoning Valley on June 8 at Medlar Field.

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About the Author

Geoff Rushton (StateCollege.com)

Geoff Rushton is managing editor for StateCollege.com. Contact him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter at @geoffrushton.

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