April 13, 2017
| PENN STATE at MARYLAND | |
| Friday, Apr. 14 - 6:30 p.m. | |
| Saturday, Apr. 15 - 2:00 p.m. | |
| Sunday, Apr. 16 - 1:00 p.m. | |
Bob "Turtle" Smith Stadium | College Park, Md.
| GAME DAY LINKS |
| Game 1: Live Stats | Live Audio |
| Game 2: Live Stats | Live Audio |
| Game 3: Live Stats | Live Audio | BTN2GO |
| Baseball Blog | Baseball Videos |
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| Gameday Central |
| Game Notes: Penn State | Maryland |
| Statistics: Penn State | Maryland |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.. - Penn State returns to the road and Big Ten play for its first conference series at Maryland's Bob "Turtle" Smith Stadium, opening a three-game series Friday at 6:30 p.m. The series continues Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
Essentials
Live Video: N/A
Live Audio: GoPSUSports.com
Live Stats: UMTerps.com
TV: N/A
Radio: State College's ESPN 1450 AM
Maryland Series History: 15-12
Last Meeting: 2016, Home, Maryland, 2-1
Streak: L1
Friday Probables
PSU RHP Sal Biasi (4-3, 4.15 ERA)
UMD RHP Brian Shaffer (4-2, 1.94 ERA)
Saturday Probables
PSU RHP Justin Hagenman (1-5, 4.53 ERA)
UMD Taylor Bloom (3-2, 4.93) OR Tyler Blohm (5-3, 2.79)
Sunday Probables
PSU TBA
UMD Taylor Bloom (3-2, 4.93) OR Tyler Blohm (5-3, 2.79)
Tough Stuff From Biasi
RHP Sal Biasi leads the Big Ten and ranks 15th in the nation with 12.92 strikeouts per nine innings, and he also leads the Big Ten and ranks 23rd in the nation with just 5.31 hits allowed per nine innings.
Biasi has allowed more than three hits just once this season, yielding five at No. 22 Michigan.
As a team, Penn State ranks 81st in the country and fourth in the Big Ten averaging 8.3 strikeouts of opponents per nine innings.
Powersox
Sophomore Jordan Bowersox is the team leader in multi-hit games (12), batting average (.331), hits (40), extra-base hits (tied, 7 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR), stolen bases (8), slugging percentage (.479), walks (tied, 14) total bases (58) and on-base percentage (.413).
Bowersox owns the longest active reached base streak on the team at 12.
He is also second on the team with 18 RBIs, seven doubles and three home runs.
Conlin Hughes and Bowersox are the only two Nittany Lions to play in every game and start every game so far this season.
Youth Movement
The average Nittany Lion starter this season is a sophomore, as the average class year (Freshman = 1 ... Senior = 4) across all 10 positions through 32 games is 2.11. On the mound the Lions are averaging 2.16 years of experience as compared to 2.12 at the plate.
For the 2016 season, the Lions averaged 2.25 years in the starting lineup with a youthful 1.96 on the mound and a deceptive 2.49 at the dish as the Lions started two to five freshmen per game.
Penn State only has three upperclassman position players on the roster.
Power Bump
Penn State has already matched its 2016 season total for home runs with 16. A total of 15 have come on the road.
Conlin Hughes hit the first Nittany Lion home run at home against Ohio State (4/9). Penn State's 10 home runs in the first 14 games of the season were its most since at least 2002
All-Time vs. Maryland
Penn State has a 15-12 advantage over Maryland all-time and a 5-4 advantage in College Park. This will be just the second Big Ten series between the teams and the first for Penn State at Maryland, as the Terps joined the Big Ten for the 2015 season and first met the Nittany Lions in a league series in Happy Valley last season, taking two of three games. Penn State and Maryland first faced-off on the diamond in 1919, and the bulk of the meetings between the teams took place from 1960-70 with the Lions going 9-3.
Helsel Heats Up
Senior infielder Christian Helsel has been one of Penn State's top all-around players the last 10 games.
He is the only Nittany Lion to bat over .300 over the last 10, batting .343 (12-for-35) with a double and a team-best two home runs (tied with Jordan Bowersox) and eight RBIs. He also leads the team with a .439 on-base percentage.
Helsel has started at three different infield positions over the last 10 games, including his first starts of the season at second base over the last two games.
New Power Sources
Seven different Nittany Lions, as many as last year, have combined for 16 home runs, already matching last season's total.
Four hit their first career home runs, including three sophomores - Conlin Hughes, Jordan Bowersox and Keith Leavitt - and one freshman - Braxton Giavedoni.
Christian Helsel hit a grand slam against Pacific (3/5) after going homer-less in 2016. He hit one home run in 2015 but has three this season.
Willie Burger hit just one home run as a freshman, but hit two in the third game of the season at No. 1 TCU (2/19) and has added two since.
Nick Riotto has one home run after hitting two last season. He is the only Nittany Lion returning with multiple home runs hit the season prior.
Burger is the team power leader with a career-high four home runs and 22 RBIs. He is also batting .290 and getting on base at a .333 clip.
Beginners' Luck
Five of Penn State's wins have come with first-time starting pitchers.
Most recently, junior RHP Jake Pilewicz made his first career start against Bucknell (4/11) and went five innings, only surrenduring two runs on seven hits and three walks.
Junior RHP Schuyler Bates earned his first career win in his first start against Cornell (3/29). Bates put together a five-inning, three-strikeout effort, allowing just two hits and two walks and retiring the sides in the third, fourth and fifth innings.
Penn State also prevailed in the starting debuts of RHP Myles Gayman, RHP Cole Bartels and RHP Eric Mock.