Biasi Named All-Big TenBiasi Named All-Big Ten

Biasi Named All-Big Ten

May 23, 2017

ROSEMONT, Ill. - A pair from Penn State received Big Ten baseball honors, as junior pitcher Sal Biasi (Hazle Township, Pa.) was named to the All Big-Ten second team and senior catcher Alex Malinsky (Apex, N.C.) was named as a Sportsmanship Award honoree. The selections, made by the league's head coaches, were announced Tuesday morning by the conference office.

It is Biasi's first postseason honor and he is the first Nittany Lion starting pitcher to earn All-Big Ten recognition since Joe Kurrasch in 2012, while Malinsky earned the Sportsmanship Award for a second consecutive season.

Biasi proved to be a reliable Friday night starter for Penn State, enjoying a career year with a 3.48 ERA in 14 starts and 72 1/3 innings pitched, and totaling 88 strikeouts - the most by a Nittany Lion pitcher since 2009 and tied for the ninth-most in a single-season all-time at Penn State. He proved to be one of the most difficult pitchers in the conference to make contact against, as his 5.85 hits allowed per nine innings ranked second in the Big Ten and 21st in the NCAA, and his 10.95 strikeouts per nine innings also ranked second in the conference and were 41st in the country.

Biasi allowed more than three earned runs only once all season, doing so at nationally-ranked Michigan (Mar. 31), but he bounced back the next week against Ohio State (Apr. 8) striking out nine in 6 2/3 innings and not allowing any earned runs. Arguably his best performance of his career came the following week at Maryland (Apr. 14) when he dueled with this season's Big Ten Pitcher of the Year, Brian Shaffer. Biasi pitched a career-high 8 1/3 innings and carried a one-hitter and 1-0 lead into the ninth inning, although the Terrapins were able to spoil the effort in the end. It was not Biasi's last time giving the Nittany Lions a chance against the Big Ten's best, as he also held Minnesota (5/5) without an earned run over five innings, went seven innings allowing just one run at Indiana (5/12), and capped the season with five solid innings against No. 22 Nebraska (5/18), allowing Penn State to win it in the bottom of the ninth.

Biasi is likely to hear his name called during the 2017 MLB Draft, June 12-14. He entered the season ranked as the 11th-best prospect in the Big Ten according to Baseball America and 18th according to D1Baseball.com.

Malinsky was a leader on-and-off the field for Penn State, appearing in 103 games and starting 69. He owns the team's highest GPA and was recognized as this year's Penn State athletics "True Grit" award for bouncing back after suffering a serious injury in preseason practice. Malinsky had a tendency for the dramatic throughout his career, hitting a walk-off double against Purdue last season, setting career highs with three hits, two doubles and three RBIs in his first start this season after returning from injury against Cornell, and driving in the game-winning runs with a double in the eighth against Villanova in the Lions' final non-conference contest of the season.

Check back to GoPSUSports.com for continued updates on Penn State Baseball. Follow on Twitter at @PennStateBASE and Facebook at Penn State Baseball.

The complete list of All-Big Ten teams and award winners can be found below.

Player of the Year

JAKE ADAMS, Iowa

Pitcher of the Year

Brian Shaffer, Maryland

Freshman of the Year

Tyler Blohm, Maryland

Coach of the Year

Darin Erstad, Nebraska

All-Big Ten First Team

C - Cole McDevitt, Minnesota

1B - JAKE ADAMS, Iowa

2B - Ako Thomas, Michigan

SS - Michael Brdar, Michigan

3B - Drew Lugbauer, Michigan

OF - Jack Yalowitz, Illinois

OF - Marty Costes, Maryland

OF - Joe Hoscheit, Northwestern

DH - Scott Schreiber, Nebraska

UTIL - Jake Meyers, Nebraska

SP - Brian Shaffer, Maryland

SP - Oliver Jaskie, Michigan

SP - Lucas Gilbreath, Minnesota

RP - Jackson Lamb, Michigan

All-Big Ten Second Team

C - Tyler Cropley, Iowa

1B - Pat McInerney, Illinois

2B - Dan Durkin, Michigan State

SS - Mason McCoy, Iowa

3B - Micah Coffey, Minnesota

OF - Logan Sowers, Indiana

OF - Robert Neustrom, Iowa

OF - Brandon Hughes, Michigan State

DH - Chad Roskelly, Michigan State

UTIL - Matt Lloyd, Indiana

SP - Nick Gallagher, Iowa

SP - Alex Troop, Michigan State

SP - Sal Biasi, Penn State

RP - Brian Glowicki, Minnesota

All-Big Ten Third Team

C - Nick Matera, Rutgers

1B - Toby Hanson, Minnesota

2B - Michael Massey, Illinois

SS - Angelo Altavilla, Nebraska

3B - AJ Lee, Maryland

OF - Craig Dedelow, Indiana

OF - Johnny Slater, Michigan

OF - Dominic Canzone, Ohio State

DH - Chris Folinusz, Rutgers

UTIL - Mike Carter, Rutgers

SP - Pauly Milto, Indiana

SP - Jake Hohensee, Nebraska

SP - Gareth Stroh, Purdue

RP - Mac Lozer, Michigan

All-Big Ten Freshman Team

C - Bryce Bonner, Purdue

1B - MATT GORSKI, Indiana

2B - Michael Massey, Illinois

SS - Jeremy Houston, Indiana

3B - LUKE ROSKAM, Nebraska

OF - Bryce Kelley, Michigan State

OF - DOMINIC CANZONE, Ohio State

OF - Skyler Hunter, Purdue

DH - Casey Dodge, Illinois

UTIL - Jordan Kozicky, Minnesota

SP - TYLER BLOHM, Maryland

SP - Hank Christie, Northwestern

SP - Cal Krueger, Indiana

RP - Tommy Henry, Michigan

Sportsmanship Award Honorees

Anthony Drago, Illinois

Tony Butler, Indiana

Corbin Woods, Iowa

Zach Jancarski, Maryland

Michael Brdar, Michigan

Dan Durkin, Michigan State

Matt Stemper, Minnesota

Ben Miller, Nebraska

Cooper Wetherbee, Northwestern

Jalen Washington, Ohio State

Alex Malinsky, Penn State

Hayden Grant, Purdue

Max Herrmann, Rutgers

Unanimous selections in ALL CAPS