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.
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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