March 22, 2018
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State begins Big Ten baseball play at Rutgers, opening a three-game series Friday at 2 p.m. on Bainton Field. The series continues Saturday and Sunday starting at 1 p.m. both days.
Friday's game was originally schduled to begin at 3 p.m., but the start time was moved up one hour.
Essentials
Live Video: BTN Plus
Live Audio: ScarletKnights.com
Live Stats: ScarletKnights.com
TV: N/A
Radio: N/A
Rutgers Series History: 41-29
Last Series: Rutgers, 2-1
Streak: W1
Friday Probables
PSU RHP Justin Hagenman (2-1, 3.21 ERA)
RU RHP John O'Reilly (1-1, 6.23 ERA)
Saturday Probables
PSU LHP Taylor Lehman (2-1, 3.66 ERA)
RU LHP Harry Rutkowski (2-0, 5.68 ERA)
Sunday Probables
PSU LHP Dante Biasi (0-2, 6.14 ERA)
RU LHP Eric Heatter (1-0, 2.35 ERA)
Midweek Weather
Penn State has been unable to get in any of its three midweek games so far this season due to inclement weather.
A contest against Mount. St. Mary's was postponed to April 17, while make-up dates to host Pitt and Bucknell are to be determined.
Tight Games
Eight of Penn State's first 13 games were decided by one run, with Penn State going 4-4 in those eight games.
Seven of Penn State's 55 games played last season were decided by one run, with Penn State going 4-3 in those games. Penn State went 7-5 in 12 one-run games in 2016.
Four of Penn State's six wins have been by one run, and all have been decided by two runs or less. RHPs Eric Mock and Mason Mellott have three saves each.
Eleven of Penn State's 15 games played this season have been decided by two runs or less. Penn State is 6-5 in those games.
Increasing Power
Penn State has totaled 10 home runs this season, ranking fifth in the Big Ten with 0.67 per game.
Junior catcher Ryan Sloniger and redshirt sophomore infielder Connor Klemann lead the team with three home runs each. Sloniger had two home runs in his first two seasons and Klemann had not hit a home run prior to this season.
All-Time vs. Rutgers
Penn State leads the all-time series against Rutgers 41-29, but trails slightly on the road at 14-16. The Nittany Lions and Scarlet Knights have a unique history from the Atlantic 10 to the NCAA tournament. The series started in 1939 with a Penn State victory in Happy Valley, and the Lions returned the visit in 1940 and claimed another victory. The teams did not meet
again until 1949, but played nearly annually from then on until 1991. Both teams were members together in the Atlantic 10 Conference from 1984 to 1991, as Penn State departed for the Big Ten in 1992. The two teams did not meet again until Rutgers hosted an NCAA Regional in 2000 in Yogi Berra Stadium in Upper Montclair, N.J. The Nittany Lions won the regional to advance to the Super Regional. The teams did not meet again until a four-game series at Florida Atlantic in 2009. Until Rutgers played at Penn State last season in its first season in the Big Ten, neither team had visited the other's campus since Penn State visited Piscataway in 1987. Penn State has won seven out of the last 10 games. The Knights won 12 out of 13 games from 1981 to 1991. The teams are meeting for the first time since 2016, when Penn State lost the road series going 1-2.
Scouting Rutgers
Rutgers is 11-7 and also opening Big Ten play against Penn State. The Scarlet Knights are coming off a spring break trip on which they went 6-1, winning five-straight against Army (3), FIU and then-No. 27 Florida Gulf Coast (2). Rutgers opened the season with a three-game series at then-No. 9 Miami winning the series finale, and then losing to then-No. 17 Indiana, 7-6. Rutgers leads the Big Ten in scoring, averaging 7.5 runs per game. Kyle Walker paces the Knights at the plate with a .417 batting average that ranks second in the Big Ten and 31st in the NCAA, while Sunday LHP Eric Heatter is seventh in the Big Ten with a 2.35 ERA and tops with a 7.67 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 1.17 WHIP.
Slugging Sloniger
Catcher Ryan Sloniger has a hit in 14 of 15 games this season and is riding a five-game hitting streak.
Sloniger opened the season on a nine-game hitting streak. It was the longest hitting streak to start a season since Jim Haley tallied at least one hit in the first 10 games of 2016.
Sloniger's three home runs and 17 RBIs surpass his 2017 totals of one home run and seven RBIs. He had two career home runs and 24 RBIs in 78 games played over his first two seasons.
Sloniger's 1.13 RBIs per game rank fifth in the Big Ten.
Sloniger has started all 15 games behind the plate this season.
California Cool
Oakley, California, native Shea Sbranti proved that temperature is just a number in his Medlar Field at Lubrano Park debut.
Playing both ends of a doubleheader in the first home game for the junior transfer, Sbranti went 3-for-6 with a triple, a team-best three RBIs and two walks.
Pride of Punxsutawney
Childhood friends and teammates, Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania natives Ryan Sloniger and Braxton Giavedoni are among the team leaders at the plate. Sloniger leads the team with 17 RBIs, while Giavedoni is batting a team-best .290.
The pair have been teammates for the majority of their careers from youth baseball to high school to Penn State, with both of their dads serving as Little League coaches.
Sloniger on Johnny Bench Watch List
Catcher Ryan Sloniger was named as a nominee for the Johnny Bench Award, presented by BaseballSavings.com, which goes to the top catcher in Division I baseball.
The watch list will be narrowed down to the semifinalists, whom will be announced May 16, 2018. Ballots will be sent to the national voting panel at the end of May for a vote to determine the three finalists. The finalists will be announced June 4, 2018. A final vote among the national committee will occur during the College World Series. All finalists will be brought to Wichita and the winner will be announced at the 21st Annual Greater Wichita Sports Banquet on June 28, 2018.
While Bench is remembered for his offense, he may have had the greatest impact behind the plate. He was the first receiver to use a protective helmet in the field, popularized catching one-handed and kept his throwing hand behind his back to protect it from foul tips.
Debuts
With 14 newcomers on the team, many fresh faces have seen action for the Nittany Lions.
A total of 13 of the 14 newcomers have seen action with eight earning starts.
Junior college transfer Shea Sbranti (1B) and freshman Curtis Robison (DH) were Opening Day starters for Penn State.
Freshman Mac Hippenhammer debuted as a pinch runner on Opening Day (at Elon), and then was replaced in the field by classmate Tommy Gibson.
Freshman Derek Orndorff debuted as a pinch hitter in the Lions' second game of the season (at Elon). Freshman relief pitchers Conor Larkin and Mason Mellott also debuted, with Mellott debuting in the ninth and earning his first career save.
Orndorff (1B) and Gibson (SS) made their first career starts in the third game of the season (at Elon). Redshirt freshman Dante Biasi started on the mound in his first collegiate action, and he carried a no-hitter into the fifth.
Larkin made his first start in Penn State's fifth game of the season (vs. Monmouth).
Freshmen Kris Kremer and Parker Hendershot made their debuts off the bench in the sixth game of the season (vs. No. 23 St. John's). Hendershot went 2-for-2 at the plate with two runs scored. Pitchers Kyle Virbitsky and Bailey Dees debuted in relief.
Hippenhammer made his first career start (CF) in the eighth game of the year (at UCSB).
Hendershot made his first career start in the series finale at UCSB (Game 9). He went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.
LHP Jeff Taylor made his collegiate debute in Game 10, the series opener at Grand Canyon. He was perfect in two innings, striking out two.