April 9, 2018
| |||||||||||||||||||
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - A pair of regional foes will meet on one of the finest stages in all of baseball, as Penn State and West Virginia face each other in PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, for a second consecutive season Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
Essentials
Live Video: GoPSUsports.com (Wed.)
Live Audio: GoPSUsports.com
Live Stats: GoPSUSports.com
TV: N/A
Radio: State College's ESPN Radio 1450
West Virgina Series History: 71-41
Last Series: Split, 1-1 (2017)
Streak: L1
Tuesday Probables
PSU RHP Eric Mock (0-0, 5.40 ERA)
WVU LHP Jackson Wolf (1-0, 3.09 ERA)
Tickets
Click Here
Return to PNC Park
Penn State and West Virginia will play against each other at PNC Park for the second time in as many years. The initial meeting last season arose after a game scheduled at Penn State's Medlar Field at Lubrano Park was postponed due to weather. The teams rescheduled the game for the day after they met at West Virginia.
This season's game was part of the original schedule for both teams. The Nittany Lions will be the visiting team this year, but will be yielding little in the way of home field advantage, as Medlar Field shares the same field dimensions as PNC Park.
It will be Penn State's second time playing at PNC Park. The 2017 game at PNC Park marked the first time Penn State had played in a Major League ballpark since May 5, 2012 when it played Minnesota at Target Field, home of the Minnesota Twins. The three-game series also included two games in the Twins' former home, the Metrodome.
Penn State is seeking its first win in PNC Park. West Virginia hung on for a 4-2 win in last season's game. Penn State had defeated the Mountaineers in Morgantown the day prior, 6-5.
Check Your Calendar
A game against Binghamton, originally scheduled for Tuesday, March 27, was postponed due to inclement weather to Wednesday, April 11, but that game has been postponed again.
Penn State has had to postpone six games due to weather, as games against Mount. St. Mary's (Apr. 17) and St. Bonaventure (May 14) have also been rescheduled, while make-up dates to host Pitt, Bucknell and West Virginia are to be determined.
Penn State has not had the worst weather though this spring. It's series at Minnesota this past weekend had to be moved to Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind. due to continuing winter weather in Minneapolis.
Mock to Make First Start of the Season
RHP Eric Mock is scheduled to make his first start of the season after making eight appearances out of the bullpen to start the year.
Mock has a 5.40 ERA, three saves and 19 strikeouts in 15.0 innings pitched this season.
In 2017, Mock made eight starts, including six in Big Ten games.
All-Time vs. West Virginia
The Nittany Lions and Mountaineers will face each other on the diamond for the 113th time. Penn State holds a 30-game advantage in the all-time series with a record of 71-41 and has won nine of the last 12 games. The Nittany Lions are just 1-3 when meeting the Mountaineers at neutral sites. This year marks the sixth season out of the last seven and the fifth consecutive in which the teams have met.
Scouting West Virginia
West Virginia is 13-15 overall and 1-5 in the Big 12, with its lone conference win coming at No. 7 Texas Tech. According to D1Baseball.com, the Mountaineers have played the strongest schedule in the country so far this season with 16 games coming against RPI Top 50 teams. WVU is 5-13 against RPI Top 50 teams and 8-4 against the rest. Braden Zarbnisky leads the team with a .293 batting average and is adept at getting on base ranking third in the Big 12 with 0.81 walks per game. Zarbinsky is also a threat once on base with 11 steals to rank sixth in the Big 12. Darius Hill ranks third in the Big 12 and 37th in the NCAA with 12 doubles. Additionally, Kevin Brophy has a team-best six home runs and 14 RBIs. The Mountaineers have totaled 28 home runs as a team to rank second in the Big 12. Probable starter LHP Jackson Wolf is making his second career start and has a 3.09 ERA and 11 strikeouts in seven appearances and 11 2/3 innings pitched.
Tight Games
Nearly half of Penn State's games this season (11 of 25) have been decided by one run, with Penn State going 4-7 in those 11 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 seven wins have been by one run, and all (six) but one have been decided by two runs or less. RHPs Eric Mock and Mason Mellott have three saves each.
Fourteen of Penn State's 25 games played this season have been decided by two runs or less. Penn State is 6-8 in those games.
The last four games between Penn State and West Virginia have been decided by two runs or less, with Penn State going 3-1 in those games.
At West Virginia last season, Mountain State native and then-freshman Logan Goodnight hit a three-run home run in the second inning and the Nittany Lions manufactured the game-winning run in the top of the ninth without getting a hit to defeat West Virginia, 6-5. WVU prevailed the next day at PNC Park, 4-2.
Slugging Sloniger
Catcher Ryan Sloniger had a hit in the first 17 of 19 games this season and leads the team with a .274 batting average. He has started all but one game this behind the plate this season, including the first 18.
Sloniger's three home runs, seven doubles and 19 RBIs surpass his 2017 totals of one home run, four doubles and seven RBIs. He had two career home runs, 10 doubles and 24 RBIs in 78 games played over his first two seasons.
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.
Increasing Power
Redshirt sophomore infielder Connor Klemann leads the team with four home runs and junior catcher Ryan Sloniger and sophomore outfielder Braxton Giavedoni have three each. Sloniger had two home runs in his first two seasons and Klemann had not hit a home run prior to this season. Giavedoni's three home runs this season match his total for all of last season.
Penn State has 13 homers this season hit by six different players.
Mason Nadeau is the latest to homer, hitting a solo shot against Minnesota.
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 a .274 average and 19 RBIs, while Giavedoni is fourth on the team batting .250.
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.
Freshman Free Pass
Freshman Curtis Robison has a team-best 16 walks on the season, and his 0.76 walks per game rank fourth the Big Ten.
Robison had the team's longest reached base streak of the season at 12 games. It ended when he failed to reach base in the series finale against Minnesota Sunday.
Robison extended the streak to 12 games Saturday when he broke up a no-hitter with a double in the eighth inning.
It was a somewhat bizarre 12-game reached base streak though, as Robison went hitless in seven of the 12 games.
Robison's on-base percentage of .321 ranks fourth on the team.
Ironmen
Penn State has four position players who have started and played in all 25 games this season: Ryan Sloniger, Connor Klemann, Braxton Giavedoni and Jordan Bowersox.
Conlin Hughes and Mason Nadeau have appeared in all but one.
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 nine 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 debut in Game 10, the series opener at Grand Canyon. He was perfect in two innings, striking out two.
Dees made his first career start on the mound against Cornell. Orndorff also made his first start at catcher.
Taylor made his first career start against Minnesota.