May 13, 2018
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State baseball enters its final week of the season, starting with its home finale in Medlar Field at Lubrano Park Monday at 6:30 p.m. against St. Bonaventure and a trip to Villanova Tuesday 3 p.m.
Promotions
Monday vs. St. Bonaventure
- Wing Monday
Essentials
Live Video: GoPSUsports.com (Mon.), Villanova.com (Tues.)
Live Audio: GoPSUsports.com
Live Stats: GoPSUsports.com
TV: N/A
Radio: State College's ESPN Radio 1450
St. Bona Series History: Penn State, 30-5-1
Last Game: W, 15-4 (2005)
Streak: W5
Villanova Series History: Penn State, 34-29
Last Game: W, 11-5 (2017)
Streak: W4
Monday Probables
PSU RHP Eric Mock (1-1, 7.11 ERA)
BONA TBD
Tuesday Probables
PSU TBD
NOVA TBD
Finishing on a High Note
Penn State has won four of its last seven games.
Penn State won consecutive three-game series (Michigan State; Xavier) for the first time since early in the 2017 season against Pacific and Sacramento State.
Penn State's four wins in the month of May already match its season high for wins in a month after also winning four games in April.
Penn State is hitting and pitching well above its season averages over the last 11 games.
The Lions were batting just .218 in their first 33 games, but are hitting at a .274 clip in their last 11 games and batted .293 over the weekend against Xavier.
Penn State's ERA after 33 games was nearly a season-high 6.23, but the Lions' ERA over the last 11 is 3.73, and it was a minuscule 1.33 against Michigan State two weekends ago
Non-Conference Stretch
Penn State is entering the back third of a stretch of six consecutive non-conference games. The stretch opened with a 3-2 loss at Pittsburgh on Tuesday evening.
With an odd number of teams in the Big Ten all teams have their conference schedule broken up with one non-conference weekend series.
The St. Bonaventure game Monday is a make-up game from one postponed due to weather earlier in the season.
Penn State concludes the season in a return to Big Ten play at Iowa.
Staying in the Keystone State
Penn State has been staying close to home recently, as it is 11 games into a stretch of 13-straight within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Penn State is visiting three different regions of the state. The Nittany Lions took on Lafayette in Allentown (Apr. 25) and played Pittsburgh (May 8). They will visit the Philadelphia area at Villanova (Plymouth Meeting, Pa.) on Tuesday, May 15.
Penn State is visiting the Philly area for the first time since May 13, 2014, which was also at Villanova.
Penn State is also seven games into a stretch of 12 games in 15 days to finish the regular season. The last three games are at Iowa.
Nittany Lion Cubs Lead Penn State Past Xavier
Penn State's freshmen led the team to two wins over Xavier.
On the mound in the two victories, Penn State used seven pitchers, of which six were freshmen who pitched 15 2/3 out of 16 possible innings pitched.
Thursday, senior Jake Pilewicz was the lone veteran to pitch, but it was for just one out. RHP Kyle Virbitsky earned his first career win with a scoreless eighth and RHP Mason Mellott picked up his fourth save of the season. RHP Bailey Dees made his third start of the season and went a career-high 4 1/3 innings, striking out a career-high nine but allowing four runs on three hits and two walks. RHP Conor Larkin got the Lions out of a jam in the fifth and pitched into the seventh, and playing matchups LHP Jeff Taylor got the final out of the seventh.
In the second game of a doubleheader Friday, LHP Dante Biasi threw a seven-inning complete game, allowing just an unearned run on three hits and four walks with three strikeouts.
At the plate in the two wins, freshmen Parker Hendershot, Tommy Gibson, Curtis Robison and Derek Orndorff combined to bat .500 with nine of the 21 hits, five of nine extra base hits, nine of 19 RBIs and 12 of the 19 runs scored.
Thursday, Hendershot drove in a career-high four runs and broke a deadlocked game in the eighth inning with his first career home run. Led by Hendershot, the Nittany Lion freshmen drove in five of the six runs. Hendershot and Robison accounted for half of Penn State's eight hits, as they both posted two each.
In the second game of a doubleheader Friday, Gibson reached base four times and scored all four times, going a career-high 3-for-3 with a double and RBI.
Biasi Complete
In the series finale against Xavier, freshman LHP Dante Biasi threw Penn State's first complete game win (7.0 IP) since Greg Welsh did the same on May 17, 2013 against Michigan State.
It was Penn State's first complete game overall since current junior RHP Justin Hagenman went the distance (8.0 IP) in a loss at Indiana on May 13, 2017.
Biasi's complete game was the first for Penn State this season. Two were thrown last season, as in addition to Hagenman's, Dante's older brother Sal Biasi threw a complete game against Maryland (8.1 IP).
Biasi is the first Penn State freshman to throw a complete game since Sean Stidfole went nine innings in a complete game win over Ohio State on April 6, 2003. It was Stidfole's first career start.
Biasi has been Penn State's most dominant pitcher the past three weekends, going 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA in 20.0 innings pitched. He has allowed just three runs (two earned) on 10 hits and 10 walks with 12 strikeouts.
Hendershot Heating Up at the Dish
Freshman Parker Hendershot has been Penn State's hottest hitter over the last 17 games, making 15 starts and 16 appearances.
Over the last 17, Hendershot is batting a team-best .357 (20-for-56), 40 points higher than the next highest average on the team (Jordan Bowersox, .317). Hendershot's 20 hits over the stretch are tied with Bowersox.
Hendershot's 18 RBIs are more than double the next highest figures (Bowersox and Braxton Giavedoni, 9).
Despite just making 25 starts and 30 appearances in 44 games, Hendershot is tied for third on the team with 21 RBIs and tied for the team lead in multi-RBI games with seven (Ryan Sloniger).
Hendershot's .456 on-base percentage over the last 17 games is 67 points higher than the next highest total (Sloniger, .389). Hendershot also has a team-best 10 walks.
Hendershot hit his first career home run in the Xavier series opener. It came in the bottom of the eighth inning and gave Penn State a 6-5 win.
Heating Up at the Plate
Three Nittany Lions are batting over .300 over the last 11 games.
Ironically, the leader of the trio just crossed the infamous Medoza line for the season. Conlin Hughes reached base nine of his last 10 games, going 12-for-33 (.364) with four doubles and four RBIs. A .255 hitter as a sophomore, Hughes was batting just .136 until the recent hot streak started, raising his average 66 points.
Jordan Bowersox is Penn State's hottest hitter over the last five games, going 6-for-14 (.429) with two runs, a double, triple and RBI in four games. He is also batting .333 (13-for-39) over the last 11 with two doubles, two triples, seven RBIs and nine runs.
Catcher Ryan Sloniger has gone 10-for-31 (.323) with two home runs, two doubles, nine runs scored and four RBIs in 10 games. He also has five walks and was plunked once for a .538 on-base percentage.
Freshman Parker Hendershot has driven in a team-high 11 RBIs over the last 11 games.
Penn State has scored five or more runs in 11 of its last 16 games for an average of 6.1 runs per game. Penn State was averaging 3.6 runs per game in the first 28 games of the season.
Freshmen On the Mound
Freshmen have pitched 171 1/3 of the 381 2/3 innings pitched (45 percent) for Penn State this season and started 18 of 44 games (41 percent) this season.
Two of Penn State's starters in the Xavier series were freshman, led by RHP Bailey Dees making his third career start Thursday and Dante Biasi making his 13th Friday.
Dees and Biasi are two of four freshmen to draw starts on the mound along with Conor Larkin (2) and Jeff Taylor (1).
Biasi has been a regular in the weekend rotation and ranks second on the team with 57.0 innings pitched.
Freshman RHP Mason Mellott leads the team with four saves. His four saves are the most by a Penn State freshman since Ryan Ignas saved five games in 2009.
Tight Games
An NCAA-leading (courtesy Chris Rash, Elon) 41 percent of Penn State's games this season (18 of 44) have been decided by one run, with Penn State going 5-13 in those 18 games.
Penn State's 18 one-run games are its most since playing in a program-record 19 one-run games in 2006.
Penn State's 13 one-run losses are its most in program history, surpassing the record of 12 set in 2006.
Five of Penn State's 13 wins have been by one run, and seven have been decided by two runs or less.
Twenty-two of Penn State's 44 games played this season have been decided by two runs or less. Penn State is 8-14 in those games.