Baseball Hosts Binghamton TuesdayBaseball Hosts Binghamton Tuesday
Mark Selders/Penn State Athletics

Baseball Hosts Binghamton Tuesday

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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State concludes a seven-game homestand with a Tuesday evening non-conference baseball game against Binghamton starting at 6:30 p.m.

Essentials
Live Video:    BTN Plus
Live Audio:    GoPSUsports.com
Live Stats:    GoPSUsports.com
TV:    N/A
Radio:    State College's ESPN Radio 1450

Series History:    First Meeting
Last Game:    L, 3-6, Apr. 10, 2017
Streak:    L1

Tuesday Probables
BING    RHP Luke Dziados (0-1, 4.15 ERA)
PSU    RHP Cole Bartels (0-0, 10.80 ERA)


Promotions

  • Triple Play Packages available: Includes 1 ticket, 1 hotdog and 1 soda. Available in advance and at the gates.

Good Start

  • Despite a setback over the weekend, Penn State's 13-6 start is its best since starting with the same record in 2000. 
  • The losses to Minnesota were Penn State's first consecutive losses of the season.
  • Penn State is 6-0 in games decided by one run this season after going 5-13 in one-run games last season.


Pitching Prowess

  • Penn State ranks among the national and Big Ten leaders in pitching with a WHIP of 1.21 (2nd Big Ten, 24th NCAA) and hits allowed per nine innings rate of 7.08 (1st Big Ten, 15th NCAA).
  • Penn State's strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.71 leads the Big Ten, and its 3.80 walks allowed per nine innings ranks fourth.
  • Penn State's 3.69 ERA ranks fourth in the Big Ten and is a big improvement over last season's 5.52 ERA through the first 19 games.
  • Penn State's bullpen has seen four different pitchers earn seven saves, led by Mason Mellott (3) and Kyle Virbitsky (2).
  • Dante Biasi and Conor Larkin combined for 17 strikeouts against Minnesota Saturday, marking the most strikeouts in a game for Penn State since at least 2004.


Sloniger Heating Up

  • Senior catcher Ryan Sloniger has been Penn State's hottest hitter over the last 10 games, playing in seven.
  • Sloniger has hit at a .346 clip (9-of-26) with a team-best two home runs. He also leads the team over the stretch with a .433 on-base percentage and .577 slugging percentage.
  • Sloniger has homered in each of the last two weekends, with one against UMass Lowell and one against Minnesota.


Milestones

  • Senior Jordan Bowersox tallied his team-best 150th career hit Sunday against Minnesota.
  • Senior Ryan Sloniger is one home run shy of 10 for his career.
  • Both Bowersox and Sloniger are two doubles shy of 25 for their respective careers.
  • Bowersox is eight games played shy of 150, while Sloniger is 10 games shy. Fellow senior Conlin Hughes leads the team with 163 games played.
  • Sophomore Dante Biasi surpassed 100 career strikeouts with his 12-strikeout effort against Minnesota and now has 102. Of those 102 career strikeouts in 96.1 career innings pitched and 19 starts,  25 of them have come in his last two starts (13.0 IP).
  • Redshirt junior Eric Mock is Penn State's career leader for strikeouts with 107. He surpassed 100 with a six-strikeout effort against No. 21 Duke on Mar. 3.
  • Head coach Rob Cooper is four wins shy of 400 for his career.


Reaching Base

  • Junior college transfer Jacob Padilla owns the team's longest reached base streak, reaching in all 12 games he's played this season.
  • Kris Kremer owns the team's second-longest reached base streak at eight games.


Mellott Earning A Lot of Decisions

  • Sophomore Mason Mellott has emerged as Penn State's relief ace. He is 4-1 and has three saves, factoring in on seven of Penn State's 13 wins.
  • Mellott leads the team with a 1.52 ERA that ranks third in the Big Ten.
  • Mellott is third on the team in innings pitched with 29.2 and leads with nine appearances.
  • Mellott's three saves this season are one shy of his season total from 2018.
  • Mellott's four wins rank second in the Big Ten and 29th in the NCAA. They are the most by a Penn State reliever since Nick Distasio and Dakota Forsyth both won four games each in 2017.
  • In part by virtue of Penn State entering the game just two wins shy of last season's total, Mellott's four wins are the most by a Penn State pitcher since Sal Biasi won five games in 2017.
  • Mellott's seven career saves rank tied for ninth all-time at Penn State with Dave Walking (2011-13) and Scott Russo (1998-2000). Next on the list are Kevin Damiano (2000-03) and Josh Palm (2002-05) tied for seventh with eight.


The Smallest Swinging the Biggest Bats

  • Gavin Homer is Penn State's shortest player at 5-9 and Kris Kremer is the lightest at 166 pounds, but both lead the team with three home runs each. 
  • Kremer is slugging a team-best (.536) and leads the team with seven extra-base hits (4 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs).
  • Homer is second with eight extra base hits (team-high 5 doubles and 3 home runs). He is the only player on the team with more extra-base hits (8) than singles (7).


The Train is Chugging

  • LHP Dante Biasi ranks second in the Big Ten and 18th in the NCAA with 51 strikeouts, and his 13.50 strikeouts per nine innings leads the Big Ten and ranks 15th in the country.
  • Biasi's 13 strikeouts against UMass Lowell (3/15) were the most strikeouts by a Penn State pitcher since Alan Stidfole stuck out 13 against Northwestern on April 10, 2005.
  • Biasi followed that performance with 12 strikeouts against Minnesota, becoming the first Penn State pitcher to strikeout 10 or more batters in back-to-back appearances since at least 2004.
  • Biasi's 25 strikeouts in consecutive appearances are the most by a Penn State pitcher since at least 2004. 
  • Biasi has held opponents to one earned run or less in five out of six starts this season.