UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State welcomes a pair of regional foes for midweek baseball contests, hosting Bucknell Tuesday and St. Bonaventure Wednesday at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. First pitch for both games is 6:30 p.m.
Promotions
Tuesday
- Triple Play Packages available: Includes 1 ticket, 1 hotdog and 1 soda. Available in advance and at the gates.
Wednesday
- Wing Wednesday
Essentials
Live Video: BTN Plus
Live Audio: GoPSUsports.com
Live Stats: GoPSUsports.com
TV: N/A
Radio: State College's ESPN Radio 1450
Bucknell Series History: Penn State, 129-28-1
Last Series: Penn State, 2-0, 2017
Streak: W6
St. Bonaventure Series History: Penn Staet, 31-5-1
Last Game: Penn State, 10-2, May 14, 2018
Streak: W6
Tuesday Probables
BUCK TBD
PSU RHP Bailey Dees (2-1, 4.68 ERA)
Wednesday Probables
BONA TBD
PSU TBD
Dees Gets Midweek Start
RHP Bailey Dees is starting Tuesday against Bucknell after being the odd man out over the weekend with one game canceled at Purdue.
Dating back to last season, Dees made seven consecutive weekend starts, including the first six weekends this season.
Good Start
Despite a setback over the weekend, Penn State's 14-8 start is its best since starting the 2000 season 16-6.
The losses to Minnesota and Purdue are Penn State's first and only consecutive losses of the season.
Penn State is 6-2 in games decided by one run this season after going 5-13 in one-run games last season.
Sit Down
Penn State is averaging 10.3 strikeouts per nine innings to lead the Big Ten and rank 14th in the nation.
Penn State has struck out nine or more batters in 17 out of 22 games this season.
Dante Biasi and Conor Larkin combined for 17 strikeouts against Minnesota (3/23), marking the most strikeouts in a game for Penn State since at least 2004.
Biasi leads the Big Ten with 57 strikeouts and 12.83 strikeouts per nine innings and ranks 20th and 24th, respectively, in the categories nationally.
Pitching Prowess
Penn State ranks among the national and Big Ten leaders in pitching with a WHIP of 1.24 (2nd Big Ten, 27th NCAA) and hits allowed per nine innings rate of 7.12 (2nd Big Ten, 17th NCAA).
Penn State's strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.56 ranks second in the the Big Ten, and its 4.01 walks allowed per nine innings ranks fourth.
Penn State's 3.48 ERA ranks fourth in the Big Ten and is a big improvement over last season's 5.45 ERA through the first 20 games.
Penn State's bullpen has seen four different pitchers earn seven saves, led by Mason Mellott (3) and Kyle Virbitsky (2).
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 (24) and Sloniger (23) are approaching 25 career doubles.
Bowersox is five games played shy of 150, while Sloniger is seven games shy. Fellow senior Conlin Hughes leads the team with 166 games played.
Sophomore Dante Biasi surpassed 100 career strikeouts with his 12-strikeout effort against Minnesota and now has 108. Of those 108 career strikeouts in 102.1 career innings pitched and 20 starts, 25 of them came in back-to-back starts against UMass Lowell (3/15) and Minnesota (3/23) (13.0 IP).
Redshirt junior Eric Mock is Penn State's career leader for strikeouts with 114. He surpassed 100 with a six-strikeout effort against No. 21 Duke on Mar. 3.
Head coach Rob Cooper is three wins shy of 400 for his career.
All-Time vs. Bucknell
Penn State holds the advantage in the all-time series with Bucknell, its most familiar foe, 129-28-1. Penn State has won 27 of the last 29 matchups, and has won 23 straight games at home. The teams were scheduled to play twice last season, but weather canceled both games, snapping a 31-year streak of annual meetings. The all-time series dates back to 1882.
Scouting Bucknell
Bucknell is 8-20 this season with a 3-8 mark in Patriot League play, but has won four out of its last seven games. The Bison are aggressive on the bases with 38 stolen to ranks 64th in the NCAA. Caleb Broughton leads Bucknell with a .320 batting average and ranks as the 15th toughest to strike out in the nation with just five K's in 75 at-bats.
All-Time vs. St. Bonaventure
Penn State and St. Bonaventure are meeting for the 38th time and second time in two seasons after last meeting in 2005. Penn State currently leads the all-time series 31-5-1. The Nittany Lions hope to improve on their 11-game home unbeaten streak in the series. The teams met annually from 1983 to 1991, with the exception of 1984, when Penn State was a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference with St. Bonventure.
Scouting St. Bonaventure
The Bonnies are 5-12 this season with a 3-3 mark in Atlantic 10 play, but won three out of their four games entering the week, prior to traveling to Cornell Tuesday. St. Bonaventure has a propensity for extra base hits, as it ranks 67th in the NCAA with 1.94 doubles per game and fifth with 0.59 triples per game. Tyler Kelder ranks fifth in the NCAA with 0.53 doubles per game, while Sam Fuller leads the country with 0.33 triples per game and ranks fifth with five total triples. Fuller leads the team with a .349 batting average, while Kelder follows with a .342 average and has a team-best four home runs and 18 RBIs.
Low ERAs
Both Mason Mellott and Dante Biasi currently boast season ERAs that rank among the top 10 all-time at Penn State for a minimum of 25 innings pitched.
Mellott's 1.27 ERA ranks sixth, while Biasi's ranks ninth.
In the Big Ten, the figures rank second and seventh, respectively. Mellott's ERA also ranks 28th nationally.
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.
Homer (.507) and Kremer (.494) also lead the team in slugging.
Homer leads the team with 11 extra-base hits (7 doubles, 1 triple, 3 home runs), while Kremer is second with nine hits (4 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs).
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 14 wins.
Mellott leads the team with a 1.27 ERA that ranks second in the Big Ten and 28th in the NCAA.
Mellott is second on the team in innings pitched with 35.1 and leads the team with 11 appearances.
Mellott's three saves this season are one shy of his season total from 2018.
Mellott's four wins rank third in the Big Ten. 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 week just one win 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.