UPDATE: Due to rain Sunday, Penn State and Maryland will now play a doubleheader at 2 p.m. Click for details.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State opens the first of two consecutive weekends at home with a three-game Big Ten baseball series against Maryland opening Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. The series continues Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
Be advised Friday, due to the event Movin' On, Park Ave. from Bigler Rd. and University Dr. will be closed 3 p.m.-11.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: Tied, 15-15
Last Series: Maryland, 3-0; 2017
Streak: L4
Friday Probables
UMD RHP Hunter Parsons (7-2, 3.60 ERA)
PSU LHP Dante Biasi (3-3, 1.75 ERA)
Saturday Probables
UMD RHP Zach Thompson (1-4, 5.28 ERA)
PSU RHP Eric Mock (2-2, 3.55 ERA)
Sunday Probables
UMD RHP Trevor LaBonte (1-4, 5.87 ERA)
PSU RHP Bailey Dees (2-1, 4.00 ERA)
Up to Bat
Penn State opens the first of two consecutive weekends at home with a three-game Big Ten baseball series against Maryland opening Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. The series continues Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
Statistical Improvement
Through 36 games, Penn State is well ahead of last season's pace in many areas, most notably totaling 18 wins as opposed to starting 2018 with just nine wins.
Penn State has four wins against RPI Top-100 teams this season after having none last year.
Penn State has been more competitive overall in close games, going 8-7 in one-run games after starting 2018 4-12 in one-run contests.
Penn State has maintained its late leads this season, going 11-3 when leading after the sixth inning and posting undefeated marks when leading after the seventh and eighth innings. At the same point last season, Penn State had dropped seven games when leading after six innings.
Penn State has done a better job of rebounding so far this season, earning three wins when trailing after the sixth inning and two when trailing after the eighth inning. At the same point last season, Penn State did not have any wins when trailing after any inning.
Penn State's pitching has seen a dramatic improvement compared to a year ago, dropping its ERA from 6.03 in the first 36 games of 2018 to 3.83 this season. The unit has allowed 71-less hits, 74-less earned runs and 17-less walks. Strikeouts are up 75 from 94 at this point last year to 369 this year.
Pitching Prowess
Penn State ranks among the Big Ten leaders in pitching with a 3.83 ERA and 1.35 WHIP, which rank fourth and fifth, respectively, in the conference, and 43rd and 58th, respectively, nationally.
Penn State is even better in conference play, posting a 3.09 team ERA in 14 conference games to rank fourth.
Overall, Penn State's 10.3 strikeouts per nine innings leads the Big Ten and ranks eighth nationally.
Penn State's hits allowed per nine innings rate of 7.85 ranks fourth in the Big Ten and 33rd nationally.
Penn State's strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.40 ranks fourth in the Big Ten and 51st nationally, while its 4.30 walks allowed per nine innings ranks sixth in the conference.
Penn State's three shutouts this season are its most since earning three shutouts in 2016.
Penn State is 17-7 when scoring three or more runs this season.
The Train is Chugging
LHP Dante Biasi leads the Big Ten and is 20th in the NCAA with 79 strikeouts, and his 12.55 strikeouts per nine innings also leads the Big Ten and ranks 23rd in the country.
Biasi has held opponents to one earned run or less in eight out of 10 starts this season.
Biasi's 5.24 hits allowed per nine innings leads the Big Ten and ranks 18th in the NCAA.
Biasi's WHIP of 1.04 ranks seventh in the Big Ten.
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.
Close Ones
12 of Penn State's 13 conference losses have been by two runs or less, with seven of those one-run losses.
Penn State is 8-7 in games decided by one run this season after going 5-13 in one-run games last season.
All-Time vs. Maryland
Penn State and Maryland are tied in the all-time series at 15-15. This will be just the third Big Ten series between the teams and the second time Maryland has visited University Park since joining the Big Ten. Penn State and Maryland first faced-off on the diamond in 1919, and the bulk of the meetings between the teams took place from 1960-70 with the Lions going 9-3..
Scouting Maryland
Maryland is 20-21 overall and 6-6 in Big Ten play. The Terps own Big Ten series wins over Illinois and Northwestern and came up short against Indiana and Ohio State. The Terps are the top doubles hitting team in the Big Ten with 87 this season. Taylor Wright (17), Randy Bednar (15) and Maxwell Costes (12) rank first, second and fifth, respectively in the conference, with Wright also ranking 13th nationally. Bednar also ranks second in the Big Ten with 39 RBIs. Friday night starter Hunter Parsons leads the Big Ten and ranks 11th in the NCAA with seven victories on the mound.
Sit Down
Penn State is averaging 10.3 strikeouts per nine innings to lead the Big Ten and rank eighth in the nation.
Penn State has struck out nine or more batters in 29 out of 36 games this season.
Penn State is on record pace for team strikeouts with 369 (434; 2017 - average of 7.89 strikeouts over 55 games).
Dante Biasi leads the Big Ten with 79 strikeouts and ranks second with 12.55 strikeouts per nine innings, which ranks 20th and 23rd, respectively, nationally.
Fellow weekend starters Eric Mock (6th; 10.64) and Bailey Dees (7th; 10.60) also rank among the Big Ten leaders in strikeouts per nine innings.
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.
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.
Biasi's 1.75 ERA ranks seventh and Mellott's 1.94 ERA ranks ninth.
In the Big Ten, the figures rank first and fifth, respectively.
Mellott Leads the 'Pen
Sophomore Mason Mellott has emerged as Penn State's relief ace. He is 4-3 and has five saves, factoring in on nine of Penn State's 18 wins.
Mellott leads the bullpen with a 1.94 ERA that ranks fifth in the Big Ten.
Mellott is second on the team in innings pitched with 51.0 and leads the team with 16 appearances.
Mellott's five saves this season area career high after saving four games as a freshman.
Mellott's four wins are the most by a PSU reliever since Nick Distasio and Dakota Forsyth both won four games each in 2017.
In part by virtue of Penn State surpassing last season's win total, Mellott's four wins are the most by a Penn State pitcher since Sal Biasi won five games in 2017.
Mellott's save against Lafayette was the ninth of his career, tying him with Jeff Emerlich (1993-96) for sixth all-time at Penn State. Next on the list is Ryan Ignas with 10 (2009-11).
Bowersoxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Streak Snapped
Senior Jordan Bowersox had a career-best 16-game hitting streak halted with an 0-for-4 game against Lafayette (4/24).
Bowersox ranks eighth in the Big Ten with a .336 batting average.
Bowersox's streak ranks as the longest hitting streak by a Nittany Lion since Greg Guers had a 16-game hitting streak in 2015, which is part of a six-way tie for the 11th-longest single-season streak in school history and the 14th longest overall.
Bowersox is batted .387 (24-for-62) with four doubles, a triple, nine runs and seven RBIs. He also had nine walks for a .458 on-base percentage.
The streak started Mar. 26 against Binghamton.
He had six multi-hit games during the streak, tallying two hits against Bucknell (4/2), Indiana (4/5), Nebraska (4/12) and Illinois (4/21), and three against Youngstown State (4/9) and Nebraska (4/13).
