UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State returns to the Hoosier State for the second time in as many weeks, this time visiting Indiana for a three-game Big Ten baseball series opening Friday at 6:05 p.m. at Bart Kaufman Field. The series continues Saturday at 2:05 p.m. and concludes Sunday starting at 1:05 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: Penn State, 41-39
Last Series: Indiana, 2-1, 2017
Streak: L3
Friday Probables
IU RHP Pauly Milto (4-2, 2.36 ERA)
PSU LHP Dante Biasi (2-3, 2.03 ERA)
Saturday Probables
IU RHP Tanner Gordon (3-3, 3.49 ERA)
PSU RHP Bailey Dees (2-1, 4.41 ERA)
Sunday Probables
IU LHP Andrew Saalfrank (2-1, 2.70 ERA)
PSU RHP Eric Mock (2-1, 2.48 ERA)
Sit Down
Penn State is averaging 10.3 strikeouts per nine innings to lead the Big Ten and rank 12th in the nation.
Penn State has struck out nine or more batters in 19 out of 24 games this season and has struck out 10 in each of its last two games.
Dante Biasi leads the Big Ten with 57 strikeouts and 12.83 strikeouts per nine innings and ranks 20th and 21st, respectively, in the categories nationally.
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.
Pitching Prowess
Penn State ranks among the Big Ten leaders in pitching with a WHIP of 1.32 (3rd) and hits allowed per nine innings rate of 7.57 (3rd Big Ten, 32nd NCAA).
Penn State's strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.38 ranks third in the the Big Ten, and its 4.30 walks allowed per nine innings ranks sixth.
PSU's 3.85 ERA ranks fourth in the Big Ten and is an improvement over last season's 5.53 ERA for the year.
Penn State's bullpen has seen four different pitchers earn seven saves, led by Mason Mellott (3) and Kyle Virbitsky (2).
Wright State Reunion
For the second time this season, head coach Rob Cooper will face a former Wright State Raider who is now a head coach.
Current Indiana head coach Jeff Mercer played for Cooper at Wright State (2008-09) and was the head coach at Wright State from 2016-18.
Additionally, Indiana pitching coach Justin Parker also played for (2007-08) and coached under (2011-13) Cooper at Wright State.
Mercer took the Wright State job when Greg Lovelady left to take the same position at UCF following the 2015 season.
Penn State played UCF in a three-game series on its spring break trip, taking two of three games.
Lovelady was Cooper's successor following the 2013 season when Cooper took the Penn State job.
Milestones
Senior Jordan Bowersox tallied his team-best 150th career hit 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 three games played shy of 150, while Sloniger is six games shy. Fellow senior Conlin Hughes leads the team with 167 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 two wins shy of 400 for his career.
All-Time vs. Indiana
Penn State leads Indiana, 41-39, in the overall series. The teams
are meeting for the first time since 2017, which was also in Bloomington. Penn State won the series opener in 2017, led by Sal Biasi, the older brother of current pitcher Dante Biasi. The all-time series dates back to 1992.
Scouting Indiana
Indiana is 17-11 this season and 5-1 in Big Ten play. The Hoosiers swept Iowa in their first conference series and responded to a shutout in their opener with Maryland by scoring 39 runs in two wins to close it out. Indiana leads the country with 55 home runs. Cole Barr (11), Matt Lloyd (9) and Matt Gorski (8) rank 1-2-3 in the Big Ten in the category. Indiana is also strong on the mound with a 3.68 earned run average. Pauly Milto leads the staff with a 2.36 ERA and is fourth in the Big Ten with 50 strikeouts.
Good Start
Penn State's 15-9 start is its best since starting the 2011 season 16-8.
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.
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 (.494) and Kremer (.477) also lead the team in slugging.
Homer leads the team with 12 extra-base hits (8 doubles, 1 triple, 3 home runs), while Kremer is second with nine extra-base hits (5 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs).
The Train is Chugging
LHP Dante Biasi leads the Big Ten and is 20th in the NCAA with 57 strikeouts, and his 12.83 strikeouts per nine innings leads the Big Ten and ranks 21st 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 six out of seven starts this season.
Biasi boasts a 2.03 ERA that ranks seventh in the Big Ten.
Mellott Leads the 'Pen
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 matching 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 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.
