UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State baseball will play three different opponents in Annapolis and Baltimore over the weekend, starting at Navy Friday at 4 p.m. The Nittany Lions will then visit UMBC Saturday at 3 p.m. before returning to the Naval Academy to face Fairleigh Dickinson Sunday at noon.
Penn State is riding a six-game winning streak and is coming off a four-game sweep of Princeton. At 9-2, the Nittany Lions are off to their best start since 1980.
The Lions will face a strong Navy team that has been unstoppable after dropping its season opener, winning its last nine to build a 9-1 start. Friday afternoon's game will feature strong starters on the mound as RHP Bailey Dees boasts a 1.02 ERA for Penn State, while Navy RHP Charlie Connolly boasts a 0.93 ERA to start the season.
UMBC is off to a 1-8 start, while Fairleigh Dickinson is 2-6.
The Nittany Lions are scheduled to play six games over spring break – next visiting Miami (Ohio) - before opening at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park on Wednesday, Mar. 18 at 4 p.m. against Binghamton. The Lions then open Big Ten play that weekend at Northwestern.
Essentials
Live Video: PatriotLeague.TV (Friday)/UMBCRetrievers.com (Saturday)
Live Audio: N/A
Live Stats: GoPSUsports.com
TV: N/A
Radio: N/A
Friday Probables
NAVY RHP Charlie Connolly (1-0, 0.93 ERA)
PSU RHP Bailey Dees (1-1, 1.02 ERA)
Saturday Probables
UMBC RHP Joe Nestel (0-1, 5.23 ERA)
PSU RHP Kyle Virbitsky (1-1, 4.50 ERA)
Sunday Probables
FDU TBA
PSU RHP Conor Larkin (1-0, 1.84 ERA)
All-Time vs. Navy
- Penn State trails Navy in the all-time series against Navy, 33-34-1. The Nittany Lions have not played Navy since a 2002 series, but has won two straight.
- The majority of the games have been played at Navy with the longest stretch being from 1933-1955 where Penn State played 18 straight road games.
All-Time vs. UMBC
- Penn State and UMBC are meeting for just the second time all-time and the first time since UMBC earned a 2-1 victory at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in 2018.
All-Time vs. Fairleigh Dickinson
- This is the first meeting between the two schools.
Winning Ways
- Penn State's six-game winning streak is its longest since opening the 2019 season with six wins.
- Penn State's 9-2 start is its best since opening the 1980 season with the same record.
Pitching Prowess
- Penn State enters the weekend ranking fourth in the NCAA with a 0.91 WHIP, fifth in the NCAA with a 1.72 team ERA, ninth in the NCAA with a 4.40 strikeout-to-walk ratio and ninth with 5.84 hits allowed per nine innings. All figures lead the Big Ten.
- RHP Bailey Dees ranks second in the Big Ten with a 1.02 ERA and fourth in the Big Ten with a 0.79 WHIP.
Getting On-Base
- Penn State leads the Big Ten and ranks 14th in the NCAA with a .425 on-base percentage.
- Johnny Piacentino leads the Big Ten and ranks ninth in the NCAA with a .607 on-base percentage, while Gavin Homer ranks fifth in the Big Ten and 29th in the NCAA with a .568 on-base percentage.
Touching Home
- Penn State's 85 runs scored are its most in the first 11 games of a season since scoring 111 runs in the first 11 games of the 2000 season.
- Penn State has scored 10 or more runs four times in the first 11 games of the season, doing so for the first time since scoring double-digits six times in the first 11 games of the 2000 season.
- Penn State scored 10 or more runs four times all of last season.
Hit Parade
- In the first three weeks of the season Penn State has posted two of its highest hit totals in recent years.
- Penn State's 19 hits against Princeton (2/28) were its most since totaling the same at Houston Baptist on March 9, 2013.
- Penn State's 18 hits against Monmouth (2/16) were its most in a game since also totaling 18 against Rutgers on May 2, 2015.
Walk This Way
- Penn State leads the Big Ten and ranks 43rd in the NCAA with 61 walks.
- Johnny Piacentino and Curtis Robison lead the team with eight walks each, and Piacentino ranks sixth in the Big Ten with 0.89 walks per game.
Walk-Off
- Penn State closed its series with Wagner on a walk-off, three-run home run by Curtis Robison.
- It was Penn State's first walk-off win since defeating UMass Lowell on a Ryan Ford single on Mar. 17, 2019.
- It was Penn State's first walk-off home run since Gavin Homer slugged one over the fence at the USA Baseball NTC on Feb. 24, 2019 to down Fairfield.
- It was Penn State's first extra inning win since defeating Rutgers in the 11th inning on May 4, 2019.
Mellott on Stopper of the Year Watch List
- Junior RHP Mason Mellott was named to the initial watch list for the 16th Annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Award.
- The award is annually given to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I baseball. Mellott was one of six Big Ten pitchers and 70 overall to be placed on the preseason watch list.
- Mellott ranks tied for sixth on Penn State's career saves list (Jeff Emerlich, 1993-96) with nine after posting five last season. He was one of the most crucial members of the Nittany Lion pitching staff in 2019, totaling 63.0 innings in relief and posting a 2.43 ERA that led the team and ranked third in the Big Ten. Mellott also led the team with six wins, which were the most by a Penn State reliever since at least 2004. He also ranked among the top-10 in the conference with 2.00 walks allowed per nine innings (5th), a 3.71 strikeout-to-walk ratio (9th) and a 1.16 WHIP (10th).
At the Plate
- Penn State returns Big Ten All-Freshman third baseman Justin Williams. Last season, Williams made his presence in the lineup felt during his first career start at Pittsburgh in mid-March, going 3-for-5 with a double and four RBIs. He finished the year tied for the team lead in home runs with four, and batted .262 with five doubles, a triple and 18 RBIs. Williams flashed his potential with a 445-foot home run against Lafayette in April and a 12-game reached-base streak from late April through early May. During the streak, Williams led the team with a .442 on-base percentage, .333 batting average, eight runs, 14 hits, two home runs, .548 slugging percentage, 23 total bases and nine walks.
- OF/IF Mac Hippenhammer boasts the top returning batting average. He batted .272 in 2019 with a .350 on-base percentage, four doubles, two triples and eight RBIs in 39 games (35 starts).
The 2020 Slate
- The 56-game schedule includes six opponents that participated in the 2019 NCAA Baseball tournament, including College World Series finalist Michigan. The Wolverines will visit Medlar Field at Lubrano Park Apr. 17-19, as will NCAA Regional teams Indiana (Apr. 3-5), West Virginia (Apr. 28) and Illinois (May 1-3). Penn State will also play at Nebraska (May 8-10) and Creighton (May 12).
- Power Five non-conference match-ups include a home-and-home series against Pittsburgh (Mar. 24 [H] & Apr. 7 [A]), a visit from West Virginia (Apr. 28) and a three-game series at Arizona (May 14-16)
- Penn State plays eight Big Ten series, opening its conference slate at Northwestern (Mar. 20-22) and its home conference slate the following weekend against Iowa (Mar. 27-29).
Next Up
Penn State will continue its spring break trip with a three game series at Miami (Ohio). The series opens Thursday at 6 p.m. and continues Friday at 5 p.m. before concluding Saturday at 1 p.m.
The 2019 Penn State baseball season is presented by the Family Clothesline. Tickets are on sale online by clicking here or by calling the Medlar Field at Lubrano Park ticket office at 814-272-1711.
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