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Craig Houtz

Tayven Kelley

Penn State Hosts Youngstown State On Tuesday

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State baseball team welcomes Youngstown State for a mid-week non-conference game on Tuesday. The Nittany Lions meet the Penguins for a 6 p.m. first pitch with a livestream on B1G+.
 
The Nittany Lions, led by head coach Rob Cooper, won two of three games in their series against Milwaukee over the weekend. The two wins were heavily influenced by strong performances from Penn State's bullpen, which threw 4.1 shutout innings on Friday and 5.2 scoreless frames on Saturday.
 
The 2022 Penn State baseball season is presented by The Family Clothesline.
 
FOLLOW ALONG

PROMOTIONS
Penn State fans get $2 off hot dogs at all Tuesday home games.
 
PARKING
All Penn State Athletics non-football events will require a valid permit or payment of the applicable parking fee for campus lots. Complimentary parking will no longer be issued for season ticket holders.
 
Fans with valid Penn State University Park parking permits will be permitted to park at non-football athletics events for free, following Transportation Services parking policies and access.
 
Fans without a permit are encouraged to prepay for event parking at a discounted rate through ParkMobile - https://psu.parkmobile.io/. Prepayment is available through 11:59 p.m. the day prior to each event. Season packages will be available for general parking for most sports, and information on VIP parking options available for select events will be released later.
 
Please visit the 2022 Baseball Parking page for additional information.
 
Non-football event parking is managed by Penn State Transportation Services. For more information on parking for this event, please email parking@psu.edu or call 814-865-1436. 


PROBABLE STARTERS 
Tuesday (6 p.m.)  – PSU: Kellan Tulio (1-1, 4.38 ERA) vs. YSU: Nick Perez (1-1, 7.88 ERA)
 
LEADING OFF

  • Penn State hosts Youngstown State for a non-conference matchup on Tuesday.
  • The Nittany Lions are 8-2 all-time against the Penguins, including five straight wins.
  • Penn State is coming off a series win over Milwaukee.
  • The Nittany Lions won Friday's game, 6-4, led by Matt Wood's three-for-three day at the plate, including a two-run triple. Tyler Shingledecker and Jaden Henline combined for 4.1 scoreless innings in relief.
  • Penn State earned a 4-3 victory on Saturday with another strong performance by the bullpen, getting 5.2 scoreless innings from Jordan Morales and Steven Miller.
  • Matt Wood owns team highs in batting average (.345), hits (20), runs (16), homers (4), RBI (14) and walks (12).
  • Cole Bartels is riding a 16-game hit streak and has a .303 batting average.
  • Josh Spiegel is hitting .500 over PSU's last five games and has raised his season average to .322.
  • On the mound, Tyler Shingledecker leads Penn State with eight appearances and three wins this season.
  • Jaden Henline ranks third in the Big Ten with three saves.

 
SCOUTING YOUNGSTOWN STATE

  • Youngstown State is led by Dan Bertolini in his sixth season.
  • Bertolini guided the Penguins to a 32-24 mark in 2021.
  • YSU is 8-11 this season and coming off a series win over Purdue-Fort Wayne last weekend.
  • Seth Lucero went 8-for-16 at the plate over the weekend with a double, a triple and four RBI.
  • Braden O'Shaughnessy is hitting .333 with a team-high 24 hits, four doubles, three homers and 15 RBI.
  • Lucero is also hitting .333 with 19 hits, including five extra-base hits.
  • The Penguins have a team ERA of 4.32 and an opponent batting average of .237.

 
AGAINST THE PENGUINS

  • Penn State meets Youngstown State for the 11th time in the series.
  • The Nittany Lions are 8-2 all-time against the Penguins.
  • The blue and white have a 12-5 all-time record against current members of the Horizon League.
  • Penn State won the last matchup, 16-15, in 2019. The Nittany Lions scored 10 runs in the second inning.

 
WOOD OFF TO STRONG START

  • Through 17 games, junior Matt Wood is batting .345 with four doubles, four homers, 14 RBI and 16 runs.
  • Wood has seven multi-hit games and four multi-RBI games this season.
  • He went 3-for-3 with a two-run triple in PSU's series opener vs. Milwaukee (3/18).
  • Wood began the 2022 campaign going 6-for-14 (.429) at the plate with two doubles and three homers on opening weekend. He drove in seven RBI and scored eight runs.
  • Wood went 3-for-4 with four RBI and four runs while crushing two homers and a double in game one against LIU. He added a homer against Northeastern.
  • The junior was named Big Ten Player of the Week on March 2 after going 5-for-11 (.454) at the plate with two RBI and four runs against Maine.
  • In D1baseball's preseason rankings, Wood was tabbed as the top catcher in the Big Ten and the 16th-best catcher in the country.
  • Wood returned to the squad after receiving Second Team All-Big Ten honors in 2021.

 
SPIEGEL FINDING SUCCESS AT THE PLATE

  • Junior Josh Spiegel has been hot at the plate over Penn State's last five games, going 8-of-16.
  • Spiegel is riding a current seven-game hit streak.
  • On the season, Spiegel has seven multi-hit games.
  • The junior was 8-for-14 (.571) vs. VMI (3/8) and UMass (3/11-13) with two doubles and a homer. He had two hits in each game.

 
HANNON WINNING AGAINST LEFTY PITCHERS

  • Sophomore Kyle Hannon had a strong weekend against Virginia (3/4-6), going seven-for-eight at the plate, to earn Big Ten Player of the Week honors. Hannon notched three doubles and reached base in 11-of-12 plate appearances.
  • In lefty-vs.-lefty matchups, Hannon went six-for-six at the plate.
  • Hannon owns four multi-hit games and two multi-RBI games in 2022.
  • A lefty hitter, Hannon has excelled against left-handed pitching this season, going 11-for-24 for a .458 average.  He's also batting .368 with runners in scoring position.

 
BARTELS, GERLOTT BRING CONSISTENT APPROACH TO LEAD OUTFIELD

  • Graduate student Cole Bartels and sophomore Billy Gerlott have been consistent presences in Penn State's lineup this season.
  • Bartels is batting .303 and is tied with Matt Wood for a team-high 20 hits, including two doubles. He also has two steals.
  • He is currently riding a 16-game hitting streak, beginning against LIU (2/19) and has reached base in all 17 games.
  • Bartels is hitting .429 with runners in scoring position.
  • Bartels was 5-of-12 at the plate against Virginia for a .417 average.
  • Gerlott is batting .276 with 16 hits, including four doubles, and eight RBI. He's tied second on the team in RBI.
  • Gerlott is hitting .412 with runners in scoring position.
  • Fellow outfielder Johnny Piacentino went three-for-five with a double and two RBI in the series opener against UMass (3/11).
  • The junior put up impressive power numbers in 2021 with a team-high 15 doubles and eight homers. He drove in 32 RBI and scored 30 runs, both team bests.
  • Piacentino ranked third in the Big Ten in doubles and was a major factor in Penn State leading the conference in doubles as a team with 93. PSU held 11th in the nation averaging 2.21 doubles per game.
  • Piacentino was ranked among D1baseball's Top 150 outfielders in their preseason rankings.

 
PITCHING STAFF FEATURES BALANCED MIX OF VETERANS AND YOUTH

  • Mason Mellott, graduating in August 2021 with a bachelor's degree in Kinesiology, ranks fourth all-time at Penn State with 13 saves and sixth with 72 appearances. Mellott is on the NCWBA Stopper of the Year Watch List.
  • Mellott threw five scoreless innings to lead Penn State to a 1-0 shutout win over UMass (3/13), allowing just one hit and one walk.
  • Sophomore Travis Luensmann has recorded 32 strikeouts in his first five starts. Luensmann joined the Nittany Lions after transferring from South Carolina.
  • Luensmann struck out eight in six innings against Maine (2/25).
  • The Altoona native ranked as the No. 2 pitcher in Pennsylvania in the 2020 class by Perfect Game.
  • Junior Kellan Tulio pitched the last two seasons at Louisville before transferring to Penn State. Tulio was ranked as the top pitcher in Pennsylvania in the 2019 class.
  • Against Maine (2/26), Tulio threw six innings, allowing one run, and striking out five.
  • The junior has struck out 11 batters in three starts.
  • Freshman Tommy Molsky made his Penn State debut on February 20 vs. Northeastern and threw six innings. Molsky has 22 strikeouts in five starts, including a career high-tying six vs. UMass (3/12).
  • Sophomore Jaden Henline has struck out 20 batters in 14.2 relief innings, while sitting third in the Big Ten with two saves.
  • Tyler Shingledecker leads the team with eigth appearances and three wins. He's held opponents scoreless in seven of his eight outings.
  • Penn State is challenged with replacing a 2021 rotation that featured three MLB draft selections in Conor Larkin (9th round, Toronto Blue Jays), Kyle Virbitsky (17th round, Oakland A's) and Bailey Dees (18th round, New York Yankees).
  • The Nittany Lions were one of only four Division I schools to have all three members of their starting rotation selected. Penn State has eight pitchers who have been drafted since 2016.

 
UP NEXT

  • Penn State opens Big Ten play this weekend, March 25-27, hosting Rutgers. Friday's contest is scheduled for 6 p.m. on B1G+. Saturday's game will start at 5 p.m. with a broadcast on Big Ten Network. Sunday's first pitch is set for 1 p.m.