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Mark Selders

Johnny Piacentino

Baseball Travels To Minnesota For Weekend Series

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State baseball team visits Minnesota for a three-game Big Ten series, beginning on Friday at Siebert Field. Friday's game is set for a 7 p.m. ET first pitch, while Saturday's game will start at 3 p.m. ET. Sunday's series finale is set to begin at 11 a.m. ET. All games will be livestreamed on B1G+.
 
The Nittany Lions, led by head coach Rob Cooper, are coming off an 11-6 win over Mount St. Mary's on Wednesday. Cole Bartels led the Nittany Lions with a career high-tying three hits and a career-best four RBI. Tommy Molsky threw four shutout innings to earn his first career save.
 
The 2022 Penn State baseball season is presented by The Family Clothesline.
 
FOLLOW ALONG

 
PROBABLE STARTERS
Friday (7 p.m.)  – PSU: RHP Jaden Henline (0-1, 4.55 ERA) vs. Minnesota: RHP Sam Ireland (3-3, 4.37 ERA)
 
Saturday (3 p.m.)  – PSU: TBA vs. Minnesota: RHP J.P. Massey (2-5, 6.23 ERA)
 
Sunday (11 a.m.)  – PSU: TBA vs. Minnesota: RHP Aidan Maldonado (1-3, 4.40 ERA)
 
*subject to change
 
LEADING OFF

  • Penn State travels to Minnesota for a three-game Big Ten series.
  • The Nittany Lions are coming off an 11-6 win over Mount St. Mary's on Wednesday.
  • Cole Bartels tied a career high with three hits, two doubles, and set a career best with four RBI.
  • Jay Harry and Matt Wood each had two hits, including a double, two runs and an RBI.
  • Tommy Molsky earned his first career save, going four shutout innings.
  • Last weekend, Penn State earned a series win over Purdue with a 12-7 win in game one and a 7-5 victory in game two.
  • Matt Wood is riding a 16-game hit streak, including 11 multi-hit games during that stretch.
  • Over the last 10 games, Josh Spiegel has four doubles and three homers, while Jay Harry has three doubles, a triple and a homer.
  • Jaden Henline is expected to make his fourth start of the season on Friday.

 
SCOUTING MINNESOTA

  • Minnesota is coached by John Anderson in his 41st season.
  • Anderson has a 1,341-952 record as head coach at Minnesota and has led the Golden Gophers to 19 NCAA Tournament appearances.
  • The Gophers are 10-24 overall and 1-8 in Big Ten play this season.
  • Last weekend, the Gophers dropped three games against Iowa and fell 6-0 against St. Thomas on Tuesday.
  • Minnesota averages 4.8 runs per game with a team batting average of .239.
  • Chase Stanke ranks third in the Big Ten with 10 homers, while Brett Bateman is fifth in the conference with 13 steals.
  • Minnesota has a 6.41 team ERA.
  • Sam Ireland leads the Gophers with 55 strikeouts in 47.1 innings.

 
AGAINST THE GOLDEN GOPHERS

  • The Nittany Lions trail the all-tie series, 40-18, against Minnesota.
  • Penn State will look for its first road win against Minnesota since May 5, 2012.
  • The Nittany Lions have dropped their last seven road games against the Golden Gophers.
  • Last season, Penn State earned a 7-3 win in the season finale.
  • Matt Wood drove in two runs, while Johnny Piacentino had a double. On the mound, Kyle Virbitsky went seven innings, allowing just two runs and five hits while striking out 12.

 
WOOD LEADING BIG TEN IN BATTING AVERAGE

  • Through 33 games played, junior Matt Wood is batting .412 with nine doubles, two triples, six homers, 29 RBI and 30 runs.
  • He leads the Big Ten in batting average (.412), good for 17th in the country.
  • Wood leads the Nittany Lions in batting average, hits, runs, triples, homers, RBI, walks (16), slugging percentage (.672) and on-base percentage (.479).
  • Wood also sits second in the Big Ten in hits per game (1.48), third in OPS (1.151), fifth in slugging percentage and sixth in on-base percentage.
  • Among Division I catchers, Wood is third in batting average, sixth in triples, eighth in on-base percentage, 10th in slugging percentage and 10th in OPS (1.151).
  • The lefty batter has been impressive facing righty (.418) and lefty (.400) pitchers.
  • Wood is batting .480 with runners in scoring position.
  • Wood paces PSU with 18 multi-hit games and seven multi-RBI games this season and is riding a current 16-game hit streak.
  • During the 16-game hit streak, Wood has 11 multi-hit performances. He is batting .475 (29-of-61) with five doubles, two triples and two homers.
  • In the Purdue series, Wood went 5-for-8 (.625) at the plate with a double and a homer.

 
PENNSYLVANIA INFLUENCE IN PITCHING STAFF

  • In 32 of 34 games this season, Penn State's starting pitcher has been a Pennsylvania native.
  • Sophomore Travis Luensmann (Altoona) has made seven starts, and nine appearances, with 51 strikeouts in 40.2 innings. Luensmann struck out eight in six innings against Maine (2/25). He ranks sixth in the Big Ten in strikeouts per nine innings (11.29).
  • Over his last three outings, Luensmann has allowed just one earned run in 13 innings while striking out 17 batters.
  • Luensmann earned his first save as a Nittany Lion, going four innings and striking out six vs. Northwestern (4/9).
  • The Altoona native threw six innings, allowing no earned runs, and struck out six in a win over Purdue (4/16).
  • Freshman Tommy Molsky has made eight starts, and 11 appearances, tallying 33 strikeouts. Molsky tied a career high with six strikeouts against UMass (3/12).
  • Graduate student Mason Mellott has made four starts and 13 appearances.
  • Mellott, graduating in August 2021 with a bachelor's degree in Kinesiology, is tied third all-time at Penn State with 15 saves and ranks third with 80 appearances. Mellott is on the NCWBA Stopper of the Year Watch List.
  • Junior Kellan Tulio has made eight starts and nine appearances. with 28 strikeouts and a 3.91 ERA. He threw five innings, allowing no earned runs, and struck out a career-high seven at Northwestern (4/9).
  • Jaden Henline made the start in game one the last three weekends. At Maryland, he went five innings and at Northwestern (4/9), struck out six.
  • Henline has struck out 38 batters in 31.2 innings and sits third in the Big Ten with three saves. In 11 appearances (three starts), Henline has thrown two or more innings in eight outings.
  • Senior Pittsburgh native Steven Miller made his first career start at Northwestern (4/9), throwing three shutout innings and striking out three.
  • In the bullpen, senior Tyler Shingledecker has made 13 appearances with a team-high three wins. The lefty has held opponents without an earned run in eight of his 13 outings.  He has 34 strikeouts and only five walks.
  • Over his last three appearances, Shingledecker has allowed just two runs and struck out 16 batters in 8.2 innings.
  • Junior Souderton native Jordan Morales leads PSU with 16 appearances.
  • Carson Kohls has been another effective member out of the bullpen in 11 appearances (one start), including two scoreless outings where he went three or more innings.
  • 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.

 
NITTANY LIONS FINDING POWER

  • Over the last 10 games, Penn State has tallied 30 extra-base hits, including 18 doubles, two triples and 10 homers.
  • Josh Spiegel has a team-best seven extra-base hits in that span with four doubles and three homers.
  • He had two doubles and two homers in four games last week vs. West Virginia (4/12) and Purdue (4/14-16).
  • Matt Wood has four doubles and two homers during that span, while Jay Harry has three doubles, a triple and a homer.
  • On the season, Wood leads PSU with 17 extra-base hits, pacing PSU with two triples (tied with Piacentino) and six homers to go with nine doubles.
  • Josh Spiegel is tied with Wood for the PSU lead with nine doubles and has five homers, while Harry has four homers this season and Cole Bartels and Johnny Piacentino have two each.

 
UP NEXT

  • Penn State is set to play two mid-week games next week, beginning on Tuesday vs. Bucknell, a 6 p.m. first pitch with a livestream on B1G+.
  • The Nittany Lions visit West Virginia on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
  • Penn State then hosts Omaha for a three-game series, beginning on Friday, April 29.