Baseball Welcomes Bucknell On WednesdayBaseball Welcomes Bucknell On Wednesday
Craig Houtz

Ben Kailher

Baseball Welcomes Bucknell On Wednesday

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State baseball team hosts Bucknell on Wednesday at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. in the mid-week, non-conference matchup. The game will be livestreamed on B1G+.
 
The Nittany Lions, led by head coach Rob Cooper, took one game in its series at No. 23 Maryland last weekend. In Saturday's game, Penn State earned a 6-4 win in 10 innings. Johnny Piacentino had a two-run homer in the sixth, while Tayven Kelley had a two-run, go-ahead double in the 10th. Travis Luensmann pitched the final three innings to pick up his first career win.
 
The 2022 Penn State baseball season is presented by The Family Clothesline.
 
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. 
 
FOLLOW ALONG

 
PROBABLE STARTER
Wednesday (6 p.m.)  – PSU: Anthony Steele (0-0, 9.82 ERA) vs. Bucknell: Bryce Reimer (1-0, 6.59 ERA)
 
*subject to change
 
LEADING OFF

  • Penn State welcomes Bucknell for a mid-week, non-conference contest on Wednesday.
  • The Nittany Lions are 130-30-1 all-time against its most-faced opponent.
  • Penn State has won eight straight in the series and 29 of the last 30.
  • The Nittany Lions are coming off a three-game series at No. 23 Maryland, where Penn State took one of three games.
  • Penn State earned a 6-4 win in 10 innings in Saturday's contest for its first win over a ranked road opponent since May 13, 2007 at No. 16 Michigan.
  • Johnny Piacentino hit a two-run homer in the sixth, while Tayven Kelley hit a go-ahead two-run double in the 10th.
  • Travis Luensmann threw three innings in relief on Saturday to pick up his first career win.
  • On the weekend, Matt Wood went .500 at the plate (6-for-12) with two RBI, including a game-tying RBI single on Saturday.
  • On the season, Wood has more extra base hits (11) than strikeouts (8) through 24 games played.
  • Cole Bartels homered in Sunday's game.
  • Over the last 10 games, Jay Harry is batting .324 with three doubles and two homers.

 
SCOUTING BUCKNELL

  • Bucknell is led by Scott Heather, in his 10th season. Heather has guided the Bison to 183 wins.
  • The 2014 Patriot League Coach of the Year led Bucknell to Patriot League regular season and tournament championships and an NCAA Regional appearance.
  • Bucknell is 12-14 overall and 8-4 in Patriot League play this season. The Bison earned an 8-6 win at Duke on March 5.
  • Last weekend, Bucknell split conference series' at Lafayette and Lehigh.
  • Anthony Sherwin paces Bucknell with a .363 average and 26 runs, while Grant Voytovich leads Bucknell with 22 RBI.
  • Six regular members of Bucknell's lineup have a .300 or better average.
  • Bucknell has a team ERA of 6.34.
  • Tyler O'Neill has a 2.31 ERA in eight appearances over 23.1 innings.

 
AGAINST THE BISON

  • The Nittany Lions hold a 130-30-1 lead in the all-time series against Bucknell.
  • Penn State has won eight straight games in the series and 29 of the last 30 matchups.
  • Bucknell is one of five opponents Penn State has played more than 100 times: Michigan (49-51), Ohio State (39-71), Pitt (88-46-1) and West Virginia (71-42).
  • In the last matchup, Penn State earned a 9-6 win to open the 2020 season in Cary, N.C.
  • Making his collegiate debut, Matt Wood went 3-for-4 with a double, three runs and an RBI.

 
B1G ROAD WIN

  • Penn State earned a 6-4 win in 10 innings over Maryland on Saturday (4/2).
  • The Terrapins were ranked No. 23 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and 25th in the Baseball America Poll.
  • Penn State earned its first win in a true road game against a ranked opponent since a 15-5 win over No. 16 Michigan (5/13/07).
  • The Nittany Lions recorded their first win against a ranked opponent away from home since March 2, 2019 against No. 21 Duke (8-7).
  • Johnny Piacentino launched his first homer of the year, a two-run shot, in the sixth, while Matt Wood tied the game, 3-3, with an RBI single in the eighth.
  • Penn State broke the tie in the 10th with a two-run double by Tayven Kelley and an RBI double by Jay Harry.
  • Travis Luensmann earned the win on the mound, throwing three innings in relief and allowing just one run.

 
WOOD OFF TO STRONG START

  • Through 24 games played, junior Matt Wood is batting .393 with five doubles, two triples, four homers, 21 RBI and 20 runs.
  • Wood leads the Nittany Lions in batting average, hits, runs, triples, homers, RBI, walks (14), slugging percentage (.643) and on-base percentage (.476).
  • He sits fourth in the Big Ten in batting average, eighth in on-base percentage and ninth in slugging percentage.
  • Wood has more extra-base hits (11) than strikeouts (8) this season.
  • The lefty batter has been impressive facing righty (.412) and lefty (.364) pitchers.
  • Wood paces PSU with 12 multi-hit games and five multi-RBI games this season and is riding a current seven-game hit streak.
  • Wood is batting .471 with runners in scoring position.
  • The Gibsonia, Pa. native is batting .419 over the last 10 games with a double, a triple and seven RBI.
  • He batted .500 in the Maryland series (4/1-3) with six hits and two RBI. He had three hits in each game, including the game-tying RBI single in Penn State's win on Saturday.
  • Earlier this season, on opening weekend, Wood went 3-for-4 with four RBI and four runs while crushing two homers and a double in game one against LIU.
  • In D1baseball's preseason rankings, Wood was tabbed as the top catcher in the Big Ten and the 16th-best catcher in the country.

 
PENNSYLVANIA INFLUENCE IN STARTING ROTATION

  • In all 25 games this season, Penn State's starting pitcher has been a Pennsylvania native.
  • Sophomore Travis Luensmann (Altoona) has made six starts, and seven appearances, with 39 strikeouts in 30.2 innings. Luensmann struck out eight in six innings against Maine (2/25).
  • Luensmann made a strong relief appearance in Penn State's win at No. 23 Maryland, throwing the final three innings, allowing just one run.
  • He was ranked as the No. 2 pitcher in Pennsylvania in the 2020 class by Perfect Game.
  • Freshman Tommy Molsky has made seven starts, and eight appearances, tallying 29 strikeouts. Molsky tied a career high with six strikeouts against UMass (3/12).
  • Graduate student Mason Mellott has made four starts and nine appearances.
  • Mellott, graduating in August 2021 with a bachelor's degree in Kinesiology, ranks fourth all-time at Penn State with 13 saves and tied fourth with 76 appearances. Mellott is on the NCWBA Stopper of the Year Watch List.
  • Junior Kellan Tulio has made six starts and seven appearances. with 17 strikeouts and a .194 opponent batting average.
  • 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.
  • Jaden Henline made the start in game one at Maryland, going five 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.

 
HENLINE, SHINGLEDECKER LEAD BULLPEN

  • Senior Tyler Shingledecker leads the team with 11 appearances and three wins. The lefty has held opponents without an earned run in eight of his 11 outings.
  • The versatile Shingledecker has gone more than an inning in seven appearances and has 22 strikeouts. He recorded all four outs via strikeout in his appearance at Maryland.
  • Sophomore Jaden Henline has struck out 29 batters in 24.2 innings, while sitting third in the Big Ten with three saves. In nine appearances (one start), Henline has thrown two or more innings in seven outings, including four innings with no earned runs allowed against Rutgers (3/25).
  • Senior Steven Miller and junior Jordan Morales have also established themselves as key members of the bullpen. Miller has a 2.55 ERA and a save in eight appearances.
  • Miller struck out six in a career-high 3.2 innings against Milwaukee (3/19).
  • Morales is 2-0 with 22 strikeouts in 15.2 innings over 12 appearances.

 
NITTANY LIONS FINDING POWER

  • Over the last 10 games, Penn State has tallied 21 extra-base hits, including 10 doubles, six triples and five homers.
  • Jay Harry leads the team with five extra base hits over that span, with three doubles and two homers.
  • Johnny Piacentino has two triples and hit a two-run homer at Maryland (4/2).
  • Josh Spiegel has a triple and a homer, while Cole Bartels hit a solo homer at Maryland (4/3).
  • On the season, Matt Wood leads PSU with 11 extra-base hits, pacing PSU with two triples (tied with Piacentino) and four homers to go with five doubles.
  • Billy Gerlott leads PSU with six doubles, while Kyle Hannon, Spiegel and Wood each have five.
  • Harry has three homers this season, while Spiegel has two.

 
UP NEXT

  • The Nittany Lions travel to Northwestern for a three-game series this weekend, April 8-10. Friday's contest is set to begin at 4:30 p.m. Saturday's game is slated for 3 p.m., while Sunday's first pitch is set for 2 p.m. All games will be livestreamed on B1G+.