Baseball Continues Big Ten Slate At NorthwesternBaseball Continues Big Ten Slate At Northwestern
Craig Houtz

Jaden Henline

Baseball Continues Big Ten Slate At Northwestern

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State baseball team travels to Northwestern for a three-game Big Ten series this weekend. The series begins on Friday with a 4:30 p.m. first pitch at Rocky and Berenice Miller Park. Saturday is set for a 3 p.m. start and Sunday will conclude the series at 2 p.m. All games will be livestreamed on B1G+.

Update: Due to inclement weather, the series will now begin on Saturday with a doubleheader at noon. Sunday's series finale will also start at noon.
 
The Nittany Lions, led by head coach Rob Cooper, rallied from an early deficit for a 7-6 win over Bucknell on Wednesday. Penn State tallied 16 hits, including three each by Jay Harry and Matt Wood.
 
The 2022 Penn State baseball season is presented by The Family Clothesline.
 
FOLLOW ALONG

 
PROBABLE STARTERS
Saturday (noon)  – PSU: Jaden Henline (0-1, 3.28 ERA) vs. Northwestern: Sean Sullivan (4-0, 2.19 ERA)
 
Saturday (Game 2)  – PSU: TBA vs. Northwestern: Michael Farinelli (3-2, 3.54 ERA)
 
Sunday (noon)  – PSU: TBA vs. Northwestern: TBA
 
*subject to change
 
LEADING OFF

  • Penn State travels to Northwestern for a three-game Big Ten series.
  • The Nittany Lions are 2-4 in conference play with a win in each series vs. Maryland and Rutgers.
  • Penn State is 44-42 all-time against the Wildcats.
  • The teams split a four-game series to open a Big Ten-only schedule last year.
  • Penn State rallied from an early deficit for a 7-6 win over Bucknell on Wednesday.
  • The Nittany Lions collected a season-best 16 hits.
  • Six players had multiple hits, led by Jay Harry and Matt Wood each with three.
  • Wood recorded three hits and two RBI, while Harry added an RBI.
  • Josh Spiegel roped two doubles, driving in a run and scoring two.
  • CJ Pittaro added two hits and two RBI.
  • On the mound, Carson Kohls (3.1IP, 5K), Jordan Morales (2IP, 4K) and Chase Renner (2IP, 4K) were all strong in relief appearances.
  • On the season, Wood leads PSU with a .409 average, good for third in the Big Ten.
  • Wood is one of two Big Ten players with 10+ extra-base hits (11) and less than 10 strikeouts (8) this season.

 
SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN

  • Interim head coach Josh Reynolds leads the Wildcats.
  • Reynolds has been a member of the Northwestern coaching staff since 2016, serving as pitching coach.
  • The Wildcats are 12-12 overall this season and 2-1 in conference play.
  • Last weekend, Northwestern won its series against Indiana, taking games two (7-6) and three (13-6). The Wildcats also won their mid-week game vs. Illinois-Chicago (13-3).
  • Jay Beshears is leading NU with a .384 average with five homers and 17 RBI.
  • Ethan O'Donnell leads the nation with 17 doubles to go with six homers and a .356 average.
  • Northwestern has a 5.61 team ERA.
  • Sean Sullivan has been strong as Northwestern's Friday night starter with a 4-0 record and a 2.19 ERA with 54 strikeouts in 37 innings.

 
AGAINST THE WILDCATS

  • The Nittany Lions hold a 44-42 lead in the all-time series vs. Northwestern
  • Penn State split last year's four-game series against the Wildcats, which began an all-Big Ten schedule.
  • In the fourth game of that series, the Nittany Lions hit five home runs, including three by Johnny Piacentino, one by Josh Spiegel and one by Matt Wood, in a 13-10 win.
  • In game one of last year's series, Spiegel launched two homers, while Tyler Shingledecker earned a four-inning save.

 
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 25 games played, junior Matt Wood is batting .409 with five doubles, two triples, four homers, 23 RBI and 21 runs.
  • Wood leads the Nittany Lions in batting average, hits, runs, triples, homers, RBI, walks (14), slugging percentage (.648) and on-base percentage (.486).
  • He sits third in the Big Ten in batting average, fourth in on-base percentage and eighth in slugging percentage.
  • Wood is one of two Big Ten players with 10+ extra-base hits (11) and less than 10 strikeouts (8).
  • The lefty batter has been impressive facing righty (.436) and lefty (.364) pitchers.
  • Wood is batting .474 with runners in scoring position.
  • Wood paces PSU with 13 multi-hit games and six multi-RBI games this season and is riding a current eight-game hit streak.
  • The Gibsonia, Pa. native is batting .500 over the last 10 games with a double, a triple and nine 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.

 
PENNSYLVANIA INFLUENCE IN STARTING ROTATION

  • In 25 of 26 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 10 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 has made 11 appearances with a team-high 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 26 strikeouts in 17.2 innings over 13 appearances.

 
NITTANY LIONS FINDING POWER

  • Over the last 10 games, Penn State has tallied 22 extra-base hits, including 12 doubles, five 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.
  • Josh Spiegel leads PSU with seven doubles, while Billy Gerlott has six and Kyle Hannon and Wood each have five.
  • Harry has three homers this season, while Spiegel has two.

 
UP NEXT

  • The Nittany Lions host West Virginia on Tuesday, April 12 for a mid-week, non-conference matchup. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. on B1G+.