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Craig Houtz

Tayven Kelley

Penn State Visits Ohio State For Final B1G Road Series

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Penn State baseball team travels to Columbus to face Ohio State in its final Big Ten road series of the season. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. at Bill Davis Stadium. Saturday's game is set for a 3:05 p.m. start. Sunday's game will begin at 1 p.m. on Big Ten Network.
 
The Nittany Lions, led by Rob Cooper, are 23-22 overall and 9-8 in Big Ten play. PSU snapped a six-game win streak at Georgetown on Tuesday but are coming off a three-game sweep over Michigan State last weekend.
 
The 2022 Penn State baseball season is presented by The Family Clothesline.
 
FOLLOW ALONG

 
PROBABLE STARTERS
Friday (6:05 p.m.)  – PSU: RHP Jaden Henline (2-2, 4.14 ERA) vs. OSU: RHP Nate Haberthier (0-4, 6.35 ERA)
 
Saturday (3:05 p.m.)  – PSU: TBA vs. OSU: LHP Isaiah Coupet (3-5, 5.91 ERA)
 
Sunday (1 p.m.)  – PSU: TBA vs. OSU: TBA
 
*subject to change
 
LEADING OFF

  • Penn State visits Ohio State a key three-game series, beginning on Friday.
  • The Nittany Lions have won 10 of their last 13 games, dating back to a win over Purdue on April 16.
  • PSU snapped a six-game win streak at Georgetown on Tuesday.
  • The Nittany Lions are coming off a three-game sweep over Michigan State.
  • Penn State swept Sunday's doubleheader, winning 15-3 and 10-4.
  • On Monday, the Nittany Lions walked it off in the 11th on a bases-loaded walk by Johnny Piacentino for a 10-9 win.
  • In Monday's win, Jay Harry set a program record with six hits, including a double, and scored three runs. Matt Wood batted .500 in the series with a double, two homers, six runs and seven RBI.
  • Harry's six hits are tied for the most in a Division I game this season.
  • Wood ranks seventh in the nation in batting average (.414) and 13th in on-base percentage (.505), leading the Big Ten in both categories.
  • Wood has reached base in 27-straight games.

 
SCOUTING OHIO STATE

  • Ohio State head coach Greg Beals is in his 12th season coaching the Buckeyes.
  • Beals is 342-286-1 in his time leading Ohio State. He has guided Ohio State to three NCAA Regional appearances and two Big Ten Championships.
  • Ohio State is 17-28 overall and 6-13 in the Big Ten this season.
  • The Buckeyes are batting .278 as a team with three members of the lineup batting above .300.
  • Marcus Ernst leads OSU with a .349 average and 60 hits. Brent Todys, the reigning Big Ten Player of the Week, is hitting .321 with four homers, while Zach Dezenzo has team highs with 16 doubles, 13 homers, 44 RBI and 47 runs.
  • Isaiah Coupet ranks second in the Big Ten with 84 strikeouts and leads the conference with 14.18 per nine innings, good for fifth in the country.
  • Wyatt Loncar is 1-4 with a 4.66 ERA in 12 appearances (nine starts), while Nate Haberthier has a .635 ERA in 11 starts.

 
AGAINST THE BUCKEYES

  • The Nittany Lions will Ohio State for the 111th time in program history on Friday.
  • Ohio State is one of five opponents Penn State has played more than 100 times, joining Bucknell (131-31-1), Michigan (49-51), Pitt (88-46-1) and West Virginia (72-43).
  • In last season's series, the Nittany Lions won the series finale, 10-6.
  • Tayven Kelley hit a two-run homer, while Matt Wood had three hits and three runs. Mason Mellott closed out the game with four shutout frames.

 
BARTELS, WOOD HONORED FOR EFFORTS IN CLASSROOM

  • Graduate student Cole Bartels and junior Matt Wood were named CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team on Thursday.
  • Bartels (3.92 GPA in business analytics) and Wood (3.80 GPA in supply chain management/information systems) move on to Academic All-American voting.
  • Bartels graduated in May 2021 with his bachelor's degree in advertising/public relations.


WOOD LEADING BIG TEN IN BATTING AVERAGE

  • Through 44 games played, junior Matt Wood is batting .414 with 12 doubles, three triples, eight homers, 44 RBI and 42 runs.
  • He leads the Big Ten in batting average (.414), good for seventh in the country and second among Division I catchers. He also paces the conference in on-base percentage (.505), sitting 13th in the nation.
  • In batting average, Wood is 22 points ahead of the second-highest average in the Big Ten.
  • Wood also sits second in the Big Ten in hits per game (1.48), slugging percentage (.682) and OPS (1.187), fourth in triples (3) and sixth in hits (65).
  • Wood leads the Nittany Lions in batting average, hits, runs, triples, homers, RBI, walks (30), slugging percentage and on-base percentage. He's tied with Ben Kailher for the team lead in steals (5).
  • Among Division I catchers, Wood ranks second in batting average and on-base percentage, fourth in OPS, sixth in triples and ninth in slugging percentage.
  • The lefty batter has been impressive facing righty (.400) and lefty (.447) pitchers.
  • Wood is batting .514 with runners in scoring position.
  • In Big Ten play, Wood is hitting .478 with 32 hits in 18 games. He has six doubles, two triples, four homers and 23 RBI. He has an OPS of 1.318.
  • Wood paces PSU with 22 multi-hit games and 10 multi-RBI games this season and tallied a 26-game hit streak, which was snapped at Georgetown. The 26-game streak is the second-longest in program history behind only Michael Campo (41, 2000).
  • During the 26-game hit streak, Wood had 15 multi-hit performances. He batted .469 (45-of-96) with eight doubles, two triples and four homers. He also drew 16 walks and three hit-by-pitches.

 
PENN STATE HITTING STRIDE

  • The Nittany Lions won six-straight games between April 27 and May 9 and won 10 of their last 12 games before falling at Georgetown.
  • Penn State has won three-straight Big Ten series for the first time since 2012 and is coming off a three-game sweep over Michigan State.
  • Over the 12 games, Penn State hit .307 as a team with 131 hits and 94 runs. The Nittany Lions tallied 45 extra-base hits.
  • Matt Wood led five batters hitting over .300 during that stretch with a .442 average. Jay Harry (.417), Josh Spiegel (.404), Derek Cease (.360) and Cole Bartels (.302) also hit over .300. Spiegel had 21 hits, Harry had 20 and Wood had 19.
  • Over those 12 games, Penn State has a 4.38 team ERA. Mason Mellott is 2-0 with an 0.73 ERA in five appearances.

 
PENNSYLVANIA INFLUENCE IN PITCHING STAFF

  • In 40 of 45 games this season, Penn State's starting pitcher has been a PA native.
  • Sophomore Travis Luensmann (Altoona) has made 10 starts, and 12 appearances, with 64 strikeouts in 54.1 innings. Luensmann struck out eight in six innings against Maine (2/25).
  • In Big Ten games, Luensmann has a 2.77 ERA in six appearances (four starts), sitting third in the conference.
  • Freshman Tommy Molsky has made 10 starts, and 13 appearances, tallying 39 strikeouts. Molsky tied a career high with six strikeouts against UMass (3/12).
  • Graduate student Mason Mellott has made four starts and 17 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 84 appearances, one appearance away from tying David Lutz (2007-10) for second.
  • Junior Kellan Tulio has made eight starts and 12 appearances. with 39 strikeouts and a 4.50 ERA. He threw five innings, allowing no earned runs, and struck out a career-high seven at Northwestern (4/9).
  • Jaden Henline has struck out 50 batters in 50 innings and sits fourth in the Big Ten in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.85). He threw a complete game to earn the win against Michigan State (5/8), allowing three runs (two earned) and striking out six. It was PSU's first complete game since Greg Welsh vs. Michigan State on May 17, 2013.
  • Senior Pittsburgh native Steven Miller made his first career start at Northwestern (4/9), throwing three shutout innings and striking out three.  He has 29 strikeouts.
  • Senior Tyler Shingledecker has made 17 appearances and three starts with a team-high five wins. The lefty has held opponents without an earned run in 10 of his 17 outings.  He has 44 strikeouts and only 11 walks.
  • Junior Souderton native Jordan Morales leads PSU with 22 appearances and has 48 strikeouts and only nine walks. He is 3-0 on the season.
  • Carson Kohls has been another effective member out of the bullpen in 13 appearances (one start), including three scoreless outings where he went three or more innings.
  • Entering the season, Penn State was 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 IN BIG TEN PLAY

  • In 18 Big Ten games, Penn State has collected 61 extra-base hits, including 31 doubles, 10 triples and 20 homers.
  • Matt Wood leads the Nittany Lions with 12 extra-base hits, including six doubles, two triples and four homers, to go with 23 RBI.
  • Jay Harry has 11 extra base hits (five doubles, two triples, four homers), while Josh Spiegel has 10 (five doubles, one triple, four homers). Spiegel has 19 RBI, while Harry has scored 17 runs.
  • On the season, Wood leads PSU with eight homers to go with 12 doubles, while Spiegel paces PSU with 14 doubles. Spiegel has seven homers and 35 RBI this season, while Jay Harry has five homers. Billy Gerlott has four homers.
  • Penn State has already recorded 16 triples this season, leading the Big Ten, and sits just two off the program record, accomplished in 1986, 2007 and 2010.
  • Led by Wood, Tayven Kelley and Johnny Piacentino's three triples, six Nittany Lions have multiple triples this season.

 
UP NEXT

  • The Nittany Lions take on Pitt on Tuesday, May 17 in their final non-conference game of the season. The game will be played at PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, at 6 p.m.