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Craig Houtz

Jay Harry

Penn State Opens Big Ten Tournament Against Iowa

OMAHA, Neb. – The Penn State baseball team meets Iowa to begin Big Ten Tournament play on Wednesday. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. ET at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha. All games of the tournament will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.
 
The Nittany Lions, led by Rob Cooper, finished the regular season with a 25-27 overall record and an 11-13 mark in conference play.
 
The 2022 Penn State baseball season is presented by The Family Clothesline.
 
FOLLOW ALONG

 
PROBABLE STARTERS
Wednesday (6 p.m.)  – PSU: LHP Tyler Shingledecker (6-3, 3.28 ERA) vs. Iowa: Adam Mazur (7-2, 3.05 ERA)
 
*subject to change
 
BIG TEN TOURNAMENT

  • The Nittany Lions, the No. 6 seed, open the tournament against Iowa, the No. 3 seed.
  • On Friday, Penn State will meet either Rutgers, the No. 2 seed, or Purdue, the No. 7 seed.
  • The full tournament schedule and info can be found here.

 
LEADING OFF

  • Penn State meets Iowa to open the Big Ten Tournament.
  • The Nittany Lions, the No. 6 seed, take on the Hawkeyes, the No. 3 seed.
  • Penn State plays its first Big Ten Tournament game since 2012.
  • The Nittany Lions won the only previous matchup against the Hawkeyes in the Big Ten Tournament, a 5-3 victory in 2007.
  • Matt Wood led three All-Big Ten honorees by earning first team accolades.
  • Wood is PSU's first player to be named first-team All-Big Ten since Jordan Steranka in 2012.
  • Wood won the Big Ten batting average title (.395) and hit .413 in conference games.
  • The junior leads PSU with 11 homers, 50 RBI and 52 runs and is riding a 34-game reached-base streak.
  • Josh Spiegel was named second-team All-Big Ten with 16 doubles, 10 homers and 42 RBI.
  • Penn State collected 83 extra-base hits in 24 Big Ten games in the regular season.

 
SCOUTING IOWA

  • Iowa is led by head coach Rick Heller.
  • He has led the Hawkeyes to 273 wins in nine seasons and owns 963 career victories.
  • Iowa is 33-17 overall and finished the season with a 17-7 mark in Big Ten play.
  • The Hawkeyes are led by a strong pitching staff. Iowa ranks sixth in the nation in ERA (3.57), second in hits allowed per nine innings (6.78) and second in strikeouts per nine innings (11.3).
  • Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Adam Mazur paces the staff with a 7-2 record, a 3.05 ERA and 90 strikeouts. In the bullpen, Ben Beutel leads Iowa with 26 appearances, going 3-0 with a 1.33 ERA and 36 strikeouts.
  • Iowa's offense is led by Keaton Anthony and Peyton Williams.
  • Anthony, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, is batting .360 with 20 doubles, 14 homers and 53 RBI.
  • Williams, All-Big Ten first team, has 17 doubles, 12 homers and 38 RBI to go with a .356 average.

 
AGAINST THE HAWKEYES

  • Penn State meets Iowa for the 76th time in the series.
  • The Nittany Lions hold a 40-35 lead all-time including a win in the only previous matchup in the Big Ten Tournament (5-3 in 2007).
  • In that game, PSU trailed 3-0 after the first inning but Craig Clark and Drew O'Neil combined to hold Iowa at three runs, retiring 16 of the final 17 batters of the contest.
  • Matt Cavagnaro went three-for-five at the plate and scored the go-ahead run in the seventh.

 
ALL-BIG TEN HONORS

  • Four Nittany Lions were honored by the Big Ten on Tuesday.
  • Matt Wood was named First Team All-Big Ten after winning the conference batting average title (.395).
  • He is Penn State's first All-Big Ten first team selection since Jordan Steranka in 2012 and PSU's third catcher to earn first team honors, joining Chris Netwall (2001) and Ben Health (2010).
  • Josh Spiegel collected second team honors. He has 16 doubles, 10 homers and 42 RBI this season.
  • Anthony Steele was selected to the All-Big Ten Freshman team as a designated hitter.
  • Mason Mellott was tabbed Penn State's representative for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.

 
WOOD WINS BIG TEN BATTING AVERAGE CROWN

  • Through 51 games played, junior Matt Wood is batting .395 with 14 doubles, three triples, 11 homers, 50 RBI and 52 runs. He has reached base in 34-straight games.
  • He won the Big Ten Batting Average title, concluding the regular season with a .395 average. He is the first Nittany Lion to win the Big Ten batting title since Michael Campo (2000).
  • Wood's .395 average is good for 19th in the country and third among Division I catchers.
  • Wood also sits second in OPS (1.175), third in on-base percentage (.494), fifth in slugging percentage (.681), eighth in triples (3), ninth in hits per game (1.43) and total hits (73).
  • Wood leads the Nittany Lions in batting average, hits, runs, homers, RBI, walks (34), slugging percentage and on-base percentage.
  • Among Division I catchers, Wood ranks third in batting average, fifth in OPS, sixth in on-base and slugging percentages and seventh in triples.
  • The lefty batter has been impressive facing righty (.391) and lefty (.404) pitchers.
  • Wood is batting .467 with runners in scoring position.
  • In Big Ten regular season play, Wood hit .413 with 38 hits in 24 games. He had seven doubles, two triples, seven homers, 29 RBI and 21 runs. He has an OPS of 1.229.
  • Wood paces PSU with 24 multi-hit games and 11 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.

 
RECORDS WATCH

  • As the Nittany Lions enter the last week of the regular season, a couple team records are in reach as well as Top 10 individual performances in program history. The Nittany Lions have already set the program triples record with 19. Penn State hits its 18th on May 17 at Pitt.
  • Penn State's pitching staff has collected 477 strikeouts, closing in on the program record of 491.
  • Josh Spiegel is already tied for the ninth-most doubles in a season at PSU (16) with Ben Heath (2010) and Jordan Steranka (2010).
  • Cole Bartels is tied ninth in a season with nine hit-by-pitches with four former Nittany Lions, most recently Gavin Homer in 2019, while Tayven Kelley and Johnny Piacentino have four triples, one shy of tying for 10th-most in a season.
  • Matt Wood is in on pace to finish with the seventh-best slugging percentage (.681) in a season at PSU. He ranks sixth for total bases (126) and is tied eighth in runs (52) and 10th in walks (34). Wood is in range to enter the season Top 10 for hits (73; needs 74), RBI (50; needs 51), doubles (14; needs 16) and home runs (11; needs 12).

 
PENNSYLVANIA INFLUENCE IN PITCHING STAFF

  • In 47 of 52 games this season, Penn State's starting pitcher has been a PA native.
  • Sophomore Travis Luensmann (Altoona) has made 12 starts, and 14 appearances, with 71 strikeouts in 64.1 innings. Luensmann struck out eight in six innings against Maine (2/25).
  • In Big Ten games, Luensmann has a 3.25 ERA in eight appearances (six starts), sitting fifth in the conference.
  • Freshman Tommy Molsky has made 11 starts, and 15 appearances, tallying 45 strikeouts. Molsky tied a career high with six strikeouts against UMass (3/12).
  • Graduate student Mason Mellott has made four starts and 20 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 second with 87 appearances.
  • Junior Kellan Tulio has made nine starts and 14 appearances with 41 strikeouts in 33.2 innings. He threw five innings, allowing no earned runs, and struck out a career-high seven at Northwestern (4/9).
  • Jaden Henline has struck out 55 batters and sits fifth in the Big Ten in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.67). 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 31 strikeouts.
  • Senior Tyler Shingledecker has made 20 appearances and three starts with a team-high six wins. The lefty has held opponents without an earned run in 12 of his 19 outings.  He has 52 strikeouts and only 16 walks.
  • Junior Souderton native Jordan Morales leads PSU with 25 appearances (one start) and has 55 strikeouts and only 11 walks. He is 3-0 on the season.
  • Carson Kohls has been another effective member out of the bullpen in 16 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 FIND POWER IN BIG TEN PLAY

  • In 24 Big Ten regular season games, Penn State collected 83 extra-base hits, including 43 doubles, 11 triples and 29 homers.
  • Matt Wood led the Nittany Lions with 16 extra-base hits, including seven doubles, two triples and seven homers, to go with 29 RBI.
  • Josh Spiegel has 14 extra-base hits (seven doubles, one triple six homers), while Billy Gerlott has 13 extra-base hits (six doubles, one triple, six homers). Jay Harry has 12 extra base hits (six doubles, two triples, four homers). Spiegel has 22 RBI.
  • On the season, Wood leads PSU with 11 homers to go with 14 doubles, while Spiegel paces PSU with 16 doubles. Spiegel has 10 homers and 42 RBI this season, while Billy Gerlott has six homers and Jay Harry has five. Gerlott also has 12 doubles and two triples.
  • Led by Tayven Kelley and Johnny Piacentino's four triples and Wood's three triples, six Nittany Lions have multiple triples this season.