Baseball Faces Mount St. Mary’s On WednesdayBaseball Faces Mount St. Mary’s On Wednesday
Mark Selders

Carson Kohls

Baseball Faces Mount St. Mary’s On Wednesday

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State baseball team welcomes Mount St. Mary's for a non-conference matchup on Wednesday at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. with a livestream on B1G+.
 
The Nittany Lions, led by head coach Rob Cooper, earned a series win over Purdue this past weekend. Penn State won Thursday's game, 12-7, boosted by an eight-run third inning. The Nittany Lions also won Saturday's game, 7-5, with six strong innings by Travis Luensmann and a four-hit, four-RBI day by Josh Spiegel.
 
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 STARTERS
Wednesday (6 p.m.)  – PSU: RHP Carson Kohls (1-0, 4.42 ERA) vs. Mount St. Mary's: RHP Bryant Shives (0-2, 9.74 ERA)
 
*subject to change
 
LEADING OFF

  • Penn State hosts Mount St. Mary's for a mid-week, non-conference matchup.
  • The Nittany Lions are 6-3-1 all-time against the Mountaineers.
  • Penn State is coming off a Big Ten series win over Purdue.
  • The blue and white took game one, 12-7, highlighted by an eight-run third inning.
  • The Nittany Lions won game three, 7-5, getting six strong innings from starting pitcher Travis Luensmann, who allowed just two runs (unearned) and struck out six.
  • Josh Spiegel had seven RBI in the series, including three in game one and four in game three. He tallied four hits in game three.
  • Matt Wood continued a strong season, going 5-for-8 at the plate against the Boilermakers, to raise his batting average to .412 on the season.
  • Wood leads the Big Ten in batting average and ranks third in OPS (1.157).
  • In his last three outings, Luensmann has allowed just one earned run and struck out 17.
  • Tyler Shingledecker has 16 strikeouts in 8.2 innings over his last three outings.

 
SCOUTING MOUNT ST. MARY'S

  • Mount St. Mary's is coached by Frank Leoni, in his first season.
  • Leoni spent the previous eight seasons at Marymount University, leading the Saints to an Atlantic East Conference Championship and NCAA Regional appearance in 2021. Leoni and his staff were named the conference's coaching staff of the year.
  • He also coached seven years at William & Mary and 13 years at Rhode Island.
  • Tristan McAlister leads the Mountaineers with a .336 average, 37 hits and 17 stolen bases.
  • Thomas Bramley has a .305 average with team-bests for runs (24), triples (2), homers (8) and RBI (27).
  • Mount St. Mary's has a 7.43 team ERA.
  • Max Moore leads Mount with 13 appearances.

 
AGAINST THE MOUNTAINEERS

  • The Nittany Lions lead the all-time series, 6-3-1, against Mount St. Mary's
  • Penn State has won the last three matchups.
  • The series dates back to the first matchup in 1897, when Penn State fell 11-8.
  • Penn State is 25-8-1 against current members of the Northeast Conference.
  • In Penn State's 8-6 win in 2019, Mason Nadeau and Shae Sbranti each homered, with Nadeau driving in four runs. Tyler Shingledecker started that game, going three innings and allowing one run.

 
WOOD LEADING BIG TEN IN BATTING AVERAGE

  • Through 32 games played, junior Matt Wood is batting .412 with eight doubles, two triples, six homers, 28 RBI and 28 runs.
  • He leads the Big Ten in batting average (.412), good for 20th in the country.
  • Wood leads the Nittany Lions in batting average, hits, runs, triples, homers, RBI, walks (16), slugging percentage (.675) and on-base percentage (.482).
  • Wood also sits third in the Big Ten in his per game (1.47), third in OPS (1.157), fourth in slugging percentage (.675) and fifth in on-base percentage (.482).
  • 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 (1.157).
  • He sits third in the Big Ten in batting average and sixth in slugging percentage.
  • The lefty batter has been impressive facing righty (.427) and lefty (.385) pitchers.
  • Wood is batting .500 with runners in scoring position.
  • Wood paces PSU with 17 multi-hit games and seven multi-RBI games this season and is riding a current 15-game hit streak.
  • During the 15-game hit streak, Wood has 10 multi-hit performances. He is batting .482 (27-of-56) with four 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 33 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 10 appearances, tallying 31 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 with a 4.42 ERA in 10 appearances, 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 17 doubles, two triples and 11 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 three 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 16 extra-base hits, pacing PSU with two triples (tied with Piacentino) and six homers to go with eight doubles.
  • Josh Spiegel leads PSU 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 then travels to Minnesota for a three-game Big Ten series on April 22-24. The series begins on Friday at 7 p.m. at Siebert Field. Saturday's first pitch is set for 3 p.m. and Sunday's game is set to begin at 11 a.m. All three games will be livestreamed on B1G+.