Baseball Visits No. 18 West Virginia For Midweek MatchupBaseball Visits No. 18 West Virginia For Midweek Matchup
Mark Selders

Tommy Molsky

Baseball Visits No. 18 West Virginia For Midweek Matchup

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – The Penn State baseball team travels to Morgantown on Tuesday for a midweek matchup against No. 18 West Virginia at Wagener Field at Monongalia County Ballpark. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. with a broadcast on ESPN+.
 
Penn State, led by head coach Rob Cooper, is 23-13 overall and enters the contest on a four-game win streak. The Nittany Lions swept Ohio State this past weekend, outscoring the Buckeyes 32-8.
 
West Virginia, ranked 18th in the country by D1Baseball, is also on a four-game win streak and enters with a 29-11 mark.
 
Season and single game tickets for the 2023 Penn State baseball season are available here.
 
The 2023 Penn State baseball season is presented by The Family Clothesline.
 
FOLLOW ALONG

 
LEADING OFF

  • Penn State visits Morgantown to take on West Virginia in a midweek, non-conference matchup.
  • The Nittany Lions earned an 11-6 win in Happy Valley in a wild game in which PSU scored seven runs in the sixth and three in the seventh.
  • Both teams enter the game on a four-game win streak.
  • The Nittany Lions swept Ohio State this past weekend, outscoring the Buckeyes, 32-8. It was Penn State's first Big Ten sweep of the season.
  • On Sunday, Penn State scored 10 runs in the fourth, while needing just two hits, but one of those hits was a three-run blast by Bobby Marsh.
  • In four games last week, Marsh batted .400 with three doubles, a homer and 11 RBI.
  • As a freshman, Marsh is batting .337 overall and .364 in Big Ten play.
  • Jordan Morales threw 4.1 shutout innings over two outings against OSU, tossing three perfect innings on Saturday and 1.1 frames, earning the win on Sunday.
  • Kyle Hannon owns 24 stolen bases this season, three away from tying the Penn State season record held by Michael Campo (27, 2000).

 
SCOUTING WEST VIRGINIA

  • Randy Mazey is in his 11th season as head coach at West Virginia.
  • He owns 511 career wins and 325 wins at WVU, while leading the Mountaineers to two NCAA Regional appearances.
  • The Mountaineers are 29-11 overall and ranked No. 18 in the D1Baseball Poll and No. 17 in the Baseball America Poll.
  • WVU is batting .302 as a team and averaging 8.1 runs per game. WVU ranks 18th in the country in doubles (92) and 12th in steals (90).
  • JJ Wetherholt is having a monster season, recently being named Midseason First Team All-America by D1Baseball. He is batting .455 with 66 hits (17 doubles, 8 homers), 47 runs and 39 RBI as well as 28 steals.
  • Wetherholt leads the country in hits per game (1.89), while ranking second in batting average (.455), 12th in hits (66), 17th in doubles (17), fifth in steals (28) and 20th in on-base percentage (.520).
  • The WVU pitching staff owns a 4.37 team ERA and is allowing a .247 opponent batting average.
  • Carlson Reed leads the staff with 16 appearances.

 
AGAINST THE MOUNTAINEERS

  • Penn State and West Virginia are set to play the 117th matchup in the series.
  • The teams played on April 11 with the Nittany Lions rallying for an 11-6 win.
  • Penn State rallied for seven runs in the sixth and three in the seventh.
  • West Virginia is one of five opponents Penn State has played more than 100 times, joining Bucknell (132-31-1), Michigan (49-54), Ohio State (43-73), and Pitt (90-46-1).

 
HARRY NAMED TO BROOKS WALLACE AWARD WATCH LIST

  • Junior shortstop Jay Harry was named to the Brooks Wallace Award watch list on Tuesday, April 18.
  • The award honors the nation's top shortstop.
  • Harry has started all 36 games this season and is batting .322. He leads the team with 49 hits and 11 doubles, while collecting a triple, six homers, 31 RBI and 40 runs. He has also drawn 14 walks and stolen five bases.
  • The New Jersey native paces the squad with 16 multi-hit games this season, including five three-hit games, while recording 12 multi-run games and eight multi-RBI games.
  • He started the 2023 campaign with two hits, including a double, and three RBI in a win over No. 22 Miami. He also had three hits, including a double, at No. 14 North Carolina.
  • He launched two homers, including a walk-off two-run shot, against Brown on March 11 and added two hits and three RBI against Georgetown.
  • Harry tallied three hits, including a double, three runs and an RBI in a win over Pitt and launched a clutch solo homer against West Virginia before tallying three hits, three runs and a solo homer against Ohio State.
  • In his Penn State career, Harry has started 131 games, all as the primary shortstop.
  • He owns 158 career hits, including 31 doubles and 12 homers, 75 RBI and 102 runs.

 
HANNON EMERGES AS POWER, SPEED THREAT

  • Kyle Hannon leads the team in runs (43) and steals (24), while tying for the team lead with six homers. He recently snapped a 17-game hit streak.
  • Hannon is on pace to become Penn State's first player with 10+ homers and 10+ steals in a season since Sean Deegan (12 HR, 15 SB). His 24 steals are already tied for second in a season at PSU and are the most by a PSU player since Deegan's 24 steals in 2010. Hannon needs just three steals to tie the season record held by Michael Campo (27, 1999). Hannon has six games this season with multiple steals.
  • Hannon leads the Big Ten in steals per game (0.67), good for 16th in the nation, and total steals (24), sitting 19th in the country.
  • Hannon is one of six Division I players with 6+ homers and 24+ steals this season, joining Toledo's Jeron Williams (6 HR, 35 SB), West Virginia's JJ Wetherholt (8 HR, 28 SB), Maine's Jake Rainess (12 HR, 28 SB), VMI's Justin Starke (9 HR, 26 SB) and Cal's Rodney Green Jr. (8 HR, 25 SB).

 
LUENSMANN, OUDERKIRK LEAD STAFF

  • Grad student Daniel Ouderkirk, a West Virginia transfer, has made an immediate impact in the Penn State rotation.
  • Ouderkirk has tallied 57 strikeouts in 39.1 innings and has multiple strikeouts in 18 different innings this season. In nine outings, he has limited opponents to a .216 average.
  • The 6-9 righty ranks 22nd in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings (13.04), sitting third in the Big Ten. He's eighth in the conference in total strikeouts (57).
  • Ouderkirk recorded at least 10 strikeouts in three straight starts: 11 vs. Northern Illinois, 11 vs. Dartmouth and 10 vs. Brown. He has allowed just one earned run in each start against NIU, Dartmouth and Georgetown. He threw 3.1 shutout innings at Purdue.
  • Ouderkirk became the first Nittany Lion with three straight starts of 10+ strikeouts since at least 2004.
  • He is one of nine DI pitchers with three-straight 10+ strikeout starts this year.
  • Junior Travis Luensmann was named Big Ten Co-Pitcher of the Week after striking out 10 in four relief shutout innings against Indiana. His 10 strikeouts were a career high.
  • In 10 appearances (six starts), Luensmann is 6-2 with a 2.91 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 46.1 innings. His six wins rank second in the Big Ten.
  • He allowed just one run in five innings at No. 22 Miami, one run in five innings against Northern Illinois and no runs in five innings against Georgetown and no runs in 4.1 innings against Delaware State.
  • Tossed five innings, allowing one earned run, to earn a win against Ohio State.

 
TRANSFERS PROVIDE SPARK

  • The Nittany Lions welcomed four transfers to the program ahead of the 2023 season and all four have had strong starts to the year.
  • Joining Ouderkirk are grad students Thomas Bramley (Mount St. Mary's) and Grant Norris (Duke) and freshman Bobby Marsh (Florida Atlantic).
  • Fellow grad student Thomas Bramley has started all 36 games, splitting time between catcher, outfield and designated hitter. Bramley is batting .348 with 46 hits, including nine doubles, a triple and four homers, including a grand slam at Purdue, and has drawn a team-high 33 walks. In the third game against Purdue, snapped a 36-game reached base streak.
  • Bramley has 15 multi-hit games and six multi-RBI games.
  • Norris has started 27 games at third base after transferring from Duke and is batting .313 with four homers and leads the team with 33 RBI.
  • Freshman Bobby Marsh, a Bellefonte native and transfer from Florida Atlantic, has played in 30 games (24 starts). He owns 11 doubles, four homers and 26 RBI.
  • Marsh launched a solo homer in game two at Purdue and drove in the go-ahead run with a two-run double against Youngstown State.
  • In four games against YSU and Ohio State, recorded 11 RBI.
  • On the season, batting .337 overall and .364 in Big Ten play.

 
BALANCED BATS

  • The Nittany Lions currently rank 29th in the country in runs per game (8.2), 30th with a .305 team average and 29th in triples (13).
  • Thomas Bramley is batting a team-best .348 with 46 hits and 33 walks, good for third in the Big Ten in walks, while Jay Harry leads the team with 49 hits to go with 40 runs and a .322 average. Grant Norris holds the team RBI lead (33) and is batting .313 with 13 extra-base hits.
  • Bobby Marsh (.337), Johnny Piacentino (.321) and Josh Spiegel (.311) are also hitting above .300 with Piacentino contributing 25 runs and 21 RBI, including a grand slam against Ohio State, while Spiegel has 19 RBI. Marsh has 15 extra-base hits and 26 RBI.
  • Tayven Kelley leads PSU with four triples this season and has 10 for his career, tied for sixth all-time at Penn State.
  • Against Binghamton, Anthony Steele went two-for-four with a homer, four RBI and a stolen base before taking the mound and striking out two. He also had three strikeouts and an RBI single against Delaware State.

 
OPENING WIN OVER MIAMI

  • Penn State opened the 2023 season with a 9-5 win over Miami on February 17.
  • The Hurricanes were ranked 22nd in the D1Baseball Poll and No. 8 in the Baseball America rankings.
  • The Nittany Lions earned the program's first win over Miami and collected the program's first win over a ranked non-conference opponent since an 8-7 win over No. 21 Duke in 2019.
  • Travis Luensmann threw five innings in the win, allowing just one run on two hits and striking out four.
  • Penn State tallied 16 hits, including six Nittany Lions with multiple hits.
  • Billy Gerlott and Johnny Piacentino each had three hits, while Kyle Hannon and Tayven Kelley launched solo homers.

 
NITTANY LIONS RETURN EXPERIENCED PITCHING STAFF

  • The Nittany Lions welcome back an experienced pitching staff.
  • Penn State pitchers had a strong start to the 2023 season at No. 22 Miami.
  • The Nittany Lions' starting pitchers, Travis Luensmann, Daniel Ouderkirk and Tommy Molsky, combined to throw 13.1 innings, allowing eight hits and four earned runs, while striking out 13 batters.
  • The three starters recorded a 2.70 ERA and held Miami hitters to a .170 batting average.
  • Penn State set a program record with 503 strikeouts in 2022 as six members of the staff recorded at least 40 strikeouts.
  • The Nittany Lions return 406 of their 503 strikeouts (81 percent) from last year.
  • Penn State is one of nine Power Five programs, and the only Big Ten school, returning 400+ strikeouts from last season.
  • Among Power Five schools returning 400+ strikeouts, only Wake Forest (92%) returns a higher percentage of strikeouts returning.
  • In 49 of 55 games last season, Penn State's starting pitcher was a Pennsylvania native.
  • Penn State's pitching staff takes a versatile approach with eight different pitchers recording both a start and a save in 2022.
  • Since 2016, eight Penn State pitchers have been selected in the MLB Draft, including Conor Larkin (9th round, Toronto Blue Jays), Kyle Virbitsky (17th round, Oakland A's) and Bailey Dees (18th round, New York Yankees) in 2021.

 
UP NEXT

  • Penn State return to Medlar Field at Lubrano Park to host Iowa in a Big Ten series, beginning on Friday, April 28. Friday's game is set for 5 p.m. on Big Ten Network, featuring Dollar Dog Night, postgame fireworks and a free cape giveaway for kids in honor of National Superhero Day.
  • Saturday's game, begins at 2 p.m. and includes postgame autographs and a trading card giveaway.
  • Sunday's game starts at 1 p.m. on Vs. Cancer Day and includes post-game kids run the bases.