Former professional baseball player Austin Urban is assisting the Penn State coaching staff as a student assistant coach for a fourth season. Urban graduated in May 2021 with a degree in labor and employment relations after first attending Penn State during the fall of 2010.
The Nittany Lions ended the 2021 season with an 18-24 record, playing against exclusively Big Ten opponents. The wins included a 3-2 victory over No. 18 Michigan on March 26 and a series sweep over Michigan State in which Penn State outscored the Spartans, 39-13. The Nittany Lions also won two series against Rutgers.
Penn State starting pitchers allowed 2 or less runs in 16 outings this season, including two shutouts.
Senior Kyle Virbitsky paced the Penn State rotation with a 4.17 ERA, five wins, 77.2 innings pitched and 88 strikeouts. Virbitsky ranked seventh in the Big Ten in strikeouts and third in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.40). His 88 strikeouts are tied for the 10th-most in a season at Penn State. Senior Bailey Dees served as PSU’s Friday night starter and was responsible for four wins and 53 strikeouts in 66 innings. Fellow senior Conor Larkin earned three wins and 69 strikeouts in 63.2 innings. The Pennsylvania native struck out seven or more batters in six starts in 2021.
Senior Mason Mellott went 2-1 with four saves and recorded 33 strikeouts in 31.1 innings. He threw more than one inning in 10 of his 17 appearances. The State College native ranks seventh all-time at Penn State with 67 appearances and fourth with 13 career saves.
When the COVID-19 pandemic shortened the 2020 season, Penn State ranked sixth in the NCAA with a 1.01 WHIP and also eighth with a 2.16 team ERA. The Nittany Lions also ranked 15th with 6.33 hits allowed per nine innings and 18th with a 3.63 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Additionally, Dees, Tyler Shingledecker and Mellott held Navy hitless for 10.1 innings for the first combined no-hitter and first extra-inning no-hitter in program history. The no-hitter was the 10th in Penn State history and first since 2012.
Penn State pitchers saw big improvement in 2019, smashing the program record for strikeouts with 491 and ranking ninth in the country and tops in the Big Ten with 10.1 strikeouts-per-nine innings. The Nittany Lions also ranked 47th in the country and fifth in the Big Ten with just 8.32 hits allowed per nine innings and shaved more than a run off of the team’s earned run average from the year prior, moving up to fifth in the Big Ten (4.30).
Dante Biasi led Penn State’s starting rotation and was voted to the 2019 All-Big Ten Second Team by the conference's coaches before getting selected by the Kansas City Royals early in the sixth round to become the highest-selected left-handed pitcher in Penn State history, the highest-selected Nittany Lion pitcher since 2008 and the highest-selected Nittany Lion since 2010.
Biasi posted a 2.55 earned run average with 102 strikeouts in 74.0 innings over 14 starts. His 6.32 hits allowed per nine innings were the fewest in the conference, his ERA ranked fourth in the Big Ten, and he was one of the top strikeout pitchers during the regular season, ranking second in the Big Ten, 33rd nationally and fifth in a single-season in Penn State history. His 12.41 strikeouts per nine innings also ranked second in the Big Ten.
Eric Mock was also drafted in 2019 following a career year, going to the Cleveland Indians in the 23rd round. At the conclusion of the regular season, Mock ranked seventh in the Big Ten with 10.45 strikeouts per nine innings and 10th with 7.46 hits allowed per nine innings.
Urban was drafted out of Richland High School in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, by the Orioles in the 27th round of the 2010 MLB Player Entry draft, but elected to attend Penn State as a two-way player. However, after the fall semester, Urban transferred to Des Moines Area CC for the spring 2011 semester, where he led the team’s pitchers during a run to the NJCAA Division II World Series.
Urban was drafted by the Cubs in the 41st round in 2011 and signed, but did not pitch for them in 2011 and missed the 2012 season due to injury. He signed with the Orioles organization in 2013 and made 82 appearances and 14 starts over five seasons, missing one due to injury, going 9-16 with a 3.96 ERA.
Urban enjoyed a decorated high school career at Richland, earning first-team all-state plaudits as a pitcher and second-team all-state recognition as a shortstop. He was a High School Rawlings preseason All-American in 2010 and rated inside the top 250 overall prospects by Baseball America in the 2010 draft.
The Nittany Lions ended the 2021 season with an 18-24 record, playing against exclusively Big Ten opponents. The wins included a 3-2 victory over No. 18 Michigan on March 26 and a series sweep over Michigan State in which Penn State outscored the Spartans, 39-13. The Nittany Lions also won two series against Rutgers.
Penn State starting pitchers allowed 2 or less runs in 16 outings this season, including two shutouts.
Senior Kyle Virbitsky paced the Penn State rotation with a 4.17 ERA, five wins, 77.2 innings pitched and 88 strikeouts. Virbitsky ranked seventh in the Big Ten in strikeouts and third in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.40). His 88 strikeouts are tied for the 10th-most in a season at Penn State. Senior Bailey Dees served as PSU’s Friday night starter and was responsible for four wins and 53 strikeouts in 66 innings. Fellow senior Conor Larkin earned three wins and 69 strikeouts in 63.2 innings. The Pennsylvania native struck out seven or more batters in six starts in 2021.
Senior Mason Mellott went 2-1 with four saves and recorded 33 strikeouts in 31.1 innings. He threw more than one inning in 10 of his 17 appearances. The State College native ranks seventh all-time at Penn State with 67 appearances and fourth with 13 career saves.
When the COVID-19 pandemic shortened the 2020 season, Penn State ranked sixth in the NCAA with a 1.01 WHIP and also eighth with a 2.16 team ERA. The Nittany Lions also ranked 15th with 6.33 hits allowed per nine innings and 18th with a 3.63 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Additionally, Dees, Tyler Shingledecker and Mellott held Navy hitless for 10.1 innings for the first combined no-hitter and first extra-inning no-hitter in program history. The no-hitter was the 10th in Penn State history and first since 2012.
Penn State pitchers saw big improvement in 2019, smashing the program record for strikeouts with 491 and ranking ninth in the country and tops in the Big Ten with 10.1 strikeouts-per-nine innings. The Nittany Lions also ranked 47th in the country and fifth in the Big Ten with just 8.32 hits allowed per nine innings and shaved more than a run off of the team’s earned run average from the year prior, moving up to fifth in the Big Ten (4.30).
Dante Biasi led Penn State’s starting rotation and was voted to the 2019 All-Big Ten Second Team by the conference's coaches before getting selected by the Kansas City Royals early in the sixth round to become the highest-selected left-handed pitcher in Penn State history, the highest-selected Nittany Lion pitcher since 2008 and the highest-selected Nittany Lion since 2010.
Biasi posted a 2.55 earned run average with 102 strikeouts in 74.0 innings over 14 starts. His 6.32 hits allowed per nine innings were the fewest in the conference, his ERA ranked fourth in the Big Ten, and he was one of the top strikeout pitchers during the regular season, ranking second in the Big Ten, 33rd nationally and fifth in a single-season in Penn State history. His 12.41 strikeouts per nine innings also ranked second in the Big Ten.
Eric Mock was also drafted in 2019 following a career year, going to the Cleveland Indians in the 23rd round. At the conclusion of the regular season, Mock ranked seventh in the Big Ten with 10.45 strikeouts per nine innings and 10th with 7.46 hits allowed per nine innings.
Urban was drafted out of Richland High School in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, by the Orioles in the 27th round of the 2010 MLB Player Entry draft, but elected to attend Penn State as a two-way player. However, after the fall semester, Urban transferred to Des Moines Area CC for the spring 2011 semester, where he led the team’s pitchers during a run to the NJCAA Division II World Series.
Urban was drafted by the Cubs in the 41st round in 2011 and signed, but did not pitch for them in 2011 and missed the 2012 season due to injury. He signed with the Orioles organization in 2013 and made 82 appearances and 14 starts over five seasons, missing one due to injury, going 9-16 with a 3.96 ERA.
Urban enjoyed a decorated high school career at Richland, earning first-team all-state plaudits as a pitcher and second-team all-state recognition as a shortstop. He was a High School Rawlings preseason All-American in 2010 and rated inside the top 250 overall prospects by Baseball America in the 2010 draft.