Dallas Burke served five seasons as a volunteer assistant coach on the Penn State staff, primarily working with the team's hitters and catchers.
In five seasons with the program, Burke helped three Nittany Lion hitters to be selected in the MLB Draft: Ryan Sloniger (38th round, 2019), Justin Williams (17th round, 2021) and Matt Wood (4th round, 2022). Wood is the highest-selected position player in program history.
Burke mentored four All-Big Ten selections: Matt Wood (2nd, 2021; 1st, 2022), Josh Spiegel (2nd, 2022) and Bobby Marsh (3rd, 2023). Burke also coached three All-Big Ten Freshman Team honorees: Justin Williams (2019), Anthony Steele (2022) and Bobby Marsh (2023).
In the four full seasons (2019, 2021, 2022, 2023) with Burke on staff, Penn State improved in runs per game (4.3, 5.2, 5.5, 7.1), homers (24, 34, 42, 44), RBI (193, 203, 274, 316) and on-base percentage (.332, .347, .358, .372).
In 2023, Penn State collected 25 wins, including victories against No. 22 Miami, No. 20 Maryland, West Virginia, Indiana and Iowa. The Nittany Lions swept Ohio State in a Big Ten series.
Penn State finished the season with 97 doubles, 18 triples and 44 homers as well as three players hitting above .310, eight players with 40+ hits, six players scoring 30+ runs and eight players contributing 25+ RBI. Six Nittany Lions posted 10+ doubles, four had multiple triples and four had 6+ home runs.
The Nittany Lions collected 10+ runs in 14 games and 10+ hits in 27 games. Penn State had 5+ extra base hits in eight games.
From 2022-23, Penn State improved in batting average (.265 to .281), runs per game (5.5 to 7.1), hits per game (9.1 to 9.7), doubles (90 to 97), homers (42 to 44), RBI (274 to 316), slugging percentage (.399 to .435) and on-base percentage (.358 to .372), while cutting down on strikeouts (441 to 398).
Bobby Marsh earned All-Big Ten third team honors and was a unanimous selection on the All-Big Ten freshman team. Marsh batted .310 with 45 hits, including 13 doubles and six homers, 35 RBI and 33 runs.
Johnny Piacentino led the team with a .318 average to go with 50 hits (12 extra-base hits), while Thomas Bramley batted .312 with 58 hits (16 extra-base hits), 36 RBI and 41 runs. Bramley drew 41 walks, good for third in a season at Penn State, had a team-high 19 multi-hit games. Jay Harry paced the Nittany Lions with 60 hits and tied for the team lead with 13 doubles, while adding a triple, six homers, 37 RBI and 47 runs.
Kyle Hannon paced PSU with 51 runs and 27 steals, while tying for the team lead with seven homers. Hannon’s 27 steals tied the Penn State season record. Grant Norris tied Hannon with seven homers while adding 11 doubles and three triples and a team-high 42 RBI, while Tayven Kelley contributed 12 doubles, four homers and a team-best five triples. Kelley’s five triples finished one shy of the PSU season record.
In 2022, the Nittany Lions earned their first Big Ten Tournament appearance since 2012. The blue and white finished the season with a 26-29 record, including an 11-13 mark in the Big Ten. Penn State earned the No. 6 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, picking up a 5-2 win over No. 3 seed Iowa to open the tournament.
Penn State won Big Ten series against Purdue, Minnesota and Michigan State, sweeping the Spartans. The Nittany Lions also earned a win in each series against Rutgers, No. 23 Maryland, Northwestern and Ohio State. In non-conference action, the Nittany Lions’ wins included a 14-3 victory over NEC Champion LIU, an 8-4 win at West Virginia and a 19-6 win over Pitt in PNC Park, highlighted by a 14-run top of the ninth.
In 24 Big Ten regular season games, Penn State collected 83 extra-base hits, including 43 doubles, 11 triples and 29 homers. Penn State set a program record with 19 triples in 2022, bettering the previous record of 18 in 1986, 2007 and 2010. Tayven Kelley and Johnny Piacentino each had four triples, good to tie for eighth-most in a season at PSU.
From 2021 to 2022, Penn State improved in runs per game (5.2 to 5.5), hits per game (8.9 to 9.1), triples (7 to 19), homers (34 to 42), RBI (203 to 274), walks per game (3.2 to 4.3) and on-base percentage (.347 to .358).
Penn State had two All-Big Ten selections, led by first team selection Matt Wood. The junior catcher won the Big Ten batting average title in the regular season (.395) and led the Nittany Lions in average (.379), hits (75), runs (55), homers (12), RBI (53), total bases (132), slugging percentage (.667), on-base percentage (.480) and walks (36). Wood’s incredible season included a 26-game hit streak and a 36-game reached-base streak. Wood was PSU’s first All-Big Ten first-team selection since Jordan Steranka in 2012) and Penn State’s 16th first team selection in program history and the third catcher to earn first team honors.
Wood finished the season ranking fourth at PSU in runs (55), sixth in total bases (132), tied seventh in walks (36), tied eighth in hits (75) and RBI (53) and ninth in homers (12) and slugging percentage (.667).
Wood was selected in the fourth round (132nd overall) by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2022 MLB Draft. Wood is the highest-selected position player in program history. The previous highest was catcher Ben Heath (fifth round, 153rd overall) by the Houston Astros.
Josh Spiegel was named All-Big Ten second team, batting .300 with a team-best 17 doubles. He had 10 homers and 43 RBI to go with 34 runs. Spiegel tied for the eighth-most doubles in a season at PSU, matching Chris Wright (2001). Anthony Steele was selected to the All-Big Ten freshman team after collecting 23 hits and 10 RBI.
Jay Harry batted .333 with 71 hits, including 10 doubles and five homers, 40 runs and 26 RBI. Billy Gerlott tallied 12 doubles, two triples and six homers to go with 33 RBI.
The Nittany Lions concluded the 2021 season with an 18-24 record, playing against exclusively Big Ten opponents. The victories included a 3-2 win over No. 18 Michigan on March 26 and a series sweep over Michigan State in which Penn State outscored the Spartans, 39-13. Penn State scored 10 or more runs in six games, the Nittany Lions’ most against Big Ten opponents since 2008 (8) and the most in a season since 2016.
The blue and white paced the Big Ten in doubles (93) and doubles per game (2.21), ranking 10th in the country in doubles per game. The Nittany Lions sat third in the conference in batting average (.269). Penn State hit 34 home runs, its most since 2012, and had five players with four or more homers.
From the 2019 to 2021 seasons, Penn State improved in batting average (.234 to .269), runs per game (4.3 to 5.2), doubles (68 to 93), homers (24 to 34), RBI (193 to 203), total bases (547 to 585), slugging percentage (.340 to .419) and on-base percentage (.332 to .347) while reducing strikeout totals (460 to 351).
Sophomore Matt Wood collected Second Team All-Big Ten honors, batting .295 with four homers and 21 RBI. Wood became the fifth All-Big Ten selection under Cooper. Senior Gavin Homer led the Nittany Lions with a .310 batting average, a .429 on-base percentage and tied with Johnny Piacentino for the team-lead in runs (30). Junior Justin Williams hit .302 and paced Penn State with 48 hits. Piacentino led the squad with eight homers and 32 RBI to go with a team-best .525 slugging percentage.
The Nittany Lions were among the conference leaders offensively in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the season after just 15 games. Penn State ranked second in on-base percentage (.394), slugging (.422), triples (7), doubles (30), third in batting average (.289) and walks (77), and fourth in scoring (6.7 runs/game) and runs (100).
In his first season with the Nittany Lions in 2019, Burke worked with Ryan Sloniger, who became the seventh catcher drafted in Penn State history and the first since Ben Heath was a fifth-round draft pick by the Houston Astros in 2010.
Burke has a Big Ten connection as he played at Iowa for two years before completing his career at Missouri Southern State University. He was also a volunteer assistant at Division I schools prior to arriving at Penn State with stops at Bowling Green (2016-17) and West Virginia (2017-18).
At West Virginia, Burke's primary responsibilities included coaching the catchers and assisting with hitters, with one catcher earning an honorable mention for the All-Big 12 team. At Bowling Green, Burke held similar responsibilities, and his catchers threw out 51 percent of base stealers overall and 59 percent in Mid-American Conference play. Both totals ranked No. 1 in the MAC.
Burke spent the three previous seasons at Black Hawk Junior College in Moline, Illinois, as the program's assistant coach/recruiting coordinator and camp coordinator. The team captured two-consecutive conference championships during his tenure, and he coached 19 first team all-conference players, seven all-region players, two All-Americans and nine academic All-Americans. Burke also built a strong track record of sending players to the next level at BHCC. Twelve players over his three seasons moved on to Division I programs, including both starting catchers that he worked with.
A catcher during his playing days, Burke continued his career after college at the professional level. He played one season with the Roswell Invaders of the Pecos League (Independent Professional Baseball) in New Mexico in 2013, before spending parts of 2014 with the Cologne Cardinals in Germany as a player and coach. Along with playing in Cologne, Burke worked camps at MLB Academies across Europe to help develop the game throughout the continent.
Burke began his collegiate playing career at the University of Iowa from 2008-10, where he was named a Freshman All-Big Ten selection as a catcher in 2009. He finished his collegiate career at Missouri Southern State University. In three seasons at Missouri Southern, Burke was named an All-MIAA selection twice and is ranked No. 10 in school history for career batting average and No. 12 in career fielding percentage. In 2013, he helped Missouri Southern win its first conference title in 21 years.
A native of Davenport, Iowa, Burke graduated from Missouri Southern State University with a bachelor's degree in arts in history.
In five seasons with the program, Burke helped three Nittany Lion hitters to be selected in the MLB Draft: Ryan Sloniger (38th round, 2019), Justin Williams (17th round, 2021) and Matt Wood (4th round, 2022). Wood is the highest-selected position player in program history.
Burke mentored four All-Big Ten selections: Matt Wood (2nd, 2021; 1st, 2022), Josh Spiegel (2nd, 2022) and Bobby Marsh (3rd, 2023). Burke also coached three All-Big Ten Freshman Team honorees: Justin Williams (2019), Anthony Steele (2022) and Bobby Marsh (2023).
In the four full seasons (2019, 2021, 2022, 2023) with Burke on staff, Penn State improved in runs per game (4.3, 5.2, 5.5, 7.1), homers (24, 34, 42, 44), RBI (193, 203, 274, 316) and on-base percentage (.332, .347, .358, .372).
In 2023, Penn State collected 25 wins, including victories against No. 22 Miami, No. 20 Maryland, West Virginia, Indiana and Iowa. The Nittany Lions swept Ohio State in a Big Ten series.
Penn State finished the season with 97 doubles, 18 triples and 44 homers as well as three players hitting above .310, eight players with 40+ hits, six players scoring 30+ runs and eight players contributing 25+ RBI. Six Nittany Lions posted 10+ doubles, four had multiple triples and four had 6+ home runs.
The Nittany Lions collected 10+ runs in 14 games and 10+ hits in 27 games. Penn State had 5+ extra base hits in eight games.
From 2022-23, Penn State improved in batting average (.265 to .281), runs per game (5.5 to 7.1), hits per game (9.1 to 9.7), doubles (90 to 97), homers (42 to 44), RBI (274 to 316), slugging percentage (.399 to .435) and on-base percentage (.358 to .372), while cutting down on strikeouts (441 to 398).
Bobby Marsh earned All-Big Ten third team honors and was a unanimous selection on the All-Big Ten freshman team. Marsh batted .310 with 45 hits, including 13 doubles and six homers, 35 RBI and 33 runs.
Johnny Piacentino led the team with a .318 average to go with 50 hits (12 extra-base hits), while Thomas Bramley batted .312 with 58 hits (16 extra-base hits), 36 RBI and 41 runs. Bramley drew 41 walks, good for third in a season at Penn State, had a team-high 19 multi-hit games. Jay Harry paced the Nittany Lions with 60 hits and tied for the team lead with 13 doubles, while adding a triple, six homers, 37 RBI and 47 runs.
Kyle Hannon paced PSU with 51 runs and 27 steals, while tying for the team lead with seven homers. Hannon’s 27 steals tied the Penn State season record. Grant Norris tied Hannon with seven homers while adding 11 doubles and three triples and a team-high 42 RBI, while Tayven Kelley contributed 12 doubles, four homers and a team-best five triples. Kelley’s five triples finished one shy of the PSU season record.
In 2022, the Nittany Lions earned their first Big Ten Tournament appearance since 2012. The blue and white finished the season with a 26-29 record, including an 11-13 mark in the Big Ten. Penn State earned the No. 6 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, picking up a 5-2 win over No. 3 seed Iowa to open the tournament.
Penn State won Big Ten series against Purdue, Minnesota and Michigan State, sweeping the Spartans. The Nittany Lions also earned a win in each series against Rutgers, No. 23 Maryland, Northwestern and Ohio State. In non-conference action, the Nittany Lions’ wins included a 14-3 victory over NEC Champion LIU, an 8-4 win at West Virginia and a 19-6 win over Pitt in PNC Park, highlighted by a 14-run top of the ninth.
In 24 Big Ten regular season games, Penn State collected 83 extra-base hits, including 43 doubles, 11 triples and 29 homers. Penn State set a program record with 19 triples in 2022, bettering the previous record of 18 in 1986, 2007 and 2010. Tayven Kelley and Johnny Piacentino each had four triples, good to tie for eighth-most in a season at PSU.
From 2021 to 2022, Penn State improved in runs per game (5.2 to 5.5), hits per game (8.9 to 9.1), triples (7 to 19), homers (34 to 42), RBI (203 to 274), walks per game (3.2 to 4.3) and on-base percentage (.347 to .358).
Penn State had two All-Big Ten selections, led by first team selection Matt Wood. The junior catcher won the Big Ten batting average title in the regular season (.395) and led the Nittany Lions in average (.379), hits (75), runs (55), homers (12), RBI (53), total bases (132), slugging percentage (.667), on-base percentage (.480) and walks (36). Wood’s incredible season included a 26-game hit streak and a 36-game reached-base streak. Wood was PSU’s first All-Big Ten first-team selection since Jordan Steranka in 2012) and Penn State’s 16th first team selection in program history and the third catcher to earn first team honors.
Wood finished the season ranking fourth at PSU in runs (55), sixth in total bases (132), tied seventh in walks (36), tied eighth in hits (75) and RBI (53) and ninth in homers (12) and slugging percentage (.667).
Wood was selected in the fourth round (132nd overall) by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2022 MLB Draft. Wood is the highest-selected position player in program history. The previous highest was catcher Ben Heath (fifth round, 153rd overall) by the Houston Astros.
Josh Spiegel was named All-Big Ten second team, batting .300 with a team-best 17 doubles. He had 10 homers and 43 RBI to go with 34 runs. Spiegel tied for the eighth-most doubles in a season at PSU, matching Chris Wright (2001). Anthony Steele was selected to the All-Big Ten freshman team after collecting 23 hits and 10 RBI.
Jay Harry batted .333 with 71 hits, including 10 doubles and five homers, 40 runs and 26 RBI. Billy Gerlott tallied 12 doubles, two triples and six homers to go with 33 RBI.
The Nittany Lions concluded the 2021 season with an 18-24 record, playing against exclusively Big Ten opponents. The victories included a 3-2 win over No. 18 Michigan on March 26 and a series sweep over Michigan State in which Penn State outscored the Spartans, 39-13. Penn State scored 10 or more runs in six games, the Nittany Lions’ most against Big Ten opponents since 2008 (8) and the most in a season since 2016.
The blue and white paced the Big Ten in doubles (93) and doubles per game (2.21), ranking 10th in the country in doubles per game. The Nittany Lions sat third in the conference in batting average (.269). Penn State hit 34 home runs, its most since 2012, and had five players with four or more homers.
From the 2019 to 2021 seasons, Penn State improved in batting average (.234 to .269), runs per game (4.3 to 5.2), doubles (68 to 93), homers (24 to 34), RBI (193 to 203), total bases (547 to 585), slugging percentage (.340 to .419) and on-base percentage (.332 to .347) while reducing strikeout totals (460 to 351).
Sophomore Matt Wood collected Second Team All-Big Ten honors, batting .295 with four homers and 21 RBI. Wood became the fifth All-Big Ten selection under Cooper. Senior Gavin Homer led the Nittany Lions with a .310 batting average, a .429 on-base percentage and tied with Johnny Piacentino for the team-lead in runs (30). Junior Justin Williams hit .302 and paced Penn State with 48 hits. Piacentino led the squad with eight homers and 32 RBI to go with a team-best .525 slugging percentage.
The Nittany Lions were among the conference leaders offensively in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the season after just 15 games. Penn State ranked second in on-base percentage (.394), slugging (.422), triples (7), doubles (30), third in batting average (.289) and walks (77), and fourth in scoring (6.7 runs/game) and runs (100).
In his first season with the Nittany Lions in 2019, Burke worked with Ryan Sloniger, who became the seventh catcher drafted in Penn State history and the first since Ben Heath was a fifth-round draft pick by the Houston Astros in 2010.
Burke has a Big Ten connection as he played at Iowa for two years before completing his career at Missouri Southern State University. He was also a volunteer assistant at Division I schools prior to arriving at Penn State with stops at Bowling Green (2016-17) and West Virginia (2017-18).
At West Virginia, Burke's primary responsibilities included coaching the catchers and assisting with hitters, with one catcher earning an honorable mention for the All-Big 12 team. At Bowling Green, Burke held similar responsibilities, and his catchers threw out 51 percent of base stealers overall and 59 percent in Mid-American Conference play. Both totals ranked No. 1 in the MAC.
Burke spent the three previous seasons at Black Hawk Junior College in Moline, Illinois, as the program's assistant coach/recruiting coordinator and camp coordinator. The team captured two-consecutive conference championships during his tenure, and he coached 19 first team all-conference players, seven all-region players, two All-Americans and nine academic All-Americans. Burke also built a strong track record of sending players to the next level at BHCC. Twelve players over his three seasons moved on to Division I programs, including both starting catchers that he worked with.
A catcher during his playing days, Burke continued his career after college at the professional level. He played one season with the Roswell Invaders of the Pecos League (Independent Professional Baseball) in New Mexico in 2013, before spending parts of 2014 with the Cologne Cardinals in Germany as a player and coach. Along with playing in Cologne, Burke worked camps at MLB Academies across Europe to help develop the game throughout the continent.
Burke began his collegiate playing career at the University of Iowa from 2008-10, where he was named a Freshman All-Big Ten selection as a catcher in 2009. He finished his collegiate career at Missouri Southern State University. In three seasons at Missouri Southern, Burke was named an All-MIAA selection twice and is ranked No. 10 in school history for career batting average and No. 12 in career fielding percentage. In 2013, he helped Missouri Southern win its first conference title in 21 years.
A native of Davenport, Iowa, Burke graduated from Missouri Southern State University with a bachelor's degree in arts in history.