Sean Moore served five seasons on the Penn State baseball staff and four as an assistant coach. His responsibilities included heavy involvement with the hitters and recruiting and oversight of the infielders.
In five seasons with the program, Moore 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.
Moore mentored four All-Big Ten selections: Matt Wood (2nd, 2021; 1st, 2022), Josh Spiegel (2nd, 2022) and Bobby Marsh (3rd, 2023). Moore 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 Moore 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 earned 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 tallied 10+ doubles, four had multiple triples and four had 6+ home runs.
The Nittany Lions recorded 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 Nittany Lions 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.
The Nittany Lions won Big Ten series against Purdue, Minnesota and Michigan State, sweeping the Spartans. Penn State 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 ended 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.
Penn State led 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.
In 2020, Moore's hitters were among the conference leaders offensively, ranking 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) before the COVID-10 pandemic forced the cancelation of the season after just 15 games.
Moore joined the Nittany Lions ahead of the 2019 season in a newly-created operations/player development position, where he oversaw the implementation of multiple analytical and video technology systems, worked with the coaching staff to further develop practice plans and in-game coaching strategies and handled team logistics. Penn State had three selected in the MLB Entry Draft in June following Moore’s inaugural campaign, marking the Nittany Lions’ largest draft class since 2012.
In Moore’s first season at Penn State, the Nittany Lions improved in batting average (.233 to .234) and home runs (21 to 24) from 2018 to 2019.
Prior to joining Penn State, Moore served two years as the volunteer assistant coach at Iowa as the teams' hitting coach. In 2018, he helped guide Iowa to its fifth-straight 30-win season, three series wins against ranked opponents and eight victories against top-25 teams. He coached four All-Big Ten selections, including three first-team selections and Iowa had a record-tying five players selected in the 2018 MLB Draft.
Iowa won 39 games in 2017 -- Moore's first season on the coaching staff – and claimed the first Big Ten Tournament title in school history to advance to NCAA Regional play -- the program's second in three seasons. The Hawkeyes saw five players garner All-Big Ten recognition, including unanimous first-team All-Big Ten first baseman and unanimous Big Ten Player of the Year honoree Jake Adams, who hit an NCAA leading, Iowa school and Big Ten-record 29 home runs. The Hawkeyes ranked among the top three in the Big Ten in nine difference offensive categories, including leading the league in hits, RBIs, and slugging percentage, while ranking second in runs, doubles, home runs, and total bases. Individually, Iowa players led the Big Ten in runs, slugging percentage, hits, RBIs, home runs, and total bases. Four Hawkeyes were drafted in the MLB Draft.
After wrapping up his own playing career in 2015, Moore joined the coaching staff at Des Moines Area Community College as the program's hitting and strength and conditioning coach. The Bears won 30 games during the 2016 season, where they hit .331 as a team with 78 home runs, 126 doubles, and 15 triples.
The Coralville, Iowa, native has also served as director of baseball operations at Diamond Dreams Sports Academy, where he continued researching the biomechanical movements of each phase of the swing.
Moore's collegiate playing career consisted of three stops. He played two seasons at DMACC, where he helped the Bears to an NJCAA World Series berth in 2011 before earning All-Region XI honors in 2012. He spent the 2013 season at Wichita State before transferring and wrapping up his career as a Hawkeye in 2015. Iowa won 41 games in his lone season and advanced to NCAA Regional play for the first time since 1990.
Moore, a certified hitting instructor, graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in leisure studies in 2015.
