Nittany Lions Meets St. Bonaventure On WednesdayNittany Lions Meets St. Bonaventure On Wednesday
Craig Houtz

Johnny Piacentino

Nittany Lions Meets St. Bonaventure On Wednesday

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State baseball team takes on St. Bonaventure on Wednesday, March 30 at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. The teams are set for a 6 p.m. first pitch on B1G+.
 
The Nittany Lions, led by head coach Rob Cooper, recorded one win in its series against Rutgers this past weekend. Jay Harry hit two homers in Friday's second game to lead PSU to a victory.
 
The 2022 Penn State baseball season is presented by The Family Clothesline.
 
FOLLOW ALONG

 
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. 

PROBABLE STARTER* 
Wednesday (6 p.m.)  – PSU: Kellan Tulio (1-1, 3.77 ERA) vs. SBU: TBA
 
*subject to change
 
LEADING OFF

  • Penn State hosts a pair of non-conference games this week, taking on Pitt and St. Bonaventure.
  • The Nittany Lions are 31-6-1 all-time against St. Bonaventure and have won six of the last seven contests.
  • The blue and white recorded one win in their series vs. Rutgers this past weekend.
  • Penn State split a tight doubleheader on Friday, earning an 8-6 win in the nightcap.
  • Matt Wood continued his strong 2022 campaign, batting .600 at the plate against the Scarlet Knights with six hits, including a double and a triple.
  • The Nittany Lions showed off their speed against Rutgers, hitting four triples. Jay Harry, Johnny Piacentino, Josh Spiegel and Wood each had one.
  • Harry launched two homers in Penn State's win on Friday night.
  • Jaden Henline had another strong relief outing, going four innings and allowing just one run (unearned) in Friday's first game.
  • Tyler Shingledecker leads the Nittany Lions with eight appearances and three wins this season to go with a 2.92 ERA.
  • A Pennsylvania native has made all 22 starts on the mound for the Nittany Lions this season.

 
SCOUTING ST. BONAVENTURE

  • St. Bonaventure is led by head coach B.J. Salerno, who took over leading the program after Larry Sudbrook retired after 36 seasons as the program's head coach.
  • Salerno served as an assistant coach the previous eight years and graduated from St. Bonaventure in 2008.
  • The Bonnies are averaging 3.1 runs per game and batting .230 as a team.
  • Jackson DeJohn leads the team with a .294 average, while Brendyn Stillman has two homers and eight RBI.
  • St. Bonaventure sophomore infielder Pierce Hendershot is the brother of former Nittany Lion Parker Hendershot, who graduated in 2021.
  • The Bonnies have a 9.49 team ERA and a .346 opponent batting average.
  • Tripp Breen leads the team with 19 strikeouts in 14.1 innings over five appearances.

 
AGAINST THE BONNIES

  • The Nittany Lions hold a 31-6-1 record against St. Bonaventure.
  • Penn State has won six of the last seven matchups against the Bonnies.
  • In the Nittany Lions' last win over St. Bonaventure, in 2018, Eric Mock earned the win, going five innings, while Jordan Bowersox and Ryan Sloniger each had two hits and two RBI.

 
WOOD OFF TO STRONG START

  • Through 20 games played, junior Matt Wood is batting .382 with five doubles, two triples, four homers, 19 RBI and 17 runs.
  • Wood leads the Nittany Lions in batting average, hits, runs, triples, homers, RBI, walks (12), slugging percentage (.691) and on-base percentage (.471).
  • Wood paces PSU with nine multi-hit games and five multi-RBI games this season.
  • He has three games with three hits, a game with three RBI and a game with four RBI.
  • He batted .600 in the Rutgers series (3/25-26) with six hits, including a double and a triple, and five RBI.
  • He went 3-for-3 with a two-run triple in PSU's series opener vs. Milwaukee (3/18).
  • Earlier this season, on opening weekend, Wood went 3-for-4 with four RBI and four runs while crushing two homers and a double in game one against LIU. He added a homer against Northeastern.
  • The junior was named Big Ten Player of the Week on March 2 after going 5-for-11 (.454) at the plate with two RBI and four runs against Maine.
  • In D1baseball's preseason rankings, Wood was tabbed as the top catcher in the Big Ten and the 16th-best catcher in the country.
  • Wood returned to the squad after receiving Second Team All-Big Ten honors in 2021.

 
SPIEGEL FINDING SUCCESS AT THE PLATE

  • Junior Josh Spiegel has been hot at the plate over Penn State's last 10 games, going 13-of-35 (.371).
  • In game one vs. Rutgers (3/25), Spiegel hit a two-run homer. He added two hits, including an RBI triple, in game two.
  • On the season, Spiegel has eight multi-hit games.

 
PENNSYLVANIA INFLUENCE IN STARTING ROTATION

  • In all 22 games this season, Penn State's starting pitcher has been a Pennsylvania native.
  • Sophomore Travis Luensmann (Altoona) has made six starts with 34 strikeouts in 27.2 innings.  Luensmann struck out eight in six innings against Maine (2/25).
  • He was ranked as the No. 2 pitcher in Pennsylvania in the 2020 class by Perfect Game.
  • Freshman Tommy Molsky has also made six starts, tallying 25 strikeouts in 24 innings.
  • Molsky tied a career high with six strikeouts against UMass (3/12).
  • Graduate student Mason Mellott has made four starts, and eight appearances.
  • Mason Mellott, graduating in August 2021 with a bachelor's degree in Kinesiology, ranks fourth all-time at Penn State with 13 saves and fifth with 75 appearances. Mellott is on the NCWBA Stopper of the Year Watch List.
  • Junior Kellan Tulio has made four starts and five appearances.
  • Tulio pitched the last two seasons at Louisville before transferring to Penn State. Tulio was ranked as the top pitcher in Pennsylvania in the 2019 class.
  • 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.

 
HENLINE, SHINGLEDECKER LEAD BULLPEN

  • Senior Tyler Shingledecker leads the team with 10 appearances and three wins. The lefty has held opponents without an earned run in eight of his 10 outings.
  • The versatile Shingledecker has gone more than an inning in six appearances and has a 4.11 ERA and 18 strikeouts.
  • Sophomore Jaden Henline has struck out 25 batters in 19.2 relief innings, while sitting third in the Big Ten with three saves. In eight appearances, Henline has thrown two or more innings in six outings, including four innings with no earned runs allowed against Rutgers (3/25).
  • Henline has made five straight appearances with no earned runs allowed (10 innings).
  • Senior Steven Miller and junior Jordan Morales have also established themselves as key members of the bullpen. Miller has a 3.38 ERA and a save in seven appearances.
  • Miller struck out six in a career-high 3.2 innings against Milwaukee (3/19).
  • Morales is 2-0 with 17 strikeouts in 12.1 innings over nine appearances.

 
BARTELS, GERLOTT BRING CONSISTENT APPROACH TO LEAD OUTFIELD

  • Graduate student Cole Bartels and sophomore Billy Gerlott have been consistent presences in Penn State's lineup this season.
  • Bartels is batting .265 with 22 hits, including three doubles. He also has two steals.
  • He just snapped a 16-game hitting streak against Youngstown State. The streak began against LIU (2/19).
  • Bartels is hitting .375 with runners in scoring position.
  • Bartels was 5-of-12 at the plate against Virginia for a .417 average.
  • Gerlott is batting .274 with 20 hits, including six doubles and a triple, and eight RBI.
  • The sophomore had a double and a triple in the Rutgers series.
  • Gerlott is hitting .350 with runners in scoring position.
  • Outfielder Johnny Piacentino is batting .303 in 10 games this season with a double, a triple and eight RBI.
  • Piacentino had a triple and drove in four runs vs. Rutgers.
  • The junior put up impressive power numbers in 2021 with a team-high 15 doubles and eight homers. He drove in 32 RBI and scored 30 runs, both team bests.
  • Piacentino was ranked among D1baseball's Top 150 outfielders in their preseason rankings.

 
UP NEXT

  • Penn State visits Maryland for a Big Ten series this weekend. The Terrapins are ranked 25th in the Baseball America Poll.
  • Friday's game is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. Saturday's contest is set for 2 p.m. and Sunday's first pitch is set for 1 p.m. All games will be livestreamed on B1G+.