Penn State Meets Georgetown For Mid-Week MatchupPenn State Meets Georgetown For Mid-Week Matchup
Craig Houtz

Kyle Hannon

Penn State Meets Georgetown For Mid-Week Matchup

BOWIE, Md. – The Penn State baseball team visits Georgetown for a non-conference matchup on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at the Bowie Baysox' Prince George's Stadium. The Nittany Lions enter the contest on a six-game win streak.
 
The Nittany Lions, led by Rob Cooper, are 23-21 overall and 9-8 in Big Ten play after a three-game sweep over Michigan State. Penn State swept Sunday's doubleheader, 15-3 and 10-4, before earning a 10-9 win in 11 innings on Monday.
 
The 2022 Penn State baseball season is presented by The Family Clothesline.
 
FOLLOW ALONG

 
LEADING OFF

  • Penn State visits Georgetown for a non-conference matchup on Tuesday.
  • The Nittany Lions are 27-9 all-time against the Hoyas and will meet Georgetown for the first time since 1998.
  • Penn State has won six-straight games, beginning with an 8-4 win at West Virginia on April 27. Penn State is 10-2 in its last 12 games.
  • The Nittany Lions are coming off a three-game sweep over Michigan State.
  • Penn State swept Sunday's doubleheader, winning 15-3 and 10-4.
  • On Monday, the Nittany Lions walked it off in the 11th on a bases-loaded walk by Johnny Piacentino for a 10-9 win.
  • In Monday's win, Jay Harry set a program record with six hits, including a double, and scored three runs. Matt Wood batted .500 in the series with a double, two homers, six runs and seven RBI.
  • Harry's six hits are tied for the most in a Division I game this season.
  • Wood ranks sixth in the nation in batting average (.422) and 11th in on-base percentage (.510), leading the Big Ten in both categories.

 
SCOUTING GEORGETOWN

  • Georgetown is coached by Edwin Thompson, in his second season.
  • Under Thompson, the Hoyas are 33-44.
  • Georgetown is 27-19 overall this season with a 7-8 mark in Big East play.
  • The Hoyas have a team batting average of .268 and have tallied 78 homers this season.
  • Jake Hyde leads Georgetown's offense in a bunch of categories: average (.352), hits (68), runs (56), doubles (14), homers (17) and RBI (47).
  • Ubaldo Lopez has hit 16 homers, while Ethan Stern has 10 homers and 15 stolen bases.
  • Georgetown has a 5.63 team ERA.
  • Ayden Head leads Georgetown with 21 appearances with a 3.32 ERA.
  • Nolan McCarthy paces the Hoys is innings (64) and strikeouts (78).

 
AGAINST THE HOYAS

  • The Nittany Lions will meet Georgetown for the 36th time in program history.
  • The teams will play for the first time since 1998. Penn State has won 17 of the last 18 matchups, dating back to 1953.
  • In the last matchup, Penn State earned an 11-3 win on April 7, 1998.

 
WOOD LEADING BIG TEN IN BATTING AVERAGE

  • Through 43 games played, junior Matt Wood is batting .422 with 12 doubles, three triples, eight homers, 44 RBI and 42 runs.
  • He leads the Big Ten in batting average (.422), good for sixth in the country and second among Division I catchers. He also paces the conference in on-base percentage (.510), sitting 11th in the nation.
  • In batting average, Wood is 30 points ahead of the second-highest average in the Big Ten.
  • Wood also sits second in the Big Ten in hits per game (1.51), slugging percentage (.695) and OPS (1.205), fourth in triples (3) and sixth in hits (65).
  • Wood leads the Nittany Lions in batting average, hits, runs, triples, homers, RBI, walks (28), slugging percentage and on-base percentage. He's tied with Ben Kailher for the team lead in steals (5).
  • Among Division I catchers, Wood ranks second in batting average and on-base percentage, third in OPS, sixth in triples and seventh in slugging percentage.
  • The lefty batter has been impressive facing righty (.411) and lefty (.447) pitchers.
  • Wood is batting .514 with runners in scoring position.
  • In Big Ten play, Wood is hitting .478 with 32 hits in 18 games. He has six doubles, two triples, four homers and 23 RBI. He has an OPS of 1.318.
  • Wood paces PSU with 22 multi-hit games and 10 multi-RBI games this season and is riding a current 26-game hit streak. The 26-game streak is the second-longest in program history behind only Michael Campo (41, 2000).
  • During the 26-game hit streak, Wood has 15 multi-hit performances. He is batting .469 (45-of-96) with eight doubles, two triples and four homers.

 
PENN STATE HITTING STRIDE

  • The Nittany Lions have won six-straight games since its April 27 win over West Virginia and have won 10 of their last 12 games.
  • Penn State has won three-straight Big Ten series for the first time since 2012 and is coming off a three-game sweep over Michigan State.
  • Over the last 12 games, Penn State is hitting .307 as a team with 131 hits and 94 runs. The Nittany Lions have tallied 45 extra-base hits.
  • Matt Wood leads five batters hitting over .300 during that stretch with a .442 average. Jay Harry (.417), Josh Spiegel (.404), Derek Cease (.360) and Cole Bartels (.302) are also hitting over .300. Spiegel has 21 hits, Harry has 20 and Wood has 19.
  • Over those 12 games, Penn State has a 4.38 team ERA. Mason Mellott is 2-0 with an 0.73 ERA in five appearances.

 
PENNSYLVANIA INFLUENCE IN PITCHING STAFF

  • In 39 of 44 games this season, Penn State's starting pitcher has been a Pennsylvania native.
  • Sophomore Travis Luensmann (Altoona) has made 10 starts, and 12 appearances, with 64 strikeouts in 54.1 innings. Luensmann struck out eight in six innings against Maine (2/25).
  • In Big Ten games, Luensmann has a 2.77 ERA in six appearances (four starts), sitting third in the conference.
  • Freshman Tommy Molsky has made nine starts, and 12 appearances, tallying 35 strikeouts. Molsky tied a career high with six strikeouts against UMass (3/12).
  • Graduate student Mason Mellott has made four starts and 17 appearances.
  • Mellott, graduating in August 2021 with a bachelor's degree in Kinesiology, is tied third all-time at Penn State with 15 saves and ranks third with 84 appearances, one appearance away from tying David Lutz (2007-10) for second.
  • Junior Kellan Tulio has made eight starts and 12 appearances. with 39 strikeouts and a 4.50 ERA. He threw five innings, allowing no earned runs, and struck out a career-high seven at Northwestern (4/9).
  • Jaden Henline has struck out 50 batters in 50 innings and sits fourth in the Big Ten in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.85). He threw a complete game to earn the win against Michigan State (5/8), allowing three runs (two earned) and striking out six. It was PSU's first complete game since Greg Welsh vs. Michigan State on May 17, 2013.
  • Senior Pittsburgh native Steven Miller made his first career start at Northwestern (4/9), throwing three shutout innings and striking out three.  He has 29 strikeouts.
  • Senior Tyler Shingledecker has made 17 appearances and three starts with a team-high five wins. The lefty has held opponents without an earned run in 10 of his 17 outings.  He has 44 strikeouts and only 11 walks.
  • Junior Souderton native Jordan Morales leads PSU with 22 appearances and has 48 strikeouts and only nine walks. He is 3-0 on the season.
  • Carson Kohls has been another effective member out of the bullpen in 12 appearances (one start), including two scoreless outings where he went three or more innings.
  • Entering the season, Penn State was 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.

 
NITTANY LIONS FINDING POWER IN BIG TEN PLAY

  • In 18 Big Ten games, Penn State has collected 61 extra-base hits, including 31 doubles, 10 triples and 20 homers.
  • Matt Wood leads the Nittany Lions with 12 extra-base hits, including six doubles, two triples and four homers, to go with 23 RBI.
  • Jay Harry has 11 extra base hits (five doubles, two triples, four homers), while Josh Spiegel has 10 (five doubles, one triple, four homers). Spiegel has 19 RBI, while Harry has scored 17 runs.
  • On the season, Wood leads PSU with eight homers to go with 12 doubles, while Spiegel paces PSU with 14 doubles. Spiegel has seven homers and 35 RBI this season, while Jay Harry has five homers. Billy Gerlott has four homers.
  • Penn State has already recorded 16 triples this season, leading the Big Ten, and sits just two off the program record, accomplished in 1986, 2007 and 2010.
  • Led by Wood, Tayven Kelley and Johnny Piacentino's three triples, six Nittany Lions have multiple triples this season.

 
UP NEXT

  • The Nittany Lions travels to Ohio State for a three-game series, beginning on Friday, May 13.