ASSISTANT COACHES

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.

Penn State had four players drafted from the 2021 squad, including three pitchers. Larkin was selected in the ninth round (272nd overall) by the Toronto Blue Jays. Kyle Virbitsky was a 17th round selection (518th overall) by the Oakland A's. Bailey Dees was drafted in the 18th round (543rd overall) by the New York Yankees. All three members of the starting rotation were drafted, making Penn State one of only four schools to accomplish that in 2021.

It marked the third time in program history that Penn State had four or more players selected in a single year and the second time that Penn State had three pitchers selected in a draft. The Nittany Lions have had eight pitchers drafted since 2016. The four selections were double of any other Pennsylvania school and three of the draftees are Pennsylvania natives.

Assistant Coach

Penn State has Major League experience to work with its pitchers, as 2023 marks Josh Newman’s sixth season on the Nittany Lions coaching staff.

Newman spent five seasons in professional baseball before moving into coaching, and is now guiding the Nittany Lions to success on the mound and to the next level with seven pitchers joining MLB organizations in the last four seasons.

In 2022, the Nittany Lions made their first Big Ten Tournament appearances since 2012. Penn State concluded the season with a 26-29 record, including an 11-13 mark in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions earned the No. 6 seed in the Big Ten Tournament and won its tournament opener, 5-2, over No. 3 seed Iowa.

During the regular season, Penn State 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.

On the mound, Penn State set a program record with 503 strikeouts in 490 innings. The Nittany Lions recorded 21 games with 10+ strikeouts and 16 games allowing three or less earned runs. In 49 of 55 games, Penn State’s starting pitcher was a Pennsylvania native.

Six pitchers recorded at least 40 strikeouts, led by Travis Luensmann (78), Jordan Morales (60), Tyler Shingledecker (60) and Jaden Henline (56). Shingledecker paced PSU with seven wins, while Morales led the staff with 26 appearances.

Luensmann finished the season with 78 strikeouts in 67.2 innings. In Big Ten games, Luensmann had a 3.25 ERA, sitting fifth in the conference. Against Iowa in the Big Ten Tournament, Luensmann struck out seven in 3.1 shutout innings of relief.

Henline struck out 56 batters in 59 innings. Against Michigan State (5/8), earned the win by throwing a complete game, allowing three runs (two earned) and striking out six.

Shingledecker made 21 appearances, collecting a team-high seven wins, with a 3.10 ERA. He held opponents without an earned run in 12 of his 21 outings. The lefty recorded 60 strikeouts and only 18 walks.

Morales, after transferring from LaSalle, paced PSU with 26 appearances and tallied a 3-0 record with a 3.64 ERA. He collected 60 strikeouts and allowed only 12 walks. Did not give up an earned run in 15 of 26 appearances and one or less earned run in 22 appearances.

Graduate student Mason Mellott made 22 appearances. Mellott ended his Penn State career tied for third in program history with 15 saves and ranking second with 89 appearances.

The Nittany Lions concluded 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. The Nittany Lions staff recorded two shutouts this season, including a 1-0 win over Rutgers on April 2 and an 11-0 victory over Purdue on April 10. Penn State collected 367 strikeouts in 2021.

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. One of his top performances in the 2021 season came against Michigan, where he struck out seven and allowed just two runs over 6.2 innings to lead the blue and white to a 3-2 victory over the No. 18 Wolverines.

Fellow senior Conor Larkin earned three wins and 69 strikeouts in 63.2

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, 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.

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.

Biasi posted a 2.55 earned run average with 102 strikeouts in 74.0 innings over 14 starts. Eric Mock was also drafted in 2019 following a career year under Newman’s tutelage, 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.

Penn State also added to its pro ranks following Newman’s first season at Penn State in 2018, as Justin Hagenman was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers and Taylor Lehman signed with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Newman came to Penn State after a four-year stint at Marshall. Notable accomplishments included mentoring Chase Boster, the all-time winningest pitcher in Marshall history, and seeing three pitchers from his staff have their names called in the 2016 MLB Draft. In 2017, the pitching staff held opponents to three runs or less in 21 games, including a complete-game shutout at nationally-ranked Florida Atlantic.

D1Baseball.com named Newman as a "top, up-and-coming" Division I assistant coach in 2015, as one pitcher was named to the All-Conference USA team and three players signed professional contracts. His inaugural season with the Herd in 2014 resulted in the school's first Conference USA Pitcher of the Week Award since 2008 and one player earning Conference USA All-Freshman honors.

Newman is no stranger to the Big Ten after totaling seven years in the dugout at Ohio State, as he lettered for four years as a student-athlete (200104) and served as a volunteer assistant coach for three seasons (2011-13) following his professional playing career. Three pitchers were drafted during his tenure as John Kuchno was a 2012 18th-round selection by the Pittsburgh Pirates, and in 2013, Brad Goldberg was taken by the Chicago White Sox in the 10th round and Brett McKinney was taken in the 19th by the Pirates.

A native of Wheelersburg, Ohio and a 2004 Ohio State graduate with a Bachelors of Arts degree in history, Newman ranks third all-time at Ohio State in career wins (32), innings pitched (369.0) and strikeouts (291). He was a freshman All-American in 2001 a three-time All-Big Ten honoreeincluding a first-team selection in 2004 - and a three-time Academic AllBig Ten selection. In his career, Newman helped the Buckeyes to a 161-841 record, a Big Ten regular-season championship (2001) and two Big Ten Tournament championships (2002 and 2003). Ohio State went to three NCAA Regionals and hosted an NCAA Super Regional (2003) during his four years in Columbus.

Newman was drafted in the 19th round of the 2004 MLB Draft and signed a professional contract with the Colorado Rockies. He had previously been drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in 2003, but he elected to stay at Ohio State for his senior season.

The Wheelersburg High School graduate spent three seasons in the minors before making his Major League debut against Philadelphia on Sept. 12, 2007, and making the Colorado Rockies World Series roster that season. He jumped between Triple-A Colorado Springs and the Rockies in 2008 before being claimed off waivers by the Kansas City Royals in July. Newman pitched in 14 games over his two seasons between Colorado and Kansas City, making his last appearance in September 2008.

He and his wife Sarah have three children, daughter, Ayda, and sons, Kash and Miler.