PSU Baseball's Biasi drafted by Royals Tuesday

UNIVERSITY PARK -- Penn State redshirt-sophomore pitcher Dante Biasi (Hazleton, Pa.) was selected by the Kansas City Royals early in the sixth round of 2019 Major League Baseball Draft Tuesday afternoon, becoming the 10th-highest selection in school history.

Biasi was selected by the Royals with the 169th overall pick, also becoming the highest-selected left-handed pitcher in Penn State history (Jim Farr; 1974 – 200th overall, 9th round, Chicago White Sox), the highest-selected Nittany Lion pitcher overall since 2008 (Drew O’Neill; 120th overall, 4th round, Chicago White Sox) and the highest-selected Nittany Lion overall since 2010 (Ben Heath; 153rd overall, 5th round, Houston Astros).

Biasi is the fourth Penn State pitcher to be drafted in the past four years, joining Dodgers’ 2018 selection Justin Hagenman (23rd round), Royals' 2017 selection Sal Biasi (11th round) – his older brother – and Mariners' 2016 selection Jack Anderson (23rd round). Before Anderson's selection in 2016, just one Penn State pitcher was taken in the previous six years (Joe Kurrasch, 2012, 8th round, Giants).

"We are so happy for Dante and his family!" said Penn State baseball head coach Rob Cooper. "He has worked so hard and truly deserves this opportunity. The Royals are getting a tough-minded, winning pitcher who loves to compete."

Biasi is the 12th player to be drafted during Cooper's career as a head coach and the fifth in his tenure at Penn State. Those five, also including infielder Jim Haley (2016, 19th round, Rays), have all been selected in the last four drafts.

The leader of Penn State’s starting rotation last season, Biasi was voted to the 2019 All-Big Ten Second Team by the conference’s coaches, marking Penn State’s first All-Big Ten selection since his older brother, Sal, received the same honor in 2017. The brothers will not be reunited in the Royals organization though, as Sal is now in the Mariners organization.

Biasi posted a 2.55 earned run average with 102 strikeouts in 74.0 innings over 14 starts. His 6.32 hits allowed per nine innings were the fewest in the conference, his ERA ranked fourth in the Big Ten, and he was one of the top strikeout pitchers during the regular season, ranking second in the Big Ten, 33rd nationally and fifth in a single-season in Penn State history. His 12.41 strikeouts per inning also ranked second in the Big Ten.

The lefty held opponents to one earned run or less in nine of his first 10 starts and he was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week on Apr. 8 after leading a combined shutout of eventual 2019 Big Ten Champion Indiana, blanking the Hoosiers in Bloomington for 6.1 innings as he struck out nine and yielded just two hits and a walk. Biasi struck out 25 batters over a two-week period in March, racking up a career-high 13 against UMass Lowell and then 12 the following week against Minnesota. His 13 strikeouts in a game were the most by a Penn State pitcher since 2005, and the 25 total in back-to-back outings were the most at Penn State since at least 2004.

Biasi was originally drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 22nd round of the 2016 MLB Draft, but elected to attend Penn State. The Nittany Lions have now had 58 student-athletes selected in the MLB Draft since its inception in 1965.

The draft continues with the 11th-40th rounds Wednesday starting at noon.

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