Penn State baseball head coach Rob Cooper has set his starting pitching rotation for opening weekend down in Cary, North Carolina.

Bailey Dees will get the opening day nod on Friday when the Nittany Lions take on Bucknell. The following day there is a double header against NJIT with Kyle Virbitsky starting the first game and Hutch Gagnon starting the second game. To close out the weekend, Conor Larkin will get the start on Sunday against Monmouth.

Dees will get the opening day honor after starting 11 games last year while pitching to a 4.27 ERA in 52.2 innings pitched. The 6’8″ junior struck out 60 batters and walked 17 on the season. Dees comes into this season as the most experienced, as well as the most consistent guy on the starting pitching staff.

Virbitsky and Gagnon have little to no experience starting at the college level, as Virbitsky started one game last year while Gagnon started none. They both struggled out of the the bullpen last season, with Virbitsky pitching to a 4.66 ERA and Gagnon having a 5.59 ERA. With more experience, the hope is that the two can settle into the rotation nicely.

Larkin pitched well last year as he split time between the starting rotation and the bullpen. He started five games and came out of the bullpen for eight games while pitching to a 3.14 ERA, as well as striking out 58 batters in 48.2 innings pitched.

One of the goals for Virbitsky was not just to get into the rotation, but to be the opening day starter. While he’s excited to be in the rotation, he’s using not being the opening day starter as motivation.

“I think a lot of the great things we are doing right now in that locker room are built around competing and being competitive,” Virbitsky said. “If there is a spot to get, I am going to go after it. At the end of the day we are all competing with each other I think that is what is really special about this group. We are always pushing each other.”

Cooper expressed that he and the coaching staff didn’t base the opening day starter off of who his best pitcher was.

“When we set our rotation we don’t sit there as coaches and go ‘Okay well Kyle [Virbitsky] isn’t good enough to pitch Friday,’ that’s not the case at all,” Cooper said. “We try to look at the way we are going to line up the weekend, who bounces back the best, who can pitch better in this role. I feel like we have four guys that when they are on they can beat anybody on any night.”