Biasi Named Pitcher of the Week

BURLINGTON, N.C.- The Appalachian League has named Burlington Royals RHP Sal Biasi as the league's Pitcher of the Week for the week ending August 20.
Biasi earned the win in relief in Friday's 3-1 Royals victory at the Princeton Rays by tossing five scoreless, hitless innings. The Penn State University product did not walk a Rays hitter in the outing, and struck out a career-high seven. The lone runner to reach against Biasi got aboard via an error.
The effort was part of a combined four-hitter, as LHP J.C. Cloney scattered a run on three hits in three innings in a start, and RHP Tyler Zuber worked around a hit for a scoreless ninth.
In seven games with Burlington, five of which have come in a starting role, Biasi is 2-2 with a 2.88 ERA. He has racked up 27 strikeouts over 34.1 innings, scattering 21 hits in that span. Appalachian League opponents bat .175 against Biasi since his July 11 promotion from the Arizona League. Biasi was 1-0 with a 2.31 ERA in four appearances, one of them a start, with the AZL Royals to begin the season.
A native of Wilkes-Barre, Penn., Biasi was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 11^th round of the 2017 Major League Baseball Draft. The 21-year-old capped a three-year career at Penn State with a banner season in 2017 in which he earned second team all-Big Ten Conference honors. He went 5-5 with a 3.48 ERA in 14 starts during the college season, striking out 88 opposing hitters in 72.1 innings. The 88 strikeouts marked the highest total for a Penn State pitcher since 2009. Biasi ranked second in the Big Ten with just 5.85 hits allowed per nine innings.
Biasi is the first Royal to win an Appalachian League weekly award in 2017. 
Biasi and the Royals will visit the Bluefield Blue Jays tonight at 7:05 p.m. at Bowen Field in the second game of a three-game series. The game can be heard at www.bluefieldjays.com.
Burlington will return home to face the Princeton Rays on Wednesday, August 23 at 7:00 p.m. It will be Replica Jersey Giveaway Night! The first 500 fans will recieve a free jersey courtesy of Country Inn & Suites. The game is the start of a loaded six-game homestand to close the home slate for 2017. Following Replica Jersey Giveaway Night, the homestand will include Thirsty Thursday, Saturday Fireworks, and Dollar Monday! For information and tickets, call (336) 222-0223 or visit www.burlingtonroyals.com.