OMAHA, Neb. – The Penn State baseball team earned a 5-2 win over Iowa to open the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha. Matt Wood launched a three-run homer in the sixth inning and Tyler Shingledecker and Travis Luensmann combined to hold the Hawkeyes to two hits.
The Nittany Lions, the No. 6 seed in the bracket, earned their first Big Ten Tournament win since 2008. Penn State is now 26-27 overall, while Iowa, the No. 3 seed, dropped to 33-18.
Penn State will meet Rutgers on Friday at approx. 2 p.m. ET, officially 40 minutes after the conclusion of the Iowa-Purdue matchup at 10 a.m. ET.
Tyler Shingledecker made his fourth start of the season for the Nittany Lions. The senior threw 5.2 innings, allowing just two runs (one earned) on one hit and two walks. Shingledecker struck out eight batters, one off his career high. The North Carolina native retired the first six batters he faced, including four strikeouts. He also struck out the side in the fifth. Shingledecker earned his seventh win of the season.
Travis Luensmann tossed the final 3.1 innings, allowing no runs on one hit and two walks. Luensmann struck out seven batters, including three in the eighth and two in the ninth. The sophomore picked up his second save of the year.
Adam Mazur got the start for Iowa, going five innings. He allowed two runs on four hits. Mazur struck out eight and walked four batters. Duncan Davitt entered the game in the sixth, pitching 2.1 frames. He allowed three runs on three hits and three walks, while striking out six. Ben Beutel closed out the eighth and pitched a scoreless ninth.
Penn State tallied five runs on seven hits and seven walks. Wood had the Nittany Lions' biggest hit of the day on his three-run homer. He also drew two walks and scored two runs. Jay Harry collected two hits, including a double, and scored two runs. Anthony Steele added a two-run single.
Iowa was held to two runs on two hits. Keaton Anthony and Cade Moss each had one hit, while Kyle Huckstorf drove in a run.
The Nittany Lions struck first with two runs in the top of the third. With one-out, Harry dropped a single into center. Wood drew a walk to put two runners on base. A grounder to third by Josh Spiegel got stuck in the mitt of the third baseman and all runners were safe. Steele followed by sending a 1-0 pitch on the ground through the right side to plate Harry and Wood.
Iowa answered with a run in the bottom half. Ben Wilmes worked a leadoff walk. He moved up to second on a wild pitch and advanced to third on a single by Moss. With runners on the corners, Huckstorf hit a fly ball to shallow right field, which was caught by Billy Gerlott, but allowed Wilmes to score on a sac fly. Penn State led 2-1 through three innings.
Penn State extended its lead in the top of the sixth. With two outs, Derek Cease was hit by a pitch and Harry drew a walk. On a 3-2 pitch, Wood launched a fly ball that landed on the concourse beyond right field for a three-run homer. The Nittany Lions led 5-1.
Iowa scored a run in the sixth. Peyton Williams worked a two-out walk. Anthony singled to right to put runners on first and second. A ground ball to third by Izaya Fullard resulted in an errant throw, allowing Williams to score. Iowa cut its deficit to 5-2.
The 2022 Penn State baseball season is presented by The Family Clothesline.
Tyler Shingledecker