| Brian Ernst hit his first career home run in Penn State's 15-5 win over Northwestern on Sunday, giving them a split. The Lions return to action on Tuesday vs. Bucknell at 3:00 at Beaver Field. |
Evanston, Ill.; April 23, 2006 ?C For the second game in the series with Northwestern, the Penn State baseball team opened up a close game with a big inning, this time with a six-run sixth, which included three home runs, and never looked back as the Nittany Lions salvaged a split of the weekend series with a 15-5 win over the Wildcats on Sunday. The win gives Penn State series splits in three of their four Big Ten series so far this year and improves their Big Ten record to 7-9 and 13-25 overall.
Brian Ernst, Matt Cavagnaro, and Aaron Greenfield all homered in the sixth inning to back up Craig Clark, who picked up his first win of the season by pitching seven and a third innings, allowing nine hits and five runs. He struck out five and walked none and threw 97 pitches. Scott Kelley and Matt Ogrodnik mopped up the eighth and ninth innings to close out the game. Seven players had multiple hits for Penn State, led by Lance Thompson with a 4-for-6 performance. Garrett Field went 3-for-5. Scott Gummo and Matt Cavagnaro each had three RBI.
The Nittany Lions scored first for the third time in the four games of the series with two runs in the top of the second. They loaded the bases with no outs on Scott Gummo??s hit by pitch and Lance Thompson??s and Aaron Greenfield??s back-to-back singles. Julio Siberio struck out the next two Penn State hitters but #9 hitter Garrett Field came up with a clutch two-out hit, slapping the first pitch from Siberio into left field for a two-run single.
Penn State extended its lead to 5-0 in the fifth inning as the Lions once again loaded the bases with no outs on a pair of singles by Brian Ernst and Travis Laird and a hit by pitch by Matt Cavagnaro, who was plunked as he tried to lay down a bunt. Gummo then took Siberio??s first pitch and slapped it the opposite way into right field for a two-run single, which also sent Cavagnaro to third. Cavagnaro trotted home on Thompson??s ground ball that forced out Gummo but he beat out for a fielder??s choice.
For the second time in the last four games, the Nittany Lions broke open the game with a big inning. This time it was in the top of the sixth, as they pushed across six runs to take an 11-0 lead as three home runs were hit in the inning. With reliever Dan Schwartz on, the inning once again starting innocently enough with an out being recorded before an error allowed the second batter of the inning to reach, just as happened in Penn State??s nine-run eighth inning on Friday. This time, it was an errant throw by Northwestern catcher Geoff Dietz to first after Garrett Field had struck out on a pitch in the dirt. Dietz?? throw to first was in the dirt and pulled first baseman Pat McMahon off the bag. Ernst followed with a line drive home run over the field in left, his first career home run.
Travis Laird then singled to center and was followed by the second home run of the inning, a shot over the wall in left center by Cavagnaro, his second round-tripper of the year. Schwartz left in favor of Ryan Myers, who hit Gummo with his first pitch, leading to a warning being issued to the Northwestern dugout. Gummo was forced at second on Thompson??s fielder??s choice grounder and Aaron Greenfield then hit his second home run of the series, a shot to straight-away center field that went off the batters?? eye.
The Wildcats answered right back in the bottom of the sixth with a five-run inning of their own, which included five hits, including two doubles and home run. Jake Owens led off with a double and scored on McMahon??s single through the right side. After Clark recorded a strikeout, Anthony Wycklendt doubled, putting runners at second and third, and Caleb Fields then singled them both home. After the second out was recorded, Max Mann drove a home run well over the left field fence to cut the lead to 11-5.
Penn State answered right back, adding three more runs in the top of the seventh to make the score 14-5. Field led off with a grounder to second in which he hustled down the line, making it a close play but it ruled a hit when Owens?? throw went into the dugout, allowing Field to go to second on the throwing error. Field went to third on a wild pitch and after an out, Laird attempted to lay down a safety squeeze bunt. His bunt went straight back to the pitcher, who threw home but Field did not stray that far off third and he stayed at third while Laird beat the throw from home to first with his speed for a fielder??s choice. Field scored anyway when Cavagnaro singled through the right side, which sent Laird to third. Cavagnaro stole second and then Laird scored on Gummo??s sacrifice fly. Cavagnaro scored on Thompson??s single in the hole at short.
The Nittany Lions benefited from a dropped fly ball that would have ended the inning by Mann in center field off the bat of Laird in the eighth, allowing Scott Gaffney to scored, who had singled earlier in the inning.
Notes: The Nittany Lions did not commit an error in the entire series, the first time this year they have gone errorless for an entire series ?? Ernst, Laird, and Greenfield each went 2-for-6, while Cavagnaro and Gaffney were 2-for-5 ?? Kelley pitched for the first time in the series in front of several family members. He is a native of nearby Arlington Heights, Ill. ?? Penn State returns to action on Tuesday with a 3:00 p.m. home game vs. Bucknell.