| Jim Leitgeb drove in three runs and scored two in Penn State's 14-8 win over Temple. |
- Box Score
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; April 10, 2007 - Penn State jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning, then fell behind 7-3 in the fifth inning before gradually cutting into the lead and eventually taking back the lead with a seven-run eighth inning on Wednesday night as the Nittany Lions topped Temple 14-8 in a game that was played in a rain that gradually got harder as the game went on.
No doubt showing the effects of both the rainy and cold conditions as well as some midweek rust, the teams combined for nine errors, 13 walks, four hit batsman, 24 hits, and a total of 12 pitchers were used, seven by the Owls and five by the Nittany Lions. Matt Ogrodnik (Saltsburg, Pa.) picked up his second straight win in a midweek appearance to improve his record to 2-1 by pitching a scoreless eighth inning.
Penn State drew first blood with three unearned runs in the first inning, as they benefited from two walks, two hit batsman, and a Temple error to push across the three runs on only one hit. Matt Cavagnaro (Brightwaters, N.Y.) drew a leadoff walk and Scott Gaffney (Westbury, N.Y.) reached when starter Ryan Thomas bobbled his bunt attempt. Both runners were sacrificed over and after Rob Yodice (Staten Island, N.Y.) drew a two-out walk to load the bases, Jim Leitgeb (Elkton, Md.) doubled down the right field line to drive in two runs. After that, both Rick Marlin (Orlando, Fla.) and Scott Kelley (Arlington Heights, Ill.) were plunked, Kelley with the bases loaded to drive in the third run.
After putting up zeros in the Owls?? scoring column in his first two innings of work, Penn State starter Ryan Stobart (Barrington, Ill.) ran into some trouble in the third as he gave up four straight hits to begin the inning and was also hurt by two errors and a passed ball, leading to Temple scoring four runs, one of which was unearned. Reliever Gary Amato (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) came on with one out and a runner on first and got two of the next three hitters out to end the inning.
The Owls extended the lead to 7-3 in the fifth inning after Amato was worked a scoreless fourth. They got two straight singles by Sean Barksdale and Dan Brady to begin the inning. Jamie Abercrombie??s attempted sacrifice bunt was thrown away by Joe Blackburn (Sinking Spring, Pa.), who had come charging in from first, allowing Barksdale to score. One out later, Matt Heltz plated the other two runners on base with a single to right before Amato was able to set down the side.
| Matt Ogrodnik picked up his second win in relief in as many weeks with a scoreless eighth inning of work. |
After the first Temple relief pitcher of the night, Mike Click, had held the Nittany Lions down in the second, third, and fourth innings, Penn State answered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth to knock him out and cut the lead in half as the Nits strung together a single, followed by two walks, followed by two RBI infield singles by Marlin and Kelley to make it 7-5.
After Temple benefited from another Penn State error to tack on one more unearned run in the sixth, Penn State answered with an unearned run of its own in the bottom of the sixth as Brian Ernst (Boyertown, Pa.) got an RBI groundout to score Cavagnaro, who had drawn another leadoff walk and gone all the way to third when Gaffney reached on a throwing error by Temple third baseman Mike Kelch.
Inching closer in the seventh, Penn State cut it to a one-run game as Landon Nakata (Honolulu, Hawaii) lifted a one-out sacrifice fly to center to score Leitgeb, who had drawn a leadoff walk before going to second on Kelley??s second hit of the night and to third on a wild pitch.
In the eighth, with the fourth Temple pitcher of the night, Rob Chamra, entering his second inning of work, he issued a leadoff walk to Gaffney, the third straight inning that the Lions were issued a leadoff walk. He was pulled in favor of Matt Blackburn, who led the Owls in appearances entering Wednesday??s game. Blackburn faced just two hitters, but gave up the two biggest hits of the game as Ernst slugged an RBI double to left center to plate Gaffney and then he scored on Joe Blackburn??s RBI triple to the same part of the ballpark, his second triple of the year to lead the team. Yodice then drew his third walk of the night before Leitgeb laid down an attempted squeeze bunt that both scored Blackburn from third and he reached on when the throw to first was late. Yodice later came around to score on Nakata??s bases-loaded walk, Leitgeb scored on Cavagnaro??s sacrifice fly, and both Kelley and Nakata scored on Gaffney??s two-run single to right.
Drew O??Neil (Roswell, Ga.) came on and worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning, recorded two strikeouts to end the game. Penn State pitchers retired the final eight Temple hitters of the game as the Owls had just one baserunner in the final three innings. Ogrodnik, O??Neil and Paul Hawkins (Glen Hope, Pa.), who preceded Ogrodnik and threw two innings, gave up just one unearned run over the final four innings.
| Brian Ernst had his second straight multi-RBI game and had the game-tying RBI double on Wednesday. |
Ernst, Blackburn, Leitgeb and Kelley each had two hits for Penn State. Leitgeb went 2-for-3 with three RBI and two runs scored while reached base in four out of his five plate appearances. Yodice scored three runs after drawing three walks while Kelley went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI. Ernst and Gaffney each also had two RBI.
Penn State will hit the road again for the second straight weekend when it travels to Michigan State for a four-game Big Ten series this weekend, beginning on Friday at 3:05 p.m.
Notes: Cory Wine (Stillwater, Okla.) did not start or play in the game, the first time this year the Nittany Lion starting first baseman has missed a game. In his place, Blackburn got his third career start at first base, as he also started there twice last year??.Cavagnaro reached base safely for the 15th straight game??.Penn State was 2-for-3 on stolen bases, ending its streak of 10 straight SB??s without being caught. The Lions are still an impressive 25-for-31 on the year in steals??.The game lasted 3:39, the second-longest game for Penn State this year and the longest for a nine-inning game. Only Penn State??s 11-inning game at Oral Roberts on March 16th lasted longer (4:06)??.The Lions?? five errors in the game were the most since a 12-6 win over Duquesne last year??.The 14 runs scored is a season-high and the most since PSU scored 14 in a 14-6 win over Bucknell last year??.The marked the first meeting between Temple and Penn State since the 1999 season. It is the fourth most-played series in school history....Ernst's two RBI marked his second straight multiple-RBI game.