| Mike Lorentson improved to 3-1 with four innings of relief in which he allowed only one hit and one walk to help lead the Nittany Lions to the win in the second game on Sunday. |
- Game 1 Recap
- Game 1 Box Score
- Game 2 Box Score
ANN ARBOR, Mich.; May 13, 2007 ?C Penn State broke open a close game with a seven-run seventh inning and rode that to a statement-making 15-5 win over Michigan in the second game of Sunday??s doubleheader to win their fourth Big Ten series of the year by taking three out of four games from the No. 16 Wolverines. The series is the first win over Michigan on the road since the 2001 season and is Michigan??s first Big Ten series loss of the year. The 15 runs and 21 hits are a season high for Penn State and are also the most given up on the season by the Wolverines all year.
Mike Lorentson (Springfield, Pa.) picked up the win with four innings of relief in which he allowed just one hit and one walk. He improved to 3-1 on the year after relieving starter John Karr (Gibsonia, Pa.) with one runner on and no outs in the fifth. Karr went four innings and allowed four hits, three runs, two earned, while walking four and striking out four.
Five different Nittany Lions had three-hit games. Matt Cavagnaro (Brightwaters, N.Y.), Cory Wine (Stillwater, Okla.), and Rick Marlin (Orlando, Fla.) all went 3-for-6 while Cavagnaro and Wine each had three RBI as well. Joe Blackburn (Sinking Spring, Pa.) went 3-for-5 as did Scott Kelley (Arlington Heights, Ill.). Mike Deese (Roswell, Ga.) went 2-for-5 with a pair of RBI and a triple while Brian Ernst (Boyertown, Pa.) also went 2-for-5. Rob Yodice (Staten Island, N.Y.), who did not even start the game, went 1-for-1 with two runs scored and a pair of RBI.
Michigan, which had just three Big Ten losses entering the weekend, had its loss total in conference play doubled this weekend, although the Wolverines are still in first place with an 18-6 mark. It marked their first conference series loss at home since the first weekend series of last year against Northwestern. Minnesota is in second place, percentage points ahead of Penn State at 16-7. Penn State is alone in third place, one game ahead of fourth place Iowa at 17-9 while the Hawkeyes are 16-10. The Nittany Lions are also still in contention, along with Minnesota, for the league title, which is now a three-team race heading into the final weekend of conference play next weekend. Penn State has already clinched a berth in the Big Ten Tournament.
For the second straight game, Penn State got on the scoreboard first as it pushed across two in the first inning, getting three singles and a walk, all with two outs, to take a 2-0 lead.
Michigan cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the first without the benefit of a hit. Leadoff hitter Jason Christian walked, stole second, went to third on a groundout and with two outs, scored on a passed ball.
| Cory Wine went 3-for-6 with three RBI. |
Penn State immediately answered back, scoring three runs in the top of the second on Cavagnaro??s three-run homer to left field, his second of the year. His gopher ball came with no outs after Scott Kelley had led off with a single and Jim Leitgeb (Elkton, Md.) had drawn a walk. That blast knocked out starter Jeff DeCarlo after just one plus inning of work and Adam Abraham, who began the game at third base, relieved him.
It remained 5-1 until the bottom of the third, when Michigan scored one to make it 5-2. Its run also came with two outs as Kevin Cislo singled and scored on Nate Recknagel??s double.
The Wolverines inched closer by scoring one more run in the fourth, although it could have been much more if not for starter John Karr bearing down to get out of a bases-loaded jam with allowing only the one run. Karr gave up singles to Adam Abraham and Doug Pickens and then walked Derek VanBuskirk to load the bases. He then struck out Mike Dufek for the first out. Anthony Toth grounded out to first, allowing Abraham to score but then Karr got Christian to foul out to Scott Gaffney (Westbury, N.Y.) at short to end the threat.
Reliever Mike Lorentson relieved Karr after Karr walked the leadoff hitter in the fifth and retired the side on three straight fly balls. He also worked a 1-2-3 sixth inning, getting two more fly outs to keep it a 5-3 game.
Then, in the seventh, with Abraham entering his sixth inning of work after putting zero??s for Penn State in the third through sixth innings, he ran into trouble and more trouble. He gave up a leadoff single to Blackburn, who then scored on Deese??s triple to deep right center field. Deese trotted home on a woild pitch by Abraham, who then gave up a single to Ernst, who was the last batter he faced. Ben Jenzen entered and was greeted by a single to right by Marlin. After the first out was made, pinch hitter Rob Yodice, hitting for Leitgeb, drove a two-run double to right center to make it 9-3. Cavagnaro followed with a single to right and Gaffney walked off the second reliever of the inning, Brad Seddon, to load the bases. Wine then grounded a two-run single through the right side to make it 11-3. A single up the middle by Blackburn, his second of the inning, scored the final run of the inning to make it 12-3.
| Matt Cavagnaro went 3-for-6 with a trio of RBI and a pair of runs. |
The Nittany Lions didn??t let up in the eighth, scoring three more to make it 15-3 off Seddon, who was chased. Marlin led off with his third single of the day. One out later, Yodice was hit by a pitch and both runners scored on Gaffney??s two-run double to right center. Gaffney later trotted home on Wine??s single to center for the final Lion runs of the game.
Lorentson left after four innings of work and was relieved by Ryan Stobart in the ninth, who yielded a two-run homer to Christian after getting a double play ball for the first two outs of the inning to account for the final score of 15-5.
Notes: Cavagnaro now has hit home runs from each side of the plate this year. His first home run of the year came left-handed against Iowa back on April 6 and it went to right field. Today??s home run came right-handed and it went to left field??.Gaffney set the school single season record for sacrifices with his 15th of the year in the top of the fourth inning. He broke the old record of 14 set by Zack Smithlin in 2003??.Gaffney and Cavagnaro are now also tied for second for second place on the career sacrifices list. The record is 29 and is also held by Smithlin??.The seven runs scored in the seventh inning were tied for the most scored by Penn State in a single inning this year, equaling the seven runs scored in the eighth inning vs. Temple on April 11??.Penn State??s 15 runs were a season high and the most they have scored since the fourth game of the Northwestern series last year on April 23rd when they knocked off the Wildcats 15-5??.The 21 hits is also a season high, surpassing the 18 against Duquesne on April 24, and it is the most since the Lions had 20 hits against Michigan State last year on April 16??.Penn State last won four Big Ten series in 2003, however one of those was a rain-shortened three-game series. The last time the Nittany Lions won four, four-game Big Ten series in a season was in 1996, when they last won the Big Ten championship and they won five conference series.