Sept. 18, 2007
University Park, Pa. - The Penn State baseball team culminated its first week of fall practice with a pair of intrasquad scrimmages on Sunday and Monday at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. In the Sunday game, the Blue and White teams battled to a 2-2 tie before all of the available pitchers used up their pitch allotment, while on Monday the White scored twice in the bottom of the sixth inning to capture a 3-1 victory.
In the opener, the White team wasted no time in staking starter Mike Lorentson to an early lead scoring twice in the bottom of the first. Cory Wine singled off Blue starting pitcher Ryan Stobart and was chased home on a booming triple to dead center by Rick Marlin. After Stobart retired Rob Yodice on an infield popout, Scott Kelley lined a single to center off the glove of shortstop Wes Borden to plate Marlin.
After allowing a leadoff single to the Blue's Landon Nakata, Lorentson mowed down eight straight Blue hitters until freshman Grant Youngblood drew a two-out walk and moved to second on a single by Mike Deese. Youngblood then stole third and advanced home when the throw was wide.
The score remained the same until the top of the ninth, when with two outs the Blue team rallied with Deese doubling to left center off reliever Dave Hine and scoring one batter later when Joe Blackburn singled to right. Hine then retired Ryan Boonie to preserve the 2-2 deadlock.
The game was dominated by the pitching staffs of both teams. The White team was led by Lorentson, who pitched three and a third innings, allowing just two hits and the one unearned run while striking out four. Dave Lutz entered next and tossed three and two-thirds innings of scoreless ball, fanning four and scattering five hits. Hine closed it out for the White allowing one run in two innings of work while striking out two. For the Blue, Stobart allowed the two first inning runs but settled in to pitch scoreless frames in the second and third inning. He struck out two and did not walk a hitter, while surrendering five hits. Mike Pierce tossed three near perfect innings in relief allowing just one hit and no runs and Hine also threw two shutout innings for the Blue team.
The White offense was led by Marlin, who tripled and singled in four plate appearances. Four Blue players had multiple hits including Deese and Ben Heath, who both singled and doubled, while Nakata and Blackburn each had a pair of singles. Nakata also stole a pair of bases.
In the Monday outing, the Blue jumped to a 1-0 advantage in the top of the first when Nakata coaxed a walk off starter John Karr, stole second and scored on a two-out double by Youngblood. The White rallied to tie it in the third when Wine walked and scored all the way from first on a double to right field by Kelley. The score remained tied until the sixth when Jack Greenberg drew a leadoff walk off reliever Chris Sobota, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a sharp single to center by freshman catcher Bobby Jacobs. Following a passed ball, Jacobs was plated on an RBI single to right by Rob Yodice to complete the scoring.
All-American candidate Drew O'Neil struck out four of the seven hitters he faced in his two innings of work. |
Jacobs led the White team with a single and a double, with Yodice and Louie Picconi each adding a pair of singles. Scott Kelley doubled in a run in the winning effort. The Blue team was limited to just five hits, with Brian Ernst being the lone player to have multiple hits with a pair of singles. Grant Youngblood's RBI double was the only extra base hit for the Blue.
Karr pitched three innings for the W hite, allowing one earned run on three hits, while walking two and striking out three. He was relieved by Mike Wanamaker who tossed three scoreless innings fanning two and allowing just two infield singles. Seth Whitehill pitched the final two shutout innings, giving up just two singles. T.J. Macy got the start for the Blue and was touched for a single run on three hits. He walked one and struck out one. All-American candidate Drew O'Neil tossed two impressive shutout innings, allowing just a hit by Cory Wine while striking out four of the seven hitters he faced. Sobota allowed two earned runs in two innings of relief work on three hits with a walk and a strike out. Whitehill pitched the final inning for the Blue, allowing a lone single before retiring the side.
The Nittany Lions will continue practice and once again play intrasquad games this weekend with tentative start times scheduled for 6:30 pm on Friday evening, 12:00 pm Saturday and 1:00 pm Sunday. All scrimmages are open to the public and admission is free.