Oct. 2, 2007
This past weekend, the Penn State baseball team completed a pair of intrasquad scrimmages with the Blue Team winning a 14-9 Saturday slugfest and the White Team rebounding to capture a 4-3 Sunday victory at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. After several low-scoring games early in the fall, the hitters caught up to their counterparts on the mound, combining for 52 hits in the two contests.
On Saturday, the Blue wasted no time jumping on White starter John Karr for two first-inning runs and then added two more in the second to burst to a 4-0 lead. Landon Nakata led off the game with a double, moved to third on a Brian Ernst sacrifice bunt and scored on Ryan Boonie's sacrifice fly. Cory Wine also scored in the inning after walking and coming home on a wild pitch. In the second, singles by Ernst, Wine, Jack Greenberg and Drew Yukelson pushed the Blue's advantage to 4-0.
The White scored two runs of their own in the bottom of the second when Rick Marlin was hit by Blue starter Ryan Stobart's pitch and was plated by the first of four hits by freshman Bobby Jacobs. Jacobs then came home on a two-out RBI single by Gordie Atkisson. The Blue added a run in the third when Nakata singled, moved to second on a hit by Ernst and after stealing third advanced home on a throwing error. The White got the run right back in the bottom of the inning when Rob Yodice and Marlin singled to start the frame, with Yodice then coming home on a Jacobs' single to center.
The Blue stretched the lead when Ben Heath walked off reliever David Lutz to open the fourth and moved to third when consecutive sacrifice bunts by Nakata and Ernst were misplayed by the White defense. Joe Blackburn then singled in Heath and Nakata to make it 7-3. The White continued to battle back, though, and cut the lead to 7-6 when Davin Strouse and Yodice each singled with one out, moved up a base on a balk and scored on Scott Kelley's single to right. Kelley then stole second and scored on another Jacobs' RBI single off reliever Chris Sobota. The White tied it when Louie Picconi led off the fifth by reaching on an error and scored on a Yodice RBI single.
The tie score didn't last long, however, as the Blue broke the game open in the top of the sixth, scoring seven times and establishing a 14-7 advantage. Ernst led off the inning with a walk and moved to third on a single by Blackburn and a subsequent throwing error. Wine broke the tie with a sacrifice fly before Boonie added an RBI single to plate Blackburn. Greenberg and Yukelson then followed with RBI doubles and after a Heath single and an infield error, Ernst doubled in Heath to make it 12-7. Blackburn capped the inning with second hit of the frame, chasing home Nakata and Ernst. The White scored the final two runs of the game when Kelley singled and scored on a Jacobs double, who then touched home on a double by Rudy Hersh.
Scott Kelley (left) and Brian Ernst (right) had big weekends at the plate in Penn State's two intrasquad scrimmages last weekend. |
The Blue team was led by Blackburn who went 3-for-4 with four RBI, Ernst who reached base in all six of his plate appearances with three hits and three runs scored, and Jack Greenberg, who added two singles and a double with two RBI. Boonie, Nakata and Yukelson each had a single and double for the winners while Heath chipped in with a pair of singles. Sobota pitched an inning and a third of relief to notch the win.
In defeat, the White was led by Jacobs, who had four hits and four runs batted in. Yodice and Kelley each contributed three singles in the loss with Kelley driving in a pair of runs. Lutz took the loss in his extended relief stint which covered three and two-thirds innings.
On Sunday, the pitching staff returned to form and the White never trailed in securing a narrow 4-3 victory. With two outs in the bottom of the first, Cory Wine singled to center off Blue starter Mike Wanamaker and came all the way home when Blackburn blasted a triple to deep centerfield. The White upped the lead to 2-0 in the third when Blackburn doubled to right and scored on Marlin's single.
The Blue answered in the top of the fourth off White pitcher Seth Whitehill when Kelley led off the frame with a single, advanced to third on Yodice's double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Wes Borden. The White narrowly avoided further damage when Yodice was gunned down at the plate by rightfielder Marlin following a single by Greenberg.
The White upped the lead to 3-1 in the sixth when Boonie greeted reliever Mike Pierce with a double, moved up on Heath's sacrifice and scored on an RBI single by Yukelson. However, the Blue answered right back off reliever T.J. Macy when Greenberg singled, advanced to second on a ground out and scored on a base hit by Atkisson. The White pushed the lead back to two in the eighth when with two outs, Heath was hit by pitch and went to third on a hit and run single by Yukelson. The insurance run scored when Yukelson attempted to steal second but got caught in a rundown allowing Heath to steal home. The Blue mounted one final rally in the ninth when Greenberg and Grant Youngblood led off the inning with back-to-back doubles, but Macy pitched out of the jam to preserve the win.
Both starting pitchers were sharp in their outings. Whitehill tossed five innings, allowing just four hits and one run while striking out five and walking just one to earn the win. Wanamaker took the hard luck loss, also pitching five innings and allowing two runs on six hits with one free pass and seven punchouts. Macy earned the save pitching the final four innings, allowing two runs on six hits while fanning four. Drew O'Neil threw a perfect ninth for the Blue, striking out the side.
The scrimmage originally scheduled for last Friday was cancelled due to pending inclement weather.
Penn State will once again hold intrasquad scrimmages this weekend on Friday and Sunday with the Friday (October 5) game scheduled to begin at 3:30 pm and the Sunday afternoon (October 7) affair set for 1:00 pm. All scrimmages are open to the public and admission is free.