March 29, 2008
Columbus, Ohio - Ryan Boonie drove in a career-high three runs and Cory Wine went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI and Penn State rode more strong pitching, this time by Mike Lorentson and again by All-American candidate Drew O'Neil at the end of the game as the Nittany Lions earned a doubleheader sweep over Ohio State on Saturday with a 5-2 win in game two to go up 2-1 in the series.
By picking up saves in both ends of the doubleheader, O'Neil broke the school record for career saves with his 16th career save in game two. That surpasses the previous record of 15 that was held by Clint Eury (2002-05) and in just less than a season and a half. The righthander came in to record the final out in the sixth inning and strand the bases loaded after Ohio State had but the Penn State lead in half and then pitched around a walk, a hit batsman and an error to once again strand the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh, getting Zach Hurley, the potential winning run, to ground into a game-ending fielder's choice.
Mike Lorentson picked up his second straight win by going five and a third innings and allowing six hits and two runs. He walked one and struck out one. He kept the Buckeyes off the scoreboard for the first five innings, not allowing a single runner to get past second base, before running into trouble in the sixth. Paul Hawkins and O'Neil finished out the sixth and preserved the Nittany Lion lead.
Boonie, making his fourth straight start overall, his third straight start in left field in the series and his fifth start in the last six games, drove in the first Penn State run in the second inning to give the Lions a 1-0 lead. They benefited from an Ohio State error as Joe Blackburn reached when second baseman Cory Kovanda bobbled his grounder. He moved up on Cory Wine's single and a wild pitch moved both runners up a base. With one out, Boonie grounded out to second to send home Blackburn.
It remained 1-0 through the top of the sixth as Lorentson continually mowed down Buckeye hitters. After pitching around back-to-back two-out singles in the first, he pitched around a one-out single in the third and a one-out double in the fifth to keep the Buckeye blanked.
Mike Lorentson picked up his second straight and his third win overall with a strong performance on the mound in game two. |
In the top of the sixth, the Nittany Lions were able to put together a string of four hits and an intentional walk to extend their lead to 4-0. The inning began with back-to-back singles by Brian Ernst and Rob Yodice. After a pop out by Blackburn, Wine drove a double over the head of the rightfielder to plate Ernst and send Yodice to third and chase Ohio State starter Dean Wolosiansky, who had allowed just four baserunners in the first five innings before the Lions chased him in the sixth. Reliever Alex Wimmers entered and issued an intentional walk to Rick Marlin, who had reached base in five of his first six plate appearances in the doubleheader. Boonie then made the Buckeyes pay for that decision as he drove a two-run single to right center field to score both Yodice and Wine.
The Buckeyes scratched across two runs, one charged to Lorentson and one to Hawkins in the bottom of the sixth to cut the lead to 4-2. With one out, Justin Miller drew a walk and that was followed by a single up the middle by Ryan Meade. With Lorentson's pitch count nearing 80, Hawkins was brought in for his first appearance of the series. He got the first hitter he faced, Cory Rupert, to ground into a fielder's choice, forcing the runner at second and putting runners at first and third with two outs. He then got a ground ball off the bat of pinch hitter Hurley that Landon Nakata knocked down at second base going to his left but his throw was not in time, giving Hurley and infield RBI single. Dan Burkhart then drove a single up the middle just out of the reach of Lou Picconi at short to score Rupert and Tyler Engle then reached on a little dribbler that died about a third of the way up the third base line for an infield single to load the bases. O'Neil entered at that point and was able to retire Kennedy on a fly out to left.
Another RBI hit by Wine pushed the lead to three runs at 5-2 in the seventh as the Nittany Lions put together a two-out rally against Wimmers. With two outs, Yodice singled up the middle and that was followed by a walk to Blackburn. Wine then drove a 1-0 pitch through the hole in the right side to score Yodice from second.
In the seventh, O'Neil issued a leadoff walk to Cory Kovanda but struck out J.B. Shuck. Miller then hit what looked like tailor-made double play ball to Nakata at second but he bobbled it and both runners were safe. O'Neil then plunked Meade with an inside pitch to load the bases but came back to strike out Rupert and then retired Hurley on a grounder to short as Picconi stepped on the bag at second to end the game.
Cory Wine went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI in the game two win. |
With the win, Penn State is assured of at least a split in the season-opening Big Ten series. Penn State will likely send righthander Ryan Stobart to the mound tomorrow in the final game of the series. He will be opposed by Shuck of Ohio State.
Notes: The multi-RBI game is the second of Boonie's career....Boonie also recorded another sacrifice in the game after recording two sacs in the first game. He now leads the team with four sacrifices on the year....In addition to his offensive exploits in the game, Wine moved up another spot on the all-time putout list at Penn State by recording nine more and now has 1125 in his career. Just like O'Neil with the saves record, Wine also passed Eury to overtake second place on the career putout list. Eury had 1119 career putouts. The record is 1193 and is currently held by Phil Bertolotti (1993-96)....O'Neil saved of the middle (seven-inning) games of the series against the Buckeyes for the second straight year. He also picked up saves in both ends of the Saturday doubleheader against Ohio State at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park last year on May 19....Penn State will look for its first-ever series win against Ohio State in Columbus tomorrow. Their previous series wins over the Buckeyes all came at home....Picconi has now reached base safely in 18 out of 19 games on the year....The Nittany Lions' 2-1 conference record through three games is a game better than it was last year at the same point....Relief pitcher and quarterback Paul Cianciolo is scheduled to join the Nittany Lions in Columbus for the final game of the series tomorrow after participating in spring football practice back in State College on both Friday and today.