May 10, 2008
University Park, Pa. - Joe Blackburn recovered a Drew O'Neil pitch that got away from him in the bottom of the seventh inning and threw it back to O'Neil at home to tag out the potential tying run as the Nittany Lions held on to a 6-5 lead in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader against the Hawkeyes. The victory propels Penn State alone in fourth place in the Big Ten with a .500 conference record (13-13).
T.J. Macy picked up his third win of the season, striking out six and allowing just one run while scattering six hits and walking two in five innings of work. O'Neil earned his ninth save of the year and the 20th of his career, becoming the first player in Penn State history to record 20 career saves. He came in to get the Nittany Lions out of a jam in the sixth inning before escaping his own trouble in the seventh. He stuck out two and gave up one hit.
Landon Nakata reached base in all four of his plate appearances, going 2-for-2 with two RBI, two runs and two walks. Wes Borden went 2-for-4 with two runs, Brian Ernst hit a double and had two RBI, and Rob Yodice had a hit, a run and an RBI on the day.
Penn State efficiently tallied two runs on two hits in the bottom of the first inning. Borden sparked the offense by knocking a leadoff single passed the shortstop. He moved to second on a Nakata walk, and the two advanced to second and third on Hawkeye pitcher Steve Turnbull's balk. After Blackburn struck out, Yodice drew a one-out walk to load the bases. Ernst hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score Borden and advance Nakata to third. Yodice then took second on a wild pitch and Wine drew a walk to load the bases once again, this time for Rick Marlin, who hit a single through the left side of the infield, scoring Nakata to make it 2-0.
Landon Nakata scored twice, knocked in two runs, got two hits, and reached base in all four plate appearances. |
The offense stayed hot into the second as Lou Picconi singled to left field to start the inning. Borden laid down a bunt single and an errant throw allowed him to advance to second base while Picconi took third. Nakata followed by driving them both in with a single to right field. After Nakata took second on a wild pitch and Blackburn struck out, Yodice smacked a double down the right field line to score Nakata. After being worked for 65 pitches in just an inning and a third, Turnbull was taken out of the game and relieved by Andrew Porter. Ernst greeted him by driving a double into left to score Yodice from second base to give the Lions a 6-0 lead.
Iowa broke the shutout in the top of the fifth inning. After Kyle Riffel struck out, Zach McCool laced a base hit into left field. The Hawkeyes then successfully executed a hit-and-run as Kevin Hoef slapped a single behind the stealing McCool through the right side of the infield, leaving runners at the corners. Justin Toole singled to left field, scoring McCool and moving Hoef to second. Macy struck out Trevor Willis looking on three pitches for the second out, but then walked pinch-hitter Ben Geelan to load the bases. Macy forced Kurtis Muller to fly out to center, stranding three and surrendering just the one run.
With Macy's pitched count up over 100 and with a 6-1 lead, Paul Cianciolo came in to pitch the sixth inning. Jeff Pacha greeted him with a single up the middle, then advanced to second on a balk, and then to third on a Kody McManis groundout. Riffel then hit a single up the middle to score Pancha. After advancing to second on an errant pickoff throw to first, Riffel scored on a McCool single through the left side of the infield. McCool took second on a wild pitch and third on a Hoef single to left field, leaving runners on the corners with one out and Penn State leading 6-3. After walking Toole and loading the bases, Cianciolo was relieved by Calvin Grumley, who struck out Willis on four pitches but hit Geelan with a 3-2 pitch to bring McCool in to score from third. Muller then hit an RBI infield single deep into hole between shortstop and third that Picconi fielded but had no play on, scoring one more to pull the Hawkeyes within just one run at 6-5. At that point, O'Neil relieved Grumley to pitch to pinch-hitter, Matt Mossey with the bases still loaded. He needed just three pitches, striking Mossey out looking with a nasty slider to end the inning with Penn State holding onto the 6-5 lead.
Brian Ernst hit his 11th double of the season, giving him a career high for extra base hits in a season, and also had two RBI. |
Iowa put the tying run on third base in the bottom of the seventh inning as Riffel singled through the right side of the infield with one out, and then stole second and also stole third on O'Neil's third strike to McCool. O'Neil threw a high 0-1 fast ball that got over Blackburn's head, but he scrambled for it and threw it to O'Neil covering home plate, who tagged out the sliding Riffel in plenty of time to end the game.
Notes: Ernst's double in the bottom of the second inning was his career-high 11th extra base hit of the season (he had eight doubles, one triple, and one home run in 2006)....Both the first and second innings lasted 30 minutes apiece.... With the win, Penn State is guaranteed at least a split against the Hawkeyes and will at least end a three-year streak of series losses at the hands of the Hawkeyes. The Nits will now have two chances to go for their first series win against the Hawkeyes since the 2000 season....Macy has picked up decisions in all five of his starts this year....The tagging out of Riffel at home to end the game saved O'Neil what would have been his first earned run allowed against a Big Ten team in the regular season....The game last two hours and 45 minutes, the longest length for a seven-inning game this year for the Nittany Lions.