May 9, 2008
Coach Bell on the radio postgame show (mp3)
University Park, Pa. - Rick Marlin singled home Scott Kelley in the bottom of the tenth inning to put an end to a three-and-a-half hour game and send the Nittany Lions home with a 6-5 win over the Iowa Hawkeyes in the series opener on Friday night. The win gave the Lions a win in the Big Ten series opener for just the second time this year and gave head coach Robbie Wine his 100th career win as a head coach, all coming at Penn State.
In the tenth, after a leadoff walk by Rob Yodice, Kelley came in to pinch run. An error on an errant pickoff throw and a single to shallow left by Brian Ernst put runners on the corners and the Hawkeyes intentionally walked Cory Wine to load the bases for Marlin. He laced a single into an empty centerfield, as Iowa brought their centerfielder in as a fifth infielder, but the liner would likely have been a hit regardless. The hit was the second game-ending hit for Marlin in his career, as he also won a game for the Nittany Lions last year in the bottom of the ninth against Northwestern.
Yodice led the offense with a 2-for-4 performance, two runs scored and an RBI. Ernst and went 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI and Cory Wine went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Landon Nakata also went 2-for-4 with a run scored.
Rob Yodice scored two runs and went 2-for-4 and drew the leadoff walk in the tenth inning that would eventually be the winning run. |
Mike Wanamaker started the game and pitched seven innings, allowing five runs, only two earned, while scattering 11 hits, walking one and striking out seven. Drew O'Neil entered a tie game in the eighth and pitched two scoreless and hitless innings, walking two and striking out two. Hawkins pitched a scoreless tenth inning.
Both teams threatened to score early as Penn State had a runner on third base in the second and third innings and Iowa had two runners reach third base in the first inning and one reach second base in the second and third innings, but they were all stranded.
The Hawkeyes finally put runs on the board in the top of the fourth inning beginning with three consecutive base hits by Kurtis Muller, Tyson Blaser and T.J. Cataldo. Muller crossed the plate and Blaser moved to second base on Cataldo's single through the right side. They then moved to second and third when Wanamaker's pickoff attempt at second base hit Blaser in the back and rolled into the outfield. Cataldo scored from third on a Kyle Riffel groundout to shortstop to put Iowa up 2-0. They notched another run when Kody McManis laid down a bunt back to Wanamaker and his throw to the plate went to the backstop. Ben Geelan walked and he and McManis attempted a double steal. McManis took third safely, but Blackburn's throw to second base beat Geelan for the second out. Hoef then lashed a single into right center to score Hoef for the Hawkeyes' fourth run of the inning.
Drew O'Neil pitched two scoreless innings out of the bullpen to help send the game to extra innings. |
The Nittany Lions answered back with two runs in the bottom of the fourth. Yodice led off with a single to right field, followed by a walk by Ernst. With runners on first and second, Wine spanked a double down the right field line, scoring Yodice and moving Ernst to third. After Marlin struck out, Boonie grounded out to first base but drove in Ernst to cut the Hawkeye lead in half, 4-2.
After retiring the Hawkeyes in order in the top of the fifth, Penn State took the lead in the bottom half of the inning. With one out, Landon Nakata drove a double down the rightfield line, followed by a Joe Blackburn walk. Yodice knocked a double into the left-centerfield gap to drive in Nakata and move Blackburn to third. Ernst followed with a base hit to leftfield that scored Blackburn. The Hawkeye leftfielder mishandled the ball and Yodice took advantage, scoring the go-ahead run to put Penn State on top 5-4.
Iowa tied the game in the seventh inning and they successfully executed a first-and-third, double steal. Kevin Hoef led off the inning with a single to centerfield and after a flyout, Caleb Curry singled through the left side of the infield, leaving runners at the corners with one out. Curry took off for second base on a Wanamaker fastball and stopped short of the bag when Nakata caught Blackburn's throw. While he got himself caught in a rundown, Hoef broke for home. Nakata flipped the ball to Wine who tagged out Curry, but his throw to the plate was too late to catch Hoef, who evened up the score, 5-5. Wanamaker's next pitch whizzed through the zone for an inning-ending third strike.
Paul Hawkins picked up his second win of the year out of the bullpen. |
The Hawkeyes did not receive any more scoring chances for the remainder of the game as O'Neil and Hawkins did not allow any other runners to make it past second base. O'Neil issued a leadoff walk in the eighth and a one-out walk in the ninth but did not allow any ball to be hit out of the infield. Hawkins issued a one-out walk in the tenth but induced an inning-ending double play. The Nittany Lions were also equaled without scoring chances until the 10th as they got just two baserunners from the sixth through ninth innings, first off starter Brock Alberts, who pitched six innings, and then off reliever Jason Belk, who set down nine of the first 10 hitters he faced in his first three innings before issuing the leadoff walk to Yodice in the 10th.
The teams will play a doubleheader beginning tomorrow at 2:05 p.m.
Note: Tonight's 10-inning game was just the fourth extra-inning contest played at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park for a collegiate game, and just the third contest to go more than nine innings (the other was a scheduled seven-inning game that went extras)...Wine is just the sixth baseball in Penn State history to accumulate 100 career wins....The win keeps the Nittany Lions in a tie for fifth place in the Big Ten with Northwestern, which defeated Indiana today, an a half-game ahead of seventh-place Michigan State, which topped second place Purdue earlier today. The top six teams qualify for the Big Ten Tournament.