March 28, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Following a 5-2 setback yesterday, the Penn State baseball team earned its second straight loss on Saturday in 12-2 loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Ohio State had a 4-2 lead heading into the top of the eighth inning. However, a three run eighth and a five run ninth put the game out of reach for the Nittany Lions. The Buckeyes finished the game with an 18 hits.
Ohio State third baseman Matt Streng knocked a pair of two-run homers in the game. Streng finished the day going 3 for 4 from the plate and tallied five RBI.
Senior Scott Kelley (Arlington Heights, Ill.) got the start for the Nittany Lions and went 5 2/3 innings, giving up three earned runs. The Nittany Lions had two errors in the game, costing them four unearned runs.
Freshman third baseman Jordan Steranka (Pittsburgh, Pa.) led Penn State with two hits. The pair of Lion runs came in the fifth and seventh innings - compliments of junior Blake Lynd (Deer Park, Texas) and sophomore Bobby Jacobs (West Chester, Pa.).
Eric Best stalled the Nittany Lions to earn his fourth win in as many decisions. Best allowed six hits in six innings for two earned runs.
After scoring a run by route of a lead-off walk in the first inning, Ohio State went ahead in the third inning as Streng bombed his first home run of the game - a solo shot that sailed over the 18-foot wall in right field.
Fine defensive play kept the Nittany Lions at bay in the fourth. With Cory Wine (Stillwater, Okla.) at second base, Steranka hailed a ball into deep left-center field. Leftfielder Zach Hurley lay out to make a catch with his back facing the plate, keeping the Nittany Lions scoreless.
Penn State chipped away at the Buckeye lead in the fifth inning. Multiple walks yielded an RBI sliced-single by Jacobs to make it a 2-1 game.
The Buckeyes tallied two runs in their next at-bat. An errant throw by Lynd and a single by Streng led way to two unearned runs for Ohio State.
The Nittany Lions made things interesting in the seventh, closing the gap to a two-run total. Michael Glantz (Marietta, Ga.) and Rick Marlin (Orlando, Fla.) began the inning off with back-to-back singles. With runners on second and third following a sacrifice bunt by Jacobs, Lynd grounded out to shortstop Tyler Engle, who made a fine play in the hole, to gun down the speedy centerfielder, holding Penn State to one run in the inning.
Ohio State's offense put the game out of reach in the late stages, totaling eight runs in the final two frames. Streng bombed his second home run of the game over the right-field fence and walked to move a runner home, bringing his RBI total for the game to five.
Penn State and Ohio State conclude the series on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.