April 29, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Mike Franklin pitched five innings of no-hit ball to earn his first career victory as the Penn State baseball team defeated La Salle, 9-3, to end its five-game losing streak on Wednesday.
Pitching for the first time in over three weeks, Franklin went five strong in the first collegiate start and allowed just two batters to reach, facing the minimum of 15 hitters following a walk to open the game.
The collective no-hit bid carried into the seventh inning when TJ Chism hit a ball up the middle that caromed off of Mike Pierce's leg and into the outfield for a single.
The Nittany Lions out-hit the Explorers by a 16-4 margin.
Six Penn State players had multi-hit games. Rick Marlin led a sextet of players with two hits by adding two doubles and three RBIs to his day.
Jordan Steranka and Ben Heath each manufactured two RBIs. Steranka tabbed two runs, as well.
The trio of Jesse Alfreno, Drew Palen and David Lutz each tossed an inning of hitless action for the Nittany Lions. Alfreno punched out three and walked one.
The Nittany Lions tallied eight runs, seven of which were unearned, in the first two innings.
In the first, Blake Lynd and Wes Borden each stole a base as the first two runners of the game. Three consecutive two-out line drive hits by the middle of the order ensured the Nittany Lions with a four-run lead.
Like it had in the second inning, Penn State capitalized on an error by La Salle to score four more runs. Louie Picconi started things off with a two-bagger down the left-field line. Cory Wine sacrifice flied to score Picconi, and Steranka shot a single up the middle to make it a 6-0 game. Marlin doubled for the second time in as many innings to bring the run total to eight
After letting up a walk to start the game, Franklin settled to retire the next three batters. In the next inning, he issued a one-out walk but got out of the jam by forcing a groundout double play to Landon Nakata.
La Salle scored its only three runs in the seventh inning. The Explorers got their first hit on a comeback that hit Pierce's leg and went into the outfield. Pierce forced a double play to get two outs but the Explorers fired up with a single, double and a triple to send two more runners home.
Penn State added its final run of the game when Joey DeBernardis led off with a single and scored a run. Sean Deegan moved the freshman infielder along with his third hit of the season before Heath lifted a ball right over second base to score DeBernardis.
The Nittany Lions travel to East Lansing, Mich. to take on Michigan State, for whom it is vying for a spot in the Big Ten Tournament, this weekend.
GAME NOTES: Mike Franklin pitched nearly as many innings (5) as he had coming into today's start (5.1)...Jordan Steranka had his 20th multi-hit game of the season.