April 23, 2010
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COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Penn State baseball team scored first against Ohio State starter Alex Wimmers, but the Buckeyes' offense bounced back with three unanswered tallies to spoil a sensational pitching performance from freshman Steven Hill (Colleyville, Texas) and hand the NIttany Lions (15-22, 2-8 Big Ten) a 3-1 loss on Friday evening. Freshman Steve Snyder (West Chester, Pa.) drove in the only run with an RBI single to score senior Louie Picconi (North Merrick, N.Y.) while Hill tossed a career-high 7.1 innings, allowing only three runs on eight hits against the high-powered Buckeye attack. The teams meet in game two of the weekend series on Saturday at 1:05 p.m.
Wimmers was the story, improving to 9-0 by tossing his second complete-game of the season. After the Lions scorched two second-inning hits, they were held hitless until two out in the ninth. The Buckeyes' ace allowed only four hits while striking out 11 strikeouts on 134 pitches.
Hill nearly went pitch-for-pitch in the longest outing of his career while senior David Lutz (West Chester, Pa.) came in and threw a scoreless eighth inning.
Down two in the ninth, junior Ben Heath (Huntersville, N.C.) hit a sharp two-out single to bring the tying run to the plate. Sophomore Joey DeBernardis (Lake Zurich, Ill.) followed with a single to right-center, bringing the go-ahead run to the plate in junior Mario Eramo (Houston, Texas). After a mound meeting, Wimmers went on to notch his 11th strikeout to end the game.
Redshirt freshman Elliot Searer (Lewistown, Pa.) had his 17-game hitting streak snapped, but he did reach base via a fourth-inning walk. Heath finished 1-for-3 with a walk to up his on-base streak to 24 straight games. Sophomore Sean Deegan (Readington, N.J.) also had his mini four-game hitting streak snapped.
Penn State drew first blood in the third when Picconi hit a one-out double to left-center field. Snyder followed with a sharp single to left to plate Picconi for the 1-0 lead.
The Buckeyes answered right back in the bottom of the inning to even the score at one. Zach Hurley led off with a double, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Dan Burkhart's RBI groundout.
A Matt Streng fourth-inning double to the left-center field gap plated Cory Rupert all the way from first to give Ohio State its first lead of the game, 2-1.
The pitchers continued to dazzle until Streng's next at-bat when he hit a two-out solo home run to deep right field to give the Buckeyes a two-run cushion.
Despite going hitless from the third through ninth innings, Penn State continued to threaten, drawing five walks off Wimmers. The Nittany Lions had runners on first and second with two out in both the eighth and ninth innings, but were unable to convert.
The teams reconvene on Saturday and Sunday, both at 1:05 p.m. The Nittany Lions return to Medlar Field at Lubrano Park for a midweek contest against La Salle on Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. Purchase your tickets today!
Season and individual game tickets are now available can be purchased online or over the phone. Please call 1-877-997-7453 or (814) 272-1711, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. for more information. Fans can also direct any additional questions or comments via phone, or by email (psubaseball@athletics.psu.edu).
Baseball camp information is now available. Call the Sports Camp Office at (814) 865-0561 or email them at SportCampInfo@outreach.psu.edu for more information.
Follow Penn State baseball on Twitter: www.twitter.com/psubaseball.