April 24, 2010
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COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Penn State baseball team used a balanced offensive attack to plate a season-high 18 runs on 19 hits for an impressive 18-10 win over the first-place Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday afternoon. Redshirt freshman Elliot Searer (Lewistown, Pa.) tied the Penn State (16-22, 3-8 Big Ten) single-game hits record with five while junior Ben Heath (Huntersville, N.C.) set a career-high with four hits, including his 13th and 14th home runs of the season. Senior Louie Picconi (North Merrick, N.Y.) and junior Mario Eramo (Houston, Texas) also homered and senior David Lutz threw 4.2 scoreless innings out of the bullpen for his second win of the season. The Nittany Lions now look for their first Big Ten series win on Sunday at 1:05 p.m.
"We're here to win a series," said head coach Robbie Wine when asked about the significance of the victory. "[Ohio State pitcher Alex] Wimmers did a good job against us last night. Then coming out and winning a game like this, it's a different feel. Going into tomorrow, it will carry over."
Searer's 5-for-6 performance tied the school record for hits, accomplished on only 12 other occasions during the program's 122 year existence. Matt Cavagnaro was the most recent to have five, doing so three years ago to the day, on Apr. 24, 2007 against Duquesne.
After jumping out to an 11-1 lead in the third inning, Ohio State answered with nine of the next 11 runs to pull within 13-10, but Heath homered in the eighth and ninth to give Penn State some breathing room. The two long balls tied a career-high originally set on three different occasions while he now has 14 on the season, already the fourth most in Penn State single-season history. He is within three of tying Dave Simononis' school record of 17 long balls set in 1978.
Redshirt Senior Mike Wanamaker (Upper Nyack, N.Y.) labored into the fifth inning, but Lutz came in and impressed out of the bullpen, throwing a season-high 4.2 scoreless innings on only two hits for the much-deserved victory.
"He's done that every year," said Wine. "He comes in, throws strikes, pitches it at the knees and got a lot of ground balls for us."
Penn State's four home runs tied a season-high originally set in a 16-9 win at Illinois. The Nittany Lions have 32 long balls on the season, already three more than they had all of last year. The 18 runs also marked a season-high and were the most runs scored against the Buckeyes' pitching staff this season.
Picconi hit a third-inning grand slam for his first-career home run. It was also the senior's 100th career hit, the second time this season that a milestone hit has left the yard. Sophomore Jordan Steranka's (Pittsburgh, Pa.) 100th career hit against Kent State was a home run as well.
Freshman Steve Snyder (West Chester, Pa.) reached base three times out of the two-hole, going 2-for-5 with two runs scored. Eramo finished with two hits and three RBI while sophomore Joey DeBernardis (Lake Zurich, Ill.) tied a career-high in at-bats (6), hits (3) and runs scored (3).
All this came against Ohio State starter Drew Rucinski, who entered the game with a stellar 2.56 ERA in 45.2 innings. He allowed 10 earned runs in only two innings of work after giving up 13 earned runs all season heading in. Penn State scored four quick runs in the first to take the early lead. Searer led off with a single and advanced to third on Snyder's single up the middle. Snyder advanced to second on the throw, setting up Steranka, who hit an RBI groundout to make it 1-0. Snyder then crossed the plate on a wild pitch to double the lead. After a DeBernardis single, Eramo hit a two-run home run to right field to make it 4-0.
The Buckeyes responded with a run in the bottom of the inning when a Michael Stephens grounder through the left side scored Zach Hurley. It could have been more if not for back-to-back great catches by Heath and DeBernardis. With runners on first and second, DeBernardis ended the inning with a lunging catch into the first base seats to end the threat.
The Nittany Lions manufactured another run with two outs in the second. Searer started the rally with a single to left. With Searer running, Snyder executed a perfect hit-and-run through the vacated right side. With runners on the corners, Snyder was picked off by Ohio State starter Rucinski, but beat the throw to second. On the play, Searer snuck into the back door to make it 5-1.
A six-run third inning capped off by Picconi's grand slam gave Penn State a 11-1 advantage. The first six batters of the inning reached against Rucinski, who was chased after two innings in his worst outing of the season. Heath, DeBernardis, Eramo and junior Michael Glantz (Marietta, Ga.) followed with singles to score a pair. After sophomore Sean Deegan (Readington, N.J.) walked, Picconi hit his first-career home run down the left field line off new pitcher Eric Best.
Like Penn State had in the top of the inning, Ohio State batted around in the bottom of the third, scoring five times to pull within 11-6. Cory Kovanda drove in the first run via an RBI double. Stephens hit an RBI single to right-center while Ryan Drew and Tyler Engle drove in two more via a groundout and single, respectively.
The Lions added two more in the fourth to make it 13-6. After Heath's leadoff single, DeBernardis drove him in with a double to right-center field. DeBernardis then came homeward on a one-out Glantz popup to second base. Kovanda got spun around, allowing DeBernardis to score on the play.
The Buckeyes took advantage of Wanamaker's wildness in the fourth to plate two and pull within 13-8. In the fifth, a Stephens two-run single up the middle, plated two to pull even closer at 13-10 after five full innings.
Heath was the story in the later innings, hitting two home runs to lead a five-run Penn State outburst, good for the 18-10 final.
The teams now meet in the series finale on Sunday 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.
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