April 6, 2010
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State baseball team came back with two ninth-inning runs to walk off with a 7-6 win over Bucknell on Tuesday evening at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. The Nittany Lions (12-15) have now walked off with a win in five of their first 27 games this season. This time, it was junior Bobby Jacobs (West Chester, Pa.) who drew a bases-loaded walk to score sophomore Sean Deegan (Readington, N.J.) with the winning run. Penn State returns home for a weekend series with Big Ten rival Northwestern beginning Friday at 6:35 p.m.
In total, eight of Penn State's games have finished via a walk-off, five in the Lions' favor. Sophomore Joey DeBernardis (Lake Zurich, Ill.) tossed a scoreless ninth inning for his first-career win, coming in only his second-career appearance. At the plate, he walked in the fifth inning and has now reached base safely in 18 consecutive games.
"We've had [a number of] walk-off wins," said DeBernardis. "With the situation in the bottom of the ninth, we were expecting to come through and win the game."
Junior Ben Heath (Huntersville, N.C.) extended a streak of his own, hitting a double in the seventh inning to up his career-high hitting streak to 14 games, which ties for the 15th longest in school history.
Leading the way offensively was redshirt freshman Elliot Searer (Lewistown, Pa.), who went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. The three hits tied a career-high, originally set on Saturday at Illinois. Deegan finished 2-for-4 with a stolen base and two runs scored, his second consecutive multi-hit game. Freshman Steve Snyder (West Chester, Pa.) went 1-for-2 with a walk, RBI and run scored
Down 6-5 heading to the ninth, Penn State took advantage of wildness from Bucknell pitcher Andrew Clarke. The Lions used four walks and a sacrifice fly to score the two runs they needed. Junior Jack Greenberg (Upper St. Clair, Pa.) tied the score with a sac fly to plate Snyder while Jacobs drew a bases loaded walk to score Deegan.
"It was a total team effort," said Searer. "The pitching did a good job today. They picked up the fielders when they made a mistake. It was a good team effort."
Bucknell took a quick 1-0 lead in the first inning when Ben Allen scored on a wild pitch. The Bison added to the lead in the third when Bob Donato hit a solo home run to right-center field to make it 2-0.
Penn State cut the lead in half with a run in the bottom of the third. Searer singled, stole second, advanced to third on Snyder's single, then scored on a wild pitch.
Sophomore Jordan Steranka (Pittsburgh, Pa.) drew a bases loaded walk in the fifth to score Searer, making it 2-2. Deegan later scored on a wild pitch to give the Lions a 3-2 advantage.
Penn State added insurance in the sixth when a Searer RBI single plated Jacobs and Snyder's fielder's choice scored junior Michael Glantz (Marietta, Ga.) for a 5-2 lead.
Bucknell wouldn't quit, tying the score at five via David Duffett's three-run seventh-inning home run. Drew Constable and Matt Lamore had reached via consecutive two-out singles to lead up to Duffett's blast.
Bucknell staged another two-out rally in the eighth to take a 6-5 advantage. This time, a Doug Shribman single plated B.J. Laroche, who had reached on an error.
The Lions continue their homestand this weekend against Northwestern on Friday (6:35 p.m.), Saturday (2:05 p.m.) and Sunday (1:05 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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