April 10, 2011
EVANSTON, Ill. - Looking for the three-game sweep, the Penn State baseball team fell just short of its goal after Northwestern pieced together a late three-run rally in the bottom of the eighth as the Wildcats posted a 9-8 victory against the Nittany Lions during a wild Big Ten battle on a hot Sunday afternoon at Rocky Miller Park.
Despite holding a three-run lead in the fourth and a two-run edge in the eighth, Penn State (19-10, 4-2 Big Ten) could not quite complete the sweep as Northwestern (9-19, 2-4) continued to fight back and eventually capped off an odd day of baseball with its three-run rally.
Entering the bottom of the eighth with an 8-6 advantage, Penn State looked to be in prime position after holding Northwestern in check during the middle innings. Unfortunately, the Wildcat offense quickly came to life when it mattered. Pinch hitter Jack Livingston opened the inning with a single to center before Trevor Stevens worked a walk. Later, following a pitching change, Paul Snieder greeted Ryan Ignas with an RBI single up the middle that pulled the hosts within one.
With two runners on, Jordan Steranka made an excellent play on a high hopper towards the hole for the second out. Despite those efforts, he could not make a similarly great play on a rocket down the leftfield line by the very next batter. Jack Havey blasted a 1-0 offering just inside the chalk. Although Steranka made a diving attempt, the ball glanced off his glove and rolled into left, which allowed the go-ahead runs to score.
After overcoming their third deficit of the game, the Wildcats refused to relinquish their lead. They called upon Paul Snieder to close out the game on the mound, and the relief specialist did not let them down. Using a devastating slider, he retired the side in order to earn his third save of the season.
Fellow reliever Matt Gailey (2-3) picked up the victory for NU after tossing two scoreless innings out of the bullpen. Ignas (2-3) took the loss after allowing one run on two hits during his time on the mound.
Early on in the game, Penn State took a quick lead before a back-and-forth battle broke out. Although the weather was drastically different from Saturday's chilly temperatures, the game played much the same in the early innings. For the third time in the series, Penn State plated multiple runs without the benefit of a hit after taking advantage of another crucial Northwestern error in the second.
During the rally, Bobby Jacobs reached on a fielder's choice before Michael Glantz worked a two-out walk. With two on, Elliot Searer laced a line drive to center that was mishandled by a hard-charging Nick Linne and allowed both runners to circle the bases for a fast 2-0 advantage.
Taking a cue from their opposition, the Wildcats cut their deficit in half with their own hitless rally. Northwestern put a pair of runners in scoring position with one out after taking advantage of a walk, hit batsman, and two wild pitches. Later, Jake Straub pumped a ground ball to short that chased home Kyle Ruchim.
From there, things began to get crazy. In the bottom of the third, Northwestern took its first lead of the series with a two-run rally aided by four consecutive walks. Amazingly, Penn State avoided more damage after a wild throw actually benefited the Lions. While trying to pickoff a runner at first, Heath Johnson fired a throw that sailed high and ricocheted off the Indoor Practice Facility that doubles as the fence running alongside the rightfield line.
After connecting with the wall, the ball shot right back to first baseman Joey DeBernardis, who barehanded the rebound and fired a strike to second. With a quick tag, Glantz nailed the runner attempting to move up to second on the errant throw.
Trailing for the first time, Penn State exploded for four in the top of the fourth to retake the lead. After Searer worked a leadoff walk, he moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and third on a wild pitch. Once again, craziness ensued after that. Sean Deegan struck out swinging but the ball squirted away from the catcher.
After finding the ball just behind the plate, Straub fired down to first but his throw caught Deegan in the back of the head and bounced out to right, which allowed Searer to score from third.
With Deegan standing on second, Luis Montesinos roped a single to center that plated the second run of the inning. Later, after Steranka worked a walk, both runners moved up on the first wild pitch of the inning before Montesinos came home on a second errant toss. DeBernardis came through next and capped the four-run rally after ripping an RBI groundout to short.
Leading 6-3, Penn State saw its lead evaporate quickly as Northwestern came storming back. With two down and one on, Paul Snieder lofted a high fly ball in the infield that should have ended the inning. However, the ball was misplayed and fell to the ground. The mistake came back to haunt the Lions, because the Wildcats loaded the bases before Havey cleared them with a three-run double that knotted the game at six.
With a runner still standing in scoring position, it took an unbelievable play by Montesinos to keep the game tied at six. On a high pop to right, the swirling winds caught the ball as the rightfielder came sprinting in. After moving to his left, he had to cut back hard to his right. With the ball continuing to dance, Montesinos reached out while stumbling and eventually made the catch just before crashing to the ground.
Tied at six, the seesaw battle continued as Penn State broke the deadlock in the top of the fifth. Blake Lynd and Sean Deegan started the surge with back-to-back singles. One batter later, Lynd scored on a passed ball before Steranka drove in the second run with a single to right that gave the squad an 8-6 lead.
Amazingly, the hectic pace briefly calmed down over the next three frames as the defense and relief pitching took over. Between the bottom of the fifth and the top of the eighth, the two teams combined to flip three double plays and strike out five batters. Wildcat shortstop Trevor Stevens also made one of the finest defensive plays you will ever see in the hole. On an absolute rocket by DeBernardis in the eighth, Stevens fully extended while diving to his right. Although the ball took a tough hop, he readjusted mid-dive and snagged the hard hop before regrouping and firing a strike to first.
Unfortunately for the Lions, Stevens later came back in the bottom of the frame to highlight the three-run surge that capped off the come-from-behind victory.
Lynd and Mario Eramo both posted a pair of hits during the game for Penn State, while Havey went 3-for-4 with five RBI to pace Northwestern. Meanwhile, Greg Welsh fired 3.2 innings of relief and held the Wildcats without an earned run, while Gailey and Snieder did the same for NU.
Penn State will return to action on Tuesday when the squad kicks off an 11-game homestand with a battle against Mount St. Mary's at 6:05 p.m.
--PSU--