Feb. 18, 2012
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Penn State baseball team (0-1) opened the 2012 season with a tough 6-3 loss to the Seton Hall Pirates on Friday night. Penn State will be back in action on Saturday at 4 p.m. as it takes on West Virginia at Bright House Field.
The Pirates got ahead of the Lions early with a two-run third and one-run fourth inning. Junior Cody Lewis (Laguna Niguel, Calif.), who made the start for Penn State, found himself in a couple of jams that he battled out of to keep the game intact. Sophomore Greg Welsh (Holland, Pa.) was phenomenal in relief, going 3.1 innings, allowing one hit and one earned run.
On the offensive end, Penn State struggled to get the bats going, garnering three hits against a solid Seton Hall pitching performance. Sophomore Steve Snyder (West Chester, Pa.) had the big knock of the game for the Lions, a two-run double in the fifth inning. Junior Elliot Searer (Lewistown, Pa.) was credited with an RBI groundout in the bottom of the seventh inning. Senior Jordan Steranka (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and sophomore Alex Farkes (Boston, Mass.) collected the other two Nittany Lion hits.
Trailing 3-0, the Nittany Lions, who entered the fifth inning with just one hit, strung together a walk and two hits to gather two runs and cut into the Seton Hall lead. Junior Luis Montesinos (Miami, Fla.) forced a one-out walk, leading to a Farkes single the other way down the left field line. With runners on first and third, Snyder delivered a two-run double deep in the right field corner to make the score 3-2 in favor of Seton Hall.
Seton Hall responded two innings later in the seventh, scoring two runs, one of which was unearned. Penn State had five errors on the night, giving up three unearned runs.
In the bottom of the seventh, Montesinos, who led off the inning being hit by a pitch, scored on Searer's RBI groundout to make the score 5-3 in favor of the Pirates. However, Seton Hall would score an insurance run and Penn State was held hitless for the rest of the night.
The Nittany Lions had their chances and were unlucky at times. In the bottom of the second with senior Joey DeBernardis (Lake Zurich, Ill.) on second, senior Sean Deegan (Readington, N.J.) belted a ball to deep center field. The centerfielder made a great catch on the warning track, which prevented DeBernardis from potentially scoring. Penn State also had chances in the seventh and eighth innings, but two runners were left on base both times.
Penn State continues action tomorrow as it takes on West Virginia in a 4 p.m. start. Junior John Walter (Haddonfield, N.J.) is expected to make the start for the Nittany Lions. Walter was 6-4 last year with an ERA of 3.19.
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