Feb. 25, 2012
GREENSBORO, N.C. - The Penn State baseball team (1-4) fell to the UNC Greensboro (UNCG) Spartans on Saturday afternoon, 8-3, at the UNCG Baseball Stadium. The Nittany Lions put together nine hits but were only able to squander out three runs. Penn State left 12 runners on base.
Junior John Walter (Haddonfield, N.J.), who earned the start on the mound for the Nittany Lions, struck out seven batters in four innings of work. Senior Jordan Steranka (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and junior Luis Montesinos (Miami, Fla.) each had two hits and an RBI for the Nittany Lions. Senior Sean Deegan (Readington, N.J.) had an RBI double in the ninth inning.
Both pitchers struck out the side in the first inning. Following a zero spot for the Nittany Lions in the top of the first, the Spartans answered with one run in the bottom half. Thomas Troelstrup of the Spartans slapped an RBI double the other way to give UNCG a 1-0 lead. Walter had his stuff working though, as he struck out the side in the first inning.
Walter was effective in the bottom of the second as well. Despite giving up a double and a bloop single, the junior struck out two more batters to escape the jam.
Penn State had a great opportunity in the top of the third inning. Sophomores Alex Farkes (Boston, Mass.) and Steve Snyder (West Chester, Pa.) led off with back-to-back singles. The Nittany Lions would eventually load the bases with a walk, but were unable to capitalize as the score remained 1-0 in favor of UNCG.
The Nittany Lions found themselves in some trouble in the fourth inning. With one out and the bases loaded, Ryan Richards of UNCG roped a two-run double down the left field line to make the score 3-0 in favor of the Spartans. Bobby Martin's two-run single made it 5-0 after four innings of play.
After UNCG added a run to make it 6-0 in the bottom of the fifth, the Nittany Lions got on the board the next inning. Senior Joey DeBernardis (Lake Zurich, Ill.), who reached base via walk, scored on Montesinos' RBI single to make the score 6-1 in favor of the Spartans. The Nittany Lions then responded to another UNCG run, as Snyder scored on senior Steranka's single in the top of the seventh. The Spartans had a 7-2 lead.
UNCG would add one more in the seventh inning. In the ninth, Deegan ripped a double down the right field line, scoring DeBernardis, and finalizing the score at 8-3.
The Nittany Lions will look to avoid a sweep tomorrow as they send junior Steven Hill (Colleyville, Texas) to the mound for a 1 p.m. first pitch. Penn State Baseball is on Twitter via www.twitter.com/psubaseball.