March 21, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - In front of 1,150 fans, the Penn State baseball team (4-14) earned a 5-3 victory over Pittsburgh on Wednesday at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. Senior Jordan Steranka (Pittsburgh, Pa.) had a huge day for the Lions, going 4-4 from the plate with four RBI, including a three-run homer in the third inning.
Senior pitcher Mike Franklin (Harleysville, Pa.) had a very quality outing, going 5.2 innings and giving up three earned runs. Sophomore Greg Welsh (Holland, Pa.) and freshman Casey Kullina (Hummelstown, Pa.) threw 3.1 scoreless innings of relief for Franklin. Kullina earned his second save of the season.
Senior Sean Deegan (Readington, N.J.) and sophomore Steve Snyder (West Chester, Pa.) each recorded two hits on the day. Deegan made a nice play in the eighth inning, as he threw out a runner at home from left field. In the bottom half of the second, Penn State's first two batters in Snyder and Deegan reached base on singles. Then with one out, Steranka blasted his third homerun into the elevated right field bleachers to give the Nittany Lions a 3-0 lead.
Pittsburgh would add two runs in the fourth inning, as Elvin Soto hit a two-run single to cut the Penn State lead to 3-2.
Penn State responded in the fifth inning. Snyder scored on Steranka's third hit of the day, an RBI single through the right side of the infield. Junior Luis Montesinos (Miami, Fla.) was walked with the bases loaded to score senior Joey DeBernardis (Lake Zurich, Ill.) to make the score 5-2 in favor of the Lions.
Pittsburgh would score a run in the sixth inning, but that would be all, as Franklin earned his first win of the season on the mound.
The Nittany Lions open Big Ten action beginning this Friday at 6:05 with a three-game series against the Indiana Hoosiers at Medlar Field. All fans in attendance that weekend will receive a free Penn State schedule magnet. Also, the Friday game of that series will be the first of five "Free Food Friday" games for all student season ticket holders.
Season tickets for Adult General Admission start at just $63. For fans interested in the "In The Box" seats, those will start at $99. Youth General Admission tickets are the same cost as student season tickets, $20. Individual game tickets for Adult General Admission start at just $4 and just $2 for youth.
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