April 13, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - - Penn State baseball dropped its opener to the Michigan Wolverines on Friday night by a score of 7-3 at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. Michigan's Brandon Sinnery pitched a complete game for the Wolverines.
Senior Joey DeBernardis (Lake Zurich, Ill.) recorded three hits, including a homerun in the bottom of the third inning. Senior Jordan Steranka (Pittsburgh, Pa.) picked up two more hits as he continues to climb towards the school record in hits. The senior tripled and drove in a run. Sophomore Steve Snyder (West Chester, Pa.) also had two hits in his ninth multi-hit game of the season.
Michigan got on the board first, as Dylan Delaney hit an RBI single of junior John Walter (Haddonfield, N.J.) to give the Wolverines a 1-0 lead. In the bottom half with two outs and the Lions trailing, DeBernardis launched a ball of the leftfield foul pole for his fifth homer of the season to tie the game at one. Steranka tripled off the right field wall to set things up for freshman Aaron Novak (Ambler, Pa.). The freshman singled up the middle to give Penn State a 2-1 lead. Debernardis, Steranka and Novak's hits all came with two outs.
The Wolverines big inning came in the fifth, as they scored four runs on three walks and just two hits. Penn State responded in the bottom half, as Steranka hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score junior Luis Montesinos (Miami, Fla.). Michigan had a 5-3 advantage at that point.
Michigan would add insurance runs in the top of the eighth and ninth innings to build its lead to an eventual final score of 7-3.
Penn State is back in action on Saturday. Sophomore Joe Kurrasch (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) will make the start on the mound. Kurrasch is coming off a strong performance against Canisius, where he punched out 10 batters in 6.2 innings while giving up just four hits and no earned runs against the Golden Griffins. He dropped his ERA to 2.49 this season and had four multi-strikeout innings.
Saturday will be the third annual Wounded Warrior Game. The game was developed to help create awareness for wounded warriors and their sacrifices while providing useful services to meet the needs of injured service members and their families. During the game, Penn State will wear special camouflage uniforms and hold a silent auction with proceeds going to the Wounded Warrior Project. In addition to the silent auction, fans can purchase special Penn State baseball hats for $20 to benefit the project. Additionally, a portion of each ticket sold for the game will be donated to the cause. The Wounded Warrior Project is a non-profit organization dedicated to "honoring and empowering wounded warriors" of the U.S. Armed Forces. Its mission is to raise awareness while providing benefits such as quality healthcare, support groups, and compensation programs to the service members and their families.
Sunday will be THON Sluggers Day at the ballpark. For every student ticket purchased, all proceeds will be donated to THON 2013. THON is the largest student-run philanthropy in the world. The Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, affectionately referred to as THON, is a yearlong effort to raise funds and awareness for the fight against pediatric cancer. Since 1977, THON has raised more than $88 million for The Four Diamonds Fund at Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital.
Individual game tickets for Adult General Admission start at just $4 and just $2 for youth. Student tickets cost $2 as well. Single game tickets can be purchased at the Spikes' box office or via a link on the tickets page on GoPSUSports.com.
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