April 15, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State seniors Jordan Steranka (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Sean Deegan (Readington, N.J.) once again played heroic roles in the Nittany Lions' huge 6-4 victory over Michigan on Sunday afternoon. With the Lions trailing in the seventh, Deegan hit a two-run bomb to put Penn State (15-20, 4-5) up. Steranka added insurance with a homer in the eighth.
Head Coach Robbie Wine picked up his 200th career victory as Penn State skipper. Wine becomes the fifth head coach in school history to eclipse the 200-win plateau, joining Joe Hindelang (389), Joe Bedenk (380), Chuck Medlar (308) and Shorty Stone (216).
Penn State had just six hits on the day, but another strong pitching performance by junior Steven Hill (Colleyville, Texas) kept the Lions in the ball game. Hill went seven strong innings, giving up three runs and fanning four hitters. Sophomore Greg Welsh (Holland, Pa.) picked up his first save of the season.
A great THON Sluggers Day crowd helped eclipse Penn State's home attendance total from last year. The Nittany Lions still have nine home contests remaining. A total of 15 THON children threw out first pitches to current Penn State players prior to Sunday's game.
The scoring all started in the second inning. With two outs, junior Luis Montesinos (Miami, Fla.) forced a walk and freshman JJ White (Lansdowne, Va.) singled to move Montesinos to third. A two-out RBI single by freshman JC Coban (Boca Raton, Fla.) put the Lions ahead 1-0. Coban finished the game with two hits.
Penn State scored another run with two outs in the sixth inning. Steranka reached on an error by the second baseman and then moved to second on a wild pitch. Freshman Aaron Novak (Ambler, Pa.) singled to score Steranka and gave the Nittany Lions a 2-0 lead.
Things would get entertaining in the seventh inning. Michigan combined for four hits in the frame, including two singles, a double and a triple. Three runs would score to put the Wolverines up by one. However, in the bottom half, Penn State would answer with two outs again. Coban reached second on a nice hustle double. With two gone and a 1-2 count, Deegan launched a ball over the right centerfield fence to put the Nittany Lions back in front. Sophomore Steve Snyder (West Chester, Pa.) was then hit by a pitch. He stole second and then advanced to third on an errant throw. Snyder would score on a balk to give the Nittany Lions a 5-3 lead. Michigan crept back in the top of the eighth with a run to make it 5-4. But Steranka wrapped up his three-homer weekend with a shot to left field to give the Nittany Lions an insurance run.
Penn State hosts Bucknell on Greek Night this Wednesday at 6:05 p.m. The first 500 fans in attendance will receive a Penn State whiffle ball and bat. The Nittany Lions will then hit the road for Iowa this weekend as they look to creep up in the Big Ten Standings.
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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