April 3, 2012
KENT, Ohio - Senior Joey DeBernardis (Lake Zurich, Ill.) homered, tripled and singled in a four RBI performance as the Penn State baseball team (9-18, 2-4) knocked off the Kent State Golden Flashes by a score of 9-7 on Tuesday afternoon. The Nittany Lions will look to make it three-straight as it hosts Binghamton on Wednesday at 6:05 p.m.
DeBernardis had a career-high four hits in his second-straight four RBI game. Junior Luis Montesinos (Miami, Fla.) recorded two doubles, which tied his career-best, and drove in two runs. Sophomore Evan Dixon (Waynesboro, Pa.) came in and picked up a big two-out save in the win.
Penn State started things the way they ended at Purdue. In the top of the first, senior Sean Deegan (Readington, Pa.) and sophomore Steve Snyder (West Chester, Pa.) got things going with back-to-back walks. DeBernardis' RBI single gave the Lions a 1-0 lead. After senior Jordan Steranka (Pittsburgh, Pa.) walked, Montesinos ripped an RBI double to right centerfield to give Penn State a 3-0 advantage.
After the Golden Flashes added one in the bottom half, Penn State answered back in the second. Deegan extended his hit-streak with a one out single and then scored on an RBI triple by DeBernardis. DeBernardis then scored on a wild pitch to put the Lions up 5-2.
Freshman JC Coban (Boca Raton, Fla.) singled in freshman Aaron Novak (Ambler, Pa.) in the top of the third to put Penn State up 6-2. Kent State exchanged runs in the inning, as they scored on an RBI single in the bottom half to make the score 6-3 in favor of the Lions.
In the bottom of the fifth, Kent State's George Roberts, David Lyon and Nick Hamilton hit three consecutive doubles to score two runs and cut the PSU lead to 6-4. Sophomore Tim Dunn (Newport Beach, Calif.) came in to relieve senior Mike Franklin (Harleysville, Pa.) and escaped a one-out runner on second situation.
After a solo homerun by Kent State's Evan Campbell, DeBernardis answered back with a two-run bomb in the top of the seventh to give Penn State an 8-5 lead.
DeBernardis singled in the ninth, to give him a career-high four hits. Novak singled DeBernardis in to give the Nittany Lions that important ninth run.
Junior Neal Herring (West Chester, Pa.), who pitched a solid game, continued his action into the bottom of the ninth and allowed one runner on. Freshman Casey Kulina (Hummelstown, Pa.) came in to relieve Herring and gave up two runs while striking out one. Dixon came in and punched out Derek Toadvine and forced an Evan Campbell groundout for his first career save.
Penn State will host Binghamton on Wednesday at 6 p.m. on MLB Cap Night. Any student that wears an MLB cap will get free admittance into the game. Wednesday will be a "Winning Weeknight Scratchoff" game as well. The first 200 fans that show up to any weeknight game this season will receive a scratchoff ticket. Each ticket is a guaranteed winner of a Penn State Baseball prize.
Following Binghamton, Penn State will host Canisius in a three-game set beginning this Friday at 6:05 at Medlar Field. All student season ticket holders that attend Friday's game can get free food as part of the "Free Food Friday" promotion. In addition, it will be Dollar Dog Night at the ballpark. Following Saturday's game, all kids in attendance can participate in an Easter Egg Hunt on the field.
Season tickets for students are just $20 and each student that purchases them will receive a Penn State Baseball three-quarters sleeve t-shirt, tickets to remaining home games, free food on Friday home games and two batting practice sessions with the team.
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. 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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