April 6, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State Baseball (11-18, 2-4) picked up its fourth-straight victory on Friday night with a 15-5 victory over the Canisius Golden Griffins at Medlar Field. Seniors Sean Deegan (Readington, N.J.) and Jordan Steranka (Pittsburgh, Pa.) each recorded five RBI in the victory.
Steranka and Deegan each hit three-run homers over the right field fence and accounted for five of the Nittany Lions' 12 hits. The five RBI for Deegan ties his career-high. Junior John Walter (Haddonfield, N.J.) picked up his first victory of the season on the mound with a six inning, three-run performance. He also fanned seven batters in the victory.
As of recent, Penn State has had some big scoring innings. In the bottom of the second, Steranka and freshman Aaron Novak (Ambler, Pa.) reached base on a single and an error respectively. Freshman JJ White (Lansdowne, Va.) walked to load the bases. Then with two outs, junior Elliot Searer (Lewistown, Pa.) hit a two-run double over the right fielder's head to make the score 2-0. Searer extended his hit streak to six games with that double. Deegan followed with a three-run bomb over the right field fence to give the Lions a 5-0 lead.
In the top of the fifth, Canisius put its first runs on the board. The three-run inning for the Griffins started with a bases-loaded RBI single for Shane Zimmer. Drew Petit then hit into a 6-4 fielder's choice groundout, but two runs would score on the play to cut the PSU lead to 5-3.
The Nittany Lions would blow the game open in the bottom of the sixth inning. Junior Luis Montesinos (Miami, Fla.) would start things off with a double and would eventually score. Sophomore Steve Snyder (West Chester, Pa.) drove in two on a double and senior Joey DeBernardis (Lake Zurich, Ill.) hit a two-run single to make the score 9-3 in favor of the Lions. Steranka then hit a three-run shot to right field, at least 400 feet, to cap off a seven-run inning for the Lions.
Canisius would add two in the top of the seventh, but the Nittany Lions would respond with a three-spot in the bottom half, highlighted by an RBI single from Deegan and a two-run double from Steranka. The Nittany Lions took a 15-5 lead. Penn State returns to Medlar tomorrow for a 2:05 p.m. clash with the Griffins. Saturday will be the annual postgame Easter Egg Hunt on the field for all youths.
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