March 22, 2013
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Penn State baseball team opened Big Ten play on Friday evening, falling 9-3 to No. 29/22 Indiana at Bart Kaufman Field. The Nittany Lions (5-12, 0-1 Big Ten) will take on the Hoosiers (16-3, 1-0 Big Ten) tomorrow, March 23 in a doubleheader beginning at noon. Both contests will be available via and Listen Live.
Indiana earned their ninth straight win, thanks in part to left-handed pitcher Joey DeNato. The junior fired 7.1 innings, allowing just five hits and one earned run while striking out 10. DeNato was relieved by freshmen Scott Effross and Christian Morris, with Morris allowing three hits and two Lion runs in the ninth inning.
Redshirt sophomore T.J. Jann (Westford, Mass.) moves to a 1-3 record with the loss, pitching a career high 6.2 innings in his second career start. Jann struck out a career-best four batters, allowing six hits and four earned runs. Combining for 1.1 innings of relief, sophomore Casey Kulina (Hummelstown, Pa.) held Indiana to two hits and two earned runs, while junior Ian Parvin (Irvine, Calif.) allowed two hits and one earned run.
The Hoosiers took an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first, with Scott Donley hitting his second home run of the season over the right field wall. The redshirt sophomore earned three RBIs on the play, allowing senior Justin Cureton and sophomore Sam Travis to score, as well. Cureton had kicked off the inning with his seventh double of the season, as well as his ninth stolen base.
Penn State would hold Indiana scoreless with just one hit until the fifth inning, with sophomore J.J. White (Lansdowne, Va.) coming up with a big play in the bottom of the second. Needing to keep the Hoosiers' offense at bay, White threw his body over into foul territory to shut down sophomore Chad Clark early on a foul ball. Jann went on to strike out redshirt sophomore Will Nolden to end the inning.
Indiana would tally another run in the fifth inning, with sophomore Kyle Schwarber hitting a sac fly to bat in Clark, but Penn State would finally answer in the top of the seventh. White kicked the Lions into gear, leading off with a single to center field. Recording his second double of the season, senior Matt Paradise (San Clemente, Calif.) ripped a hit up the left line to move White into scoring position. A sac fly from sophomore Aaron Novak (Ambler, Pa.) would put Penn State on the board, allowing White to tally his 15th career run. The score now sat at 4-1 in favor of Indiana.
The Hoosiers would steal back the momentum, however, putting up two runs in the same inning before pulling ahead in the eighth. With runners on second and third, pinch hitter Ricky Alfonso tripled to right field to bring home Donley and sophomore Michael Basil. A single through the left side from Clark would allow Alfonso to score, giving Indiana a 9-1 lead.
Despite the scoring deficit, the Lions continued to battle in the top of the ninth, putting up two runs on two outs. After an infield hit, the 40th overall hit of his career, White was able to score thanks to a single up the middle from Novak. It was the sophomore's second RBI of the contest. Novak would score on a single to center from freshman James Coates (Girard, Ohio), but it would prove to be Penn State's final run, giving the Hoosiers a 9-3 victory.
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