April 14, 2013
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The Penn State baseball team closed out its third conference series of the season Sunday afternoon, falling 8-1 to Michigan in Ann Arbor. The Nittany Lions move to a 7-24 overall record, still looking for their first Big Ten victory with a 0-9 mark in conference play. Winning their second consecutive Big Ten series, the Wolverines improve to 20-14 and 7-2.
Sophomore Matt Ogden earned his second win of the weekend, improving to a 5-0 record on the season after firing 6.0 scoreless innings. Ogden gave up three hits and struck out four after coming in to relieve starter Logan McAnallen. McAnallen saw the first inning, allowing three hits and one earned run with one strikeout. Alex Lakatos and Chad Jasman combined for 2.0 scoreless innings of relief, each striking out one batter with Jasman allowing one hit.
Making the start and suffering the loss was junior Greg Welsh (Holland, Pa.), going 2.2 innings with five hits and three earned runs allowed. Welsh struck out three before being relieved by sophomore Ryan Harper (Texas City, Texas). Freshman Nick Hedge (Winnetka, Ill.) and junior Ian Parvin (Irvine, Calif.) combined for 2.2 scoreless innings, with Parvin again tying his career record of two strikeouts. Closing out the contest, freshman Blake Estep (Choctaw, Okla.) made his fifth appearance, holding the Wolverines to just one hit to improve to a 4.15 ERA.
The Lions jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first, with sophomore J.C. Coban (Boca Raton, Fla.) stepping up to the plate with runners on first and third. Sending the ball to right center on his 32nd hit of the season, Coban drove home redshirt senior Elliot Searer (Lewistown, Pa.) to give Penn State a 1-0 lead, with Searer tallying his 15th run of 2013. The Wolverines answered right back, however, with Travis Maezes and Michael O'Neill ripping two consecutive singles up the middle to set up Jacob Cronenworth. Cronenworth then knocked a base hit through the right side, bringing home Maezes from third. Tied 1-1 on one out, Welsh struck out Zach Zott on the next at-bat, with junior Alex Farkes (Boston, Mass.) throwing to second to catch Cronenworth stealing for the double play to end the inning.
Pulling ahead in the third, the Wolverines posted two runs to take a 3-1 lead, with O'Neill recording a base hit through the right side to bring home Maezes from second. Following O'Neill stealing third, Cronenworth would earn his second RBI of the contest on another single through the right side, with the right fielder crossing home plate to give his squad a two-run lead. As Harper entered the game for Welsh, Cole Martin stood at the plate with the bases loaded threatening to extend Michigan's lead past 3-1. The junior instead flied out to freshman James Coates (Girard, Ohio), ending the inning with three runners left on base.
Penn State was unable to hold off another bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the fourth, with Cronenworth walked to earn another RBI as Biondi crossed home plate. An infield throwing error would allow Maezes to score on the next play, but a swift 6-4-3 double play ended the inning to curb the Wolverines' offense.
Despite the Lions gaining momentum in the bottom of the sixth on a combined double play from sophomore Taylor Skerpon (Sayre, Pa.), senior Luis Montesinos (Miami, Fla.) and sophomore J.J. White (Lansdowne, Va.), holding off the Wolverines again with the bases loaded, Michigan would pull out of reach in the seventh. The Wolverines tallied three more runs for an 8-1 lead, and went on to hold the Lions off in the final innings for the win.
Penn State returns to action on Wednesday, April 17 when it hosts Bucknell for a non-conference matchup at 7 p.m. at Medlar Field. The Nittany Lions will remain at home to welcome Iowa for a Big Ten series April 19-21. Friday's first pitch is slated for 6:05 p.m. to kick of Blue-White weekend.
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