Feb. 23, 2014
TAMPA, Fla. - Penn State (2-4) fell to South Florida (7-0) in a back-and-forth third and final game of the weekend series by a final score of 6-5. The game featured four lead changes and five innings with at least a run scored.
The Blue and White was led at the dish by the team's seven and eight hitters in Zach Ell (Plains, Pa.) and Ryky Smith (York, Pa.). Both players recorded two hits each and scored a run. Smith added his first two RBIs of the season in the game.
Another notable offensive performance was turned in by James Coates (Girard, Ohio), who reached base three times on the afternoon by going 1-for-3 at the plate and adding two walks. The sophomore extended his safely reaching base streak to 18 consecutive games.
The hosts got on the scoreboard first on Sunday, recording two singles and a walk to scrape across a run and take an early 1-0 lead.
Penn State immediately responded in the top of the second with a number of perfectly executed plays. Tyler Kendall (Boynton Beach, Fla.) led off the inning by ripping a double to the center field wall to set the table for the Lions. Taylor Skerpon (Sayre, Pa.) then dropped a bunt down the third baseline for a single and place runners on the corners. Two batters later Smith pushed a single through the right side on a hit-and-run to score J.J. White (Landsowne, Va.) and tie the score at 1-1. Freshman Steve Robinson (Reading, Pa.) followed with a bloop single to left to score Skerpon and give the Lions their first lead at 2-1. Snyder tacked on another run with a sacrifice fly to cap off the inning and give Penn State a two-run lead at 3-1.
Both offenses were silenced in the third inning, with neither Penn State nor South Florida allowing a base runner in the frame.
Just as in game two of the series, the Bulls battled back and managed to level the score. South Florida loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth and went on to plate two runners to knot the score up at 3-3.
After a scoreless fifth frame, Penn State's back came back to life with two outs in the top of the sixth. Ell lined a two-out single to right and then moved up to second on a wild pitch. Smith then stepped into the box and singled to center to score Ell and pick up his second RBI of the afternoon and give Penn State a lead for the second time of the game at 4-3.
The Nittany Lions increased their lead to two runs in the seventh with a leadoff single from Coates followed by a triple from White to make the score 5-3. The triple was White's second of his Penn State career.
The back-and-forth affair swung back in South Florida's favor in the bottom of the seventh. The Bulls loaded the bases with two singles and an error with no outs. USF then produced three runs off two singles and a groundout to retake the lead at 6-5.
In the final two frames the Nittany Lion offense was held in check, as the lone PSU base runner came by way of a Coates walk in the top of the ninth. The Bulls went on to win by a final of 6-5 and complete the three-game sweep.
The Nittany Lions return to the diamond next weekend with a three game, two-day series against Mount St. Mary's in Emmitsburg, Md. on Saturday, March 1 and Sunday, March 2. A doubleheader is on slate for Saturday with the first game beginning at noon. There third and final game is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m.