March 13, 2014
12 Fresno State (13-4) | Fresno, Calif. • Beiden Field • Attendance: 1,288 | 3 Penn State (4-10) |
FRESNO, Calif.; March 12, 2014 - In the second and final game against Fresno State, Penn State fell behind the Bulldogs' offense early and could never recover in Wednesday's 12-3 defeat against Fresno State. The hosts used five run second and third innings to break the game open and go on to win their 13th game of the season.
For the second consecutive night, the Bulldogs' offense struck in the first frame to take an early lead. Fresno State received a key one-out double from Jordan Luplow to left center to drive in Chris Mariscal for the game's first run.
After holding the Penn State offense scoreless in the second stanza, the Bulldog offense erupted for five runs in the bottom of the frame to grab a 6-0 lead. The hosts loaded the bases with no outs and scored their five runs off four hits and a Penn State error.
In the bottom of the third, Fresno State matched its output from the second inning and added five more runs to their lead to take an 11-0 lead. The Bulldogs' big hit of the inning came off the bat of Luplow, who drove a three-run home run over the left field wall, his second of the season.
Penn State got on the board in the top of the sixth, scoring three runs to cut into Fresno State's lead. The Nittany Lions loaded the bases with no outs off two Bulldog errors with a walk to Taylor Skerpon (Sayre, Pa.) sandwiched in between. Greg Guers (Langhorne, Pa.) recorded a sacrifice fly to drive in the Lions' first run of the game. After drawing another walk to load the bases, Aaron Novak (Ambler, Pa.) drove in his first run of the season with a walk. J.J. White (Landsowne, Va.) scored the third and final run of the inning off a wild pitch to make the score 11-3.
Fresno State added a run in the bottom of the eighth off a leadoff home run from Trent Woodward to go on to win by a final of 12-3.
The Blue and White wraps up its eight-game west coast swing with three games in Santa Clara, Calif., as the squad takes on the Broncos of Santa Clara University on Thursday, Friday and Saturday for the first time in program history. Game one will begin at 9 p.m. ET on Thursday night.