March 7, 2014
6 Saint Mary's (6-7) | Final Stats | Final Stats (PDF) Moraga, Calif. • Louis Guisto Field • Attendance: 89 | 2 Penn State (3-7) |
MORAGA, Calif.; March 7, 2014 - The Nittany Lions offense was held in check all afternoon in the first game of an eight-game California road trip, as Penn State fell to Saint Mary's by a final of 6-2. The Blue and White was held scoreless in eight of the nine innings.
The offense registered just five hits in the game, with no player recording more than one on the afternoon, while the pitching staff gave up 13 base knocks en route to six Saint Mary's runs.
The Gaels struck first on Friday, as the hosts scraped a run across the plate in the first frame. The Gael leadoff batter led off with a single and then moved to third in the next two at bats. Saint Mary's Nikko Saenz singled up the middle with two outs to give the Gael's an early 1-0 lead.
SMC tacked on two more runs in the second inning, picking up another key two-out hit. With runners on second and third, Ricky Boas laced a single to center to score two more runs and increase their lead to 3-0.
Penn State posed its first offensive threat in the top of the third. Freshman Alex Malinsky (Apex, N.C.) and Snyder recorded back-to-back one-out singles to set the table. Malinsky's single marked the first hit of his Penn State career. J.J. White (Landsowne, Va.) drew a two-out walk to load the bases. Unfortunately, PSU could not cash in, as Greg Guers (Langhorne, Pa.) drove a ball to center that was caught for the final out.
The Nittany Lions cut into the Gaels' lead in the top of the sixth, plating two runs to make the score 3-2. James Coates (Girard, Ohio) got the inning started by crushing a double to the right field wall, extending his on-base streak to 22 games and his hitting streak to nine games. Penn State then loaded the bases with two consecutive two-out walks. Ell stepped up and ripped a single through the right side to score Coates and then Tyler Kendall (Boynton Beach, Fla.) scored on the play when the right fielder bobbled the ball.
The Gaels responded in the bottom half of the frame with a run to push their lead back up to two with the score 4-2. The Nittany Lions hit Saint Mary's leadoff batter, who then moved to second off a groundout. Penn State then brought in Jack Anderson (Evanston, Ill.) to come on in relief. With two outs and runners on first and second, SMC's Anthony Gonsolin singled through the left side to drive in Darian Ramage for the Gaels' fourth run of the game.
Saint Mary's added two insurance runs in the seventh, off four singles. With the two additional scores, the Gaels took a 6-2 lead and retired the remaining six Penn State batters in order to go on to win by a final of 6-2.
Penn State is back in action tomorrow, as the Nittany Lions play Saint Mary's in the second game of the three-game set on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET.