4 Purdue (6-21, 2-4 B1G) | West Lafayette, Ind. • Alexander Field • Attendance: 980 | 0 Penn State (15-14, 4-1 B1G) |
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.; April 6, 2014 - Penn State (15-14, 4-1 Big Ten) suffered its first defeat in two weeks and dropped its first game in Big Ten play this season on Sunday with the 4-0 loss to Purdue (6-21, 2-4 Big Ten) in the final game of the series. The Nittany Lions were held scoreless for the fourth time this season despite recording 11 hits in the contest.
Greg Guers (Langhorne, Pa.) led the Blue and White offensively, going 3-for-4 in the game, matching his season-high total for hits in a game. Two other Nittany Lion hitters who recorded multi-hit games were James Coates (Girard, Ohio) and Jim Haley (Upper Darby, Pa.). The two combined for four hits in the contest.
After a rough two innings on the mound, the Penn State bullpen turned in a great performance. Ryan Harper (Texas City, Texas) entered the game in relief in the third inning and gave the Blue and White a season-high five solid innings, allowing one run on three hits. Jack Anderson (Evanston, Ill.) then tossed a perfect eighth inning to keep Penn State in the game.
The hosts were the first team to put a mark on the scoreboard on Sunday, as the Boilermakers scored one run in the bottom of the first to take an early 1-0 lead. Purdue used three-straight singles with two outs to score the opening run.
The Boilers tacked on two more runs in the second, extending their lead to 3-0. For the second-straight inning, all of the Purdue offense came with two outs. After a single and steal from Steve Maniago, Purdue's Brandon Krieg hit a double into the left field corner to double its lead. A costly Penn State error then allowed Krieg to score the host's 3rd run of the frame.
Purdue's Brett Haan, the Sunday starting pitcher, shut down the Penn State bats in his five innings of work, keeping the Nittany Lions off the scoreboard and allowing Purdue to grow its lead to 3-0.
In the bottom of the fifth frame, Purdue added another insurance run to increase its lead to 4-0. Aggressive baserunning was the key, as the Boilermakers Jeff Evak led off with a single and then stole second and then third. With runners on the corners and one out, the Purdue player on first broke for second and got in a rundown, allowing Evak to dart for home. Evak just beat the Penn State throw to score Purdue's fourth run of the game.
In the top of the sixth, Penn State had its best scoring opportunity of the day with J.J. White and Greg Guers recording back-to-back singles to start the inning. With one out Purdue brought in reliever Joe Eichmann for his third appearance of the series, who got a strikeout followed by an infield pop out to keep the Lions off the board.
Penn State tried to make one last push in the top of the ninth, receiving pinch hit base knocks from Nick Riotto (Washington, Pa.) and Sam August (Needham, Mass.) to try to spark a Nittany Lion rally. Unfortunately, the Purdue pitchers did not allow Penn State to score, securing the 4-0 shutout win.
The Blue and White returns home for a Tuesday game against West Virginia in a non-conference matchup. The Nittany Lions and Mountaineers will square off at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park with the first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m.