March 15, 2015
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| Liberty Baseball Stadium | Lynchburg, Va. | |
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LYNCHBURG, Va. - Penn State did not fall behind until the eighth inning and had the bases loaded in the ninth, but Liberty once again was able to edge the Nittany Lions by a run, 3-2, in non-conference baseball action Sunday afternoon in Liberty Baseball Stadium.
Penn State (1-13) got five shutout innings from freshman Nick Distasio, but Liberty (12-6), a preseason Top-25 team, rallied with an unearned run in the seventh and two runs in the eighth.
The Flames also earned a one-run win over Penn State Saturday, walking-off in the bottom of the ninth, 7-6.
First baseman Alex Close was the hero for the Flames late Sunday, singling in the seventh after his at-bat was prolonged by a dropped foul pop-up, and then scoring the tying run on a dropped fly ball. He then drove in the go-ahead runs with a two-RBI double in the eighth.
Trailing 3-1, the Lions loaded the bases with one out in the top of the ninth, and scored a run on a sacrifice fly by second baseman Taylor Skerpon, which was caught on a diving play by left fielder Andrew Yacyk. However, LHP Shawn Clowers (1) was able to get the final out for the save.
Penn State came out strong offensively in the first inning, as first baseman J.J. White singled home Skerpon from third base. However, LHP Jared Lyons (1-0) settled in and yielded just the one run on six hits and a walk with five strikeouts in eight innings of work.
Third baseman Christian Helsel paced the Lion offense, going 3-for-4.
After a 1-2-3 first inning, Distasio allowed a runner to reach third in each of his final four innings pitched, but was able to work out of trouble each time. He yielded four hits and three walks with five strikeouts.
RHP Sal Biasi (0-1) was charged with the loss, as he was charged with the go-ahead run.
High winds made fielding tricky, as two of Liberty's four errors in the game were on dropped flies, and all three of Penn State's errors were on missed flies.
The game concluded a stretch of eight games in 10 days on the road for Penn State. The Nittany Lions will return to action Tuesday at Pittsburgh at 6:30 p.m. and open a 10-game homestand Wednesday against Canisius at 5:30 p.m.