March 18, 2015
| 11 | 1 |
| Medlar Field | University Park, Pa. | Attn: 269 | |
| POST GAME LINKS |
| Box Score (HTML) | Box Score (PDF) |
| VIDEO: Postgame Comments |
| FINAL STATISTICS |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State starting pitcher Geoff Boylston (West Chester, Pa.) struck out a career-high eight batters and Ryky Smith (York, Pa.) drove in a career-best four runs in an 11-1 victory over Canisius in the baseball home opener Wednesday evening on Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.
The lone run Boylston (1-1) allowed came on back-to-back, two-out doubles in the first inning by left fielder Connor Panas and third baseman Jesse Puscheck. Working six innings for Penn State (3-13), Boylston yielded just five hits and no walks.
Smith (York, Pa.) also matched his career high of three hits. Left fielder Greg Guers (Langhorne, Pa.) went 3-for-5, while first baseman J.J. White (Lansdowne, Va.) (2-for-4) and right fielder Aaron Novak (Ambler, Pa.) (1-for-4) both had two RBIs each.
Canisius (7-13) starting RHP Tyler Vavra (0-1) was only able to get one out, as the Nittany Lions drove in four first-inning runs, capped by a two-RBI single by Smith that plated shortstop Jim Haley (Upper Darby, Pa.) and White. Penn State got on the board on an RBI-single by White to score second baseman Taylor Skerpon Sayre, Pa.), followed by Haley's single to left that drove in Guers, who also reached on a single in the inning.
Pitching with a lead, Boylston retired 14 of the next 17 Golden Griffins, surrendering only three singles. Beginning in the second inning, Boylston sent down seven straight batters until a Ryan Stekl single. In his final inning, Boylston surrendered a single to Panas, but promptly got the next batter to ground a ball to Skerpon, who flipped it to Haley to start a 4-6-3 double play.
The Nittany Lions got three more runs on the board in the fifth inning. The frame started with three straight singles, capped by Novak's single up the middle to score Guers and Skerpon. Following a pitching change, Novak advanced to third on a wild pitch and then scored on a passed ball. Guers, Novak and Skerpon also all registered stolen bases in the inning.
Penn State plated two more runs in the seventh inning off a two-out, two-RBI double to right center by Smith.
The blue and white completed their scoring with two more runs in the eighth. White sent a fly ball to right center that dropped in for a double and he scored on a dropped fly ball.
RHP Tom Mullin (Springfield, Pa.), Marko Boricich (Chicago, Ill.) and Sal Biasi (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) pitched an inning each to close it out, with Mullin and Biasi striking out their respective sides and Boricich striking out two for a team total of 16 strikeouts.
The game opened a 10-game home stand for Penn State, which is scheduled to continue Friday at 5:30 p.m. against Indiana, the defending Big Ten champion. The three-game series against the Hoosiers will be the first in conference this season.