March 29, 2015
| 4 | 1 |
| 13 | 3 |
| Medlar Field | University Park, Pa. | Attn: 686 | |
| POST GAME LINKS |
| Game 1: Box Score (HTML) | Box Score (PDF) |
| Game 2: Box Score (HTML) | Box Score (PDF) |
| VIDEO: Postgame Comments (coming soon) |
| FINAL STATISTICS |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Behind strong starts on the mound from freshmen Taylor Lehman (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Nick Distasio (Oley, Pa.), Penn State swept both ends of a doubleheader Sunday by scores of 4-1 and 13-3, respectively, in non-conference baseball action Sunday in Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. The wins gave the Nittany Lions, winners of seven of their last eight games, their first three-game series sweep since 2012 and extended their winning streak to five games.
Offensively for Penn State (8-14), third baseman Ryky Smith (York, Pa.) continued to be hot at the plate, going 5-for-9 with a double and two RBIs for the day, while left fielder Greg Guers (Langhorne, Pa.) doubled and tripled with four RBIs as part of a three-hit day. Additionally, third baseman Christian Helsel (Altoona, Pa.) and right fielder Aaron Novak (Ambler, Pa.) had three hits and two RBIs each.
In game one, Lehman (1-2) turned in the finest performance of his young career, carrying a no-hitter through 5 1/3 innings and striking out a collegiate-best eight in a collegiate-high seven innings pitched, allowing just one hit. Central Connecticut (6-10) only got to Lehman in the sixth when he yielded a one-out walk to centerfielder Franklin Jenkins, allowed him to reach third on an errant pick-off attempt and then score on a double off first base by catcher Conor Fitzsimons.
The run tied the game at 1-1, but Penn State scored three runs in the seventh for the final margin. Smith started the inning with a leadoff single to left, and then scored the go-ahead run after getting sacrificed to second by catcher Alex Malinsky (Apex, N.C.) and coming all the way around on a throwing error on a ball put in play by second baseman Taylor Skerpon (Sayre, Pa.). Left fielder Greg Guers (Langhorne, Pa.) then tripled off the right field wall to score Skerpon, and Guers later scored on another error.
RHP Sal Biasi (3) pitched the final two innings for his third consecutive save, yielding just one hit and striking out three.
It took Penn State just four pitches to score its first run, as Skerpon tripled on the third pitch and Guers grounded out to plate him on the first pitch he saw. However, RHP Dominic Severino (0-2) was tough early for the Blue Devils, not yielding another hit until the sixth inning before running into trouble in the seventh. In 6 1/3 innings of work, he allowed four runs (two earned) on seven hits and a walk with one strikeout
In the second game, Distasio threw a collegiate-best six shutout innings, yielding just four hits and a walk with five strikeouts, while the Nittany Lions built a 9-0 lead. An RBI-double from Guers and an RBI-single from Novak started the scoring in the third inning, driving in Skerpon and Guers, respectively. The lead grew to 5-0 in the fifth when Skerpon and Guers reached to lead off the inning, and Novak (Skerpon) and Helsel (Guers and Novak) drove them in with RBI-singles. Four more runs came across in the sixth on three hits and three CCSU errors.
The Blue Devils added three runs in the seventh inning after Distasio left the game, as John Lippincott, Nick Garland and Bryan Rivera tallied an RBI each, but PSU added four more runs on three hits and two more CCSU errors for the final margin. The Blue Devils made a total of seven errors in the game.
Penn State will conclude its first 2015 homestand Tuesday and Wednesday with non-conference contests against Binghamton and Kent State, respectively. Both games are slated to start at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are available on GoPSUsports.com. Katy Perry, Drake and Adele are scheduled to appear at Wednesday's game.