UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- Several sophomores in the Penn State baseball program are showing off their talent and proving their value to this team as they continue to improve throughout the 2019 season.
Kremer Crushes It
Sophomore Kris Kremer's speed proved pivotal when he hit an inside-the-park home run against Pittsburgh Wednesday night.
"The guy tried to make a play and Kris can run, so he was able to get an inside-the-park home run," head coach Rob Cooper said.
Kremer's last home run was against another ACC team when he hit three home runs in one game against Duke earlier in the season.
He remained patient with the pitches he faced Wednesday, and finally saw the perfect one to hit.
"I ended up getting my pitch there, and as I was going around the bases, I saw the ball kick away and got a shot to score," Kremer said.
The momentum from his inside-the-park home run is something Kremer feels will help his confidence at the dish as the season progresses.
"I think it helps a lot. I've been struggling the past week or two at the plate. So to get that in the first at-bat, it was huge for my confidence," Kremer said.
Kremer has shown improvement when it comes to judging which pitches to hit.
"I thought Kremer put a great swing on that ball. I actually thought early in the at-bat he laid off some sliders that he's been struggling with chasing," Cooper said. "And (Pitt) had (the pitcher) come (at Kremer) with a fastball. I mean he hammered it."
Cooper was also impressed with Kremer's discipline as a hitter in Tuesday night's wild victory against Youngstown State, when the Nittany Lions pulled off a 16-15 win.
"Kremer struggled at the plate (Tuesday), had a rough day, but in that last at-bat, he fouled off a bunch of pitches, and got to the next pitch and drew a big walk," Cooper said. "It's little things like that: not chasing the pitch, fouling it off, getting to the next pitch, not being out front."
Kremer's success in Wednesday night's game extended his reached base streak to 17 games.
Career High for Larkin
On the mound, sophomore RHP Connor Larkin broke his career high strikeout record, earning eight strikeouts through 4.2 innings.
"Larkin did some good things today," Cooper said. "He competed."
Larkin felt good about his fastball during Wednesday's game.
"Overall, I think my fastball was working most of the time," Larkin said. "Just staying with it, being competitive when times were getting tough, taking deep breaths and just keep getting after it."
Despite setting his career high for strike-outs on Wednesday, Larkin remains humble.
"It's a cool thing to see, but there are a lot more things I can improve on from today," Larkin said.
"But moving forward it's a good thing to have, and we can build off it."
Hendershot Hitting Hard
In Tuesday's wild game, sophomore Parker Hendershot contributed to the 10-run second inning, with an RBI triple to right center field, scoring three players.
He then hit an RBI single in the seventh inning to narrow the Youngstown State's lead, making the score 13-12.
Hendershot had the most at-bats of the Nittany Lions that game.
Big Ten Play This Weekend
Penn State will host Nebraska in a three-game Big Ten series this weekend, starting at 1:00 p.m. Friday. The Nittany Lions are 17-12, while the Cornhuskers are 17-10.
