CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Penn State was unable to hold on to a first inning lead despite threatening late, as Illinois took a 4-3 win over the Nittany Lions in Big Ten baseball action Sunday afternoon at Illinois Field.
Illinois (25-13, 6-6 Big Ten) managed to sweep the three-game series with three one-run victories. Penn State (17-18, 1-13 Big Ten) has dropped seven Big Ten games by a one-run margin and its last 12 Big Ten losses have all been by two runs or less.
Penn State's bats started hot with hits on the first two pitches, as designated hitter Ryan Ford (Freehold, N.J.) doubled to center and center fielder Jordan Bowersox (Winter Springs, Fla.) bunted for a base hit. Ford then scored from third when Parker Hendershot (Barton, N.Y.) hit into a double play.
RHP Kyle Vibitsky (Media, Pa.) (2-6) made an emergency start on the mound, as RHP Bailey Dees (Charlotte, N.C.) was scratched before the game. Virbitsky held Illinois hitless through the first three innings but yielded a run in the third on a sacrifice fly after loading the bases with a walk and two hit by pitches.
Illinois took the lead in the fourth inning with three more runs charged to Virbitsky. Center fielder Zac Taylor homered to lead-off the inning for the first Ilini hit of the day. Third baseman Grant Van Scoy and designated hitter Jeff Korte added RBIs in the inning for a 4-1 lead.
RHP Cyrillo Watson (4-1) worked seven innings, allowing just the one run on five hits and a walk with five strikeouts.
RHP Quinten Sefcik took over in the eighth and yielded an RBI-single to left fielder Gavin Homer (Battle Creek, Mich.) after yielding an infield hit to Bowersox and plunking Hendershot.
Shea Sbranti (Oakley, Calif.) then hit a pinch-hit home run in the top of the ninth, but RHP Garrett Acton (13) retired the rest for the save.
The Nittany Lions received 3.2 strong innings of relief from LHP Tyler Shingledecker (Huntersville, N.C.), who came in with the bases loaded and just one out in the fifth inning and was able to get a strikeout and groundout to escape the inning unscathed. He allowed just one out the rest of the way.
Penn State next plays at West Virginia at 7 p.m. before returning home to host Lafayette Wednesday at 6:30 p.m..
The 2019 Penn State baseball season is presented by the Family Clothesline. Tickets are on sale online by clicking here or by calling the Medlar Field at Lubrano Park ticket office at 814-272-1711.
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NOTES: Jordan Bowersox extended his hitting streak to 16 games, which is the longest streak by a Nittany Lion since Greg Guers had a 16-game hitting streak in 2015 and the 11th longest streak in school history … The Pen State pitching staff's three strikeouts were a season low.
