UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State baseball team (11-18) scored the most runs in a Big Ten game in program history with a 27-4 win over Michigan State on Saturday afternoon. The Nittany Lions finished with 22 hits and 25 RBI in the win.
11 Nittany Lions finished with hits in the win.
How it Happened
The highest scoring first inning of the 2021 season for the Nittany Lions resulted in 10 runs on eight hits. The first four Nittany Lions reached as Johnny Piacentino doubled to left to open the scoring with two on.
Penn State sent 14 batters to the plate in the inning as the Nittany Lions led 10-0 after one inning.
The Nittany Lions added another run in the bottom of the second as Jay Harry flew out to score Curtis Robison to make it 11-0.
Conor Larkin was in the zone as he did not allow a run through his first six innings of work. He would surrender just two runs and picked up his third win of the year.
The Nittany Lions scored seven runs in the bottom of the third to make it 18-0 after three full innings. Jay Harry launched his first homer of his Penn State career, a three-run shot to cap the scoring.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Nittany Lions scored five more runs and led 23-0 after six full innings. 11 Nittany Lions came to the plate. Harry reached twice in the inning, driving in one and scoring a run.
Larkin surrendered his first runs of the game in the top of the seventh and Penn State led 23-2.
Penn State immediately scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to push its lead back to 26-2.
Penn State would score one more run in the eighth to push its lead to 27-2.
A pair of runs by Michigan State in the ninth brought the final score to 27-4.
NOTES
The 27 runs were the most runs ever scored for Penn State in a Big Ten game (Previous was 22 vs Michigan St – 5/10/10).
The 27 runs were the fourth time with 20+ runs in Big Ten action (1992-present), three of the four were against Michigan State.
It was one run shy of the school record of 28 (2x, LaSalle - 1997 & Chicago St. - 1993).
The last time Penn State scored 20 or more runs came on April 6, 2016 against Lafayette (W, 20-12).