CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Penn State baseball program (16-23) fell in a slugfest 14-8 in the second game of the three-game set. Illinois used four home runs to propel them to the second win of the series.
How it Happened
The Illini led off the bottom of the first with a home run and was the beneficiary of three walks and a hit batsmen to take a 3-0 lead after one inning.
The Fighting Illini added another run in the bottom of the second to grab a 4-0 lead. The first two hitters reached and ended Larkin's outing. Logan Evans retired all three hitters he faced and limited the damage in the inning.
Penn State got on the scoreboard in the top of the third. Jay Harry led off the frame with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Matt Wood singled home Harry and cut the lead to 4-1 after three innings.
Johnny Piacentino doubled to open the fourth and scored as the following batter, Josh Spiegel, singled to bring the score to 4-2.
Curtis Robsion singled and advanced Spiegel to second. Parker Hendershot laid down a sacrifice bunt to put runners in scoring position. Spiegel would score on an error by the Illini third basemen and cut the lead to 4-3.
The Illini responded by scoring six runs on three hits, the biggest blow coming on a grand slam to push the score to 10-3 after four full innings of play.
Homer led off the top of the fifth with a single. Two Nittany Lions were retired to bring up Piacentino. Piacentino launched a home run over the center field wall and cut the lead to 10-5. It was Piacentino's team-leading seventh home run of the season.
Steven Miller worked a pair of scoreless innings to keep Penn State within striking distance. In the top of the seventh, Harry singled and Homer lifted a 0-1 fastball over the left field wall to cut the lead to three and the Nittany Lions trailed 10-7.
Penn State scored another run on an RBI single by Piacentino to make the score 10-8 in favor of Illinois.
A solo homer for Illinois in the bottom of the seventh pushes the lead 11-8 as the Nittany Lions tried to complete the comeback.
A quiet half of the eighth for the Nittany Lions brought Illinois back to the plate. A three-run bottom of the eighth pushed the game out of reach and the Illini took game two 14-8.
Up Next
The Nittany Lions and Illini will conclude the series tomorrow at 2 p.m. ET. Kyle Virbitsky will start game three for Penn State.