UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State baseball team (15-20) won its third-straight game and fifth straight at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park with a 4-3 win over Rutgers on Saturday afternoon.
Penn State plated the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth to secure the game two victory over Rutgers.
How it Happened
Conor Larkin worked around a pair of runners in the top of the first to keep the Scarlet Knights off the scoreboard.
Penn State immediately struck for runs in the bottom of the frame. Gavin Homer led off the bottom of the inning, taking a fastball off his hip to put a runner on for the Nittany Lions. The next two Nittany Lions were retired to bring up hot-hitting Justin Williams. Homer swiped second during Williams at bat to put a runner in scoring position for the Nittany Lions third basemen.
Williams laced a single through the left side to score Homer and put the Nittany Lions ahead 1-0. Johnny Piacentino followed with a double to left to put runners on second and third. Josh Spiegel tripled off the right center wall to plate two more for Penn State and give the Nittany Lions an early 3-0 lead.
Following a leadoff single by Rutgers in the top of the second, Larkin retired the next eight Scarlet Knights. A single in the top of the fourth ended Larkin's streak of retired hitters. A strikeout ended the fourth.
Larkin continued his strong performance, retiring the Scarlet Knights in order in the fifth.
Larkin stranded the bases loaded in the top of the sixth, keeping his scoreless outing intact.
Rutgers cut into the Nittany Lions lead in the top of the seventh, scoring one run in the frame. After getting the first two Rutgers hitters, Larkin was lifted following a two-out single. Two more singles scored the first run of the game for the Scarlet Knights.
Penn State tried to add onto the lead in the bottom of the frame, putting runners on the corners after back-to-back singles by Curtis Robison and Parker Hendershot with one out.
The next two Nittany Lions were retired via the strikeout and Penn State stranded a pair.
In the top of the eighth, Rutgers took advantage of two Nittany Lion errors and tied the game at 3-3 off reliever Logan Evans. Tyler Shingledecker limited the damage, not allowing any further runs to score in the frame.
Coming off the bench in the bottom of the fifth, Cole Bartels came up with another clutch at bat in the bottom of the eighth. Bartels won an eight-pitch battle, singling up the middle to begin the inning. Matt Wood singled to put runners on the corners for the Nittany Lions. A groundout and an intentional walk to Piacentino loaded the bases with one out. A pop out brought Robison to the plate with two down.
Robison worked a walk to score Bartels and put Penn State back on top 4-3.
Shingledecker worked a perfect ninth to lock up the victory for Penn State.
Up Next
Penn State and Rutgers play the third of the four-game series tomorrow with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. ET. Kyle Virbitsky will get the ball for the Nittany Lions.