COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Penn State baseball team fell 11-0 in the completion of game two against Ohio State and dropped the series finale, 9-3, on Sunday at Bill Davis Stadium.
Penn State is now 24-24 overall and 11-10 in Big Ten play. Ohio State improved to 18-30 overall and 7-15 in conference play.
The Nittany Lions take on Pitt on Tuesday, May 17 in their final non-conference game of the season. The game will be played at PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, at 6 p.m.
Penn State concludes the regular season next weekend with a three-game series against Illinois at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. Thursday and Friday's games will begin at 6 p.m. Saturday's game will start at 1 p.m. with a Senior Day celebration following the game.
The 2022 Penn State baseball season is presented by The Family Clothesline.
Resumption of Game 2
Beginning on Saturday, the game was delayed, due to lightning and rain, in the bottom of the sixth with Penn State trailing 3-0. The game resumed with one out, a runner on first and an 0-2 count on Ohio State's Mitchell Okuley.
Travis Luensmann made his 11th start of the year. When the game was stopped, Luensmann had thrown 5.1 innings. He gave up three runs on five hits. He struck out six batters and walked three. Luensmann had multiple strikeouts in the second and sixth innings.
Carson Kohls pitched two-thirds of an inning, giving up three runs on a hit. Chad Rogers threw an inning, allowing three runs. Anthony Steele began the eighth inning, allowing an unearned run and a hit and striking out one.
Isaiah Coupet got the start for the Buckeyes, throwing six shutout frames. He gave up three hits and two walks, while striking out seven. Nate Karaffa took over in the seventh, throwing two scoreless innings before Trent Jones pitched a scoreless ninth.
Penn State tallied five hits, including two by Johnny Piacentino. Cole Bartels, Derek Cease and Josh Spiegel each had one hit.
Ohio State recorded 11 runs on 10 hits. Zack Dezenzo went three-for-four, including a double and a homer, with two runs and three RBI. Kade Kern also had three hits, two runs and two RBI, while collecting two doubles. Colton Bauer had two hits and two RBI.
The Buckeyes broke a scoreless tie in the fourth. Kern led off the inning with a double and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Bauer lined a 3-2 pitch into center field to plate Kern and give Ohio State a 1-0 lead.
Ohio State added two runs in the fifth. Marcus Ernst singled and Trey Lipsey drew a walk to put two runners on base. Kern roped a double to center, allowing Ernst and Lipsey to cross the plate. Ohio State led 3-0 through five innings.
The Nittany Lions threatened to score in the sixth. Matt Wood led off the inning with a four-pitch walk. Piacentino singled to left to put two runners on. Two batters later, Billy Gerlott worked his own walk with two outs. However, a strikeout ended the inning and left the bases loaded.
After resuming the bottom of the sixth, Ohio State plated four runs. Okuley drew a walk. A wild pitch allowed Blayne Robinson and Okuley to move up to second and third. Ernst worked a walk with the final pitch of the at-bat going as a wild pitch, allowing Robinson to score. Dezenzo lifted a 1-2 pitch over the wall in left for a three-run homer to extend OSU's lead to 7-0.
Ohio State added three runs in the seventh. The Buckeyes scored one on an RBI single by Bauer, one on a sac fly by Okuley and one on a double to right-center by Archer Brookman. The Buckeyes led 10-0 through seven innings. OSU added a run in the eighth, helped by an error.
Game 3
Kellan Tulio got the start for the Nittany Lions, throwing 1.2 innings. He allowed four runs on three hits and a walk while striking out two. Steven Miller pitched an inning, giving up five runs on five hits. Tyler Shingledecker threw 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and two walks, while striking out one. Mason Mellott went 2.1 innings, allowing three runs on three hits. Ryan Partridge threw the final two outs.
Wyatt Loncar started for the Buckeyes, going five innings. He allowed two runs on five hits. Loncar struck out eight and walked five batters. Jacob Gehring allowed a run in one inning before Jake Johnson and Garrett Peters combined for a scoreless seventh. Ethan Hammerberg threw the final two innings.
Penn State collected three runs on six hits. Billy Gerlott had two hits, including a double, and two RBI. Cole Bartels recorded two hits, including a double, and an RBI. Matt Wood registered a double.
Ohio State had 12 runs on 13 hits. Zack Dezenzo connected on two homers, totaling five RBI. Marcus Ernst had two hits, including a two-run homer. Trey Lipsey tripled and scored a run, while Archer Brookman had two hits, with a double, and two RBI.
The Nittany Lions struck first with two runs in the first. Bartels singled up the middle and Jay Harry reached on an infield single to start the inning. With two outs, Gerlott drove a fly ball to the wall in left-center for a double, bringing home both runners.
Ohio State answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning. Ernst started the inning with a single to left. Dezenzo followed with a two-run homer to left-center to tie the game. The Nittany Lions held OSU to two runs, thanks to a catch in left by Bartels that robbed the Buckeyes of a second homer in the inning.
The Buckeyes added three runs in the second. Mitchell Okuley was hit by a pitch and Brookman singled to put runners on the corners. Two batters later, Dezenzo homered to center, his second of the game, to give OSU a 5-2 lead.
Ohio State extended its lead in the third. With two outs and two runners on, a double to left-center by Brookman scored Okuley and Tyler Pettorini. Marcus Ernst followed with a line-drive, two-run homer over the wall in right. Ohio State led 9-2 through three innings.
Penn State scored a run in the sixth. Derek Cease drew a one-out walk. Bartels battled through a long at-bat, lining the 11th pitch he saw into the gap in right-center for an RBI double as Cease motored home from first. Penn State cut the deficit to 9-3.
Ohio State added three runs in the eighth, including one on a double by Kade Kern and one on a single by Brent Todys. On a walk, Todys crossed the plate to extend the OSU lead to 12-3.
Cole Bartels