CARY, N.C. – The Penn State baseball team rallied for three runs in the ninth for a 7-6 win over Brown. A ground ball by Billy Gerlott drove in the winning run with two outs in the ninth. The Nittany Lions improved to 8-4 on the season.
Johnny Piacentino led off the ninth by sending a 1-2 pitch over the wall in center. His first homer of the year cut the Penn State deficit to 6-5. Anthony Steele followed by crushing an 0-2 pitch down the line and into the right field corner for a double. Bobby Marsh launched a fly ball to left, off the wall, for a double to tie the game as pinch-runner Derek Cease scored from second. Two batters later, Thomas Bramley drew an intentional walk. Jay Harry reached on a fielder's choice to push Marsh to third. With two outs, Gerlott hit a hard ground ball to the second baseman, who made a sliding stop but bounced the throw past the first baseman to allow Marsh to score the winning run.
Daniel Ouderkirk made his fourth start of the year for the Nittany Lions. He went four innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits. Ouderkirk struck out 10 batters and walked one. He tallied three strikeouts in the first, two in the second, two in the third and three in the fourth.
Ouderkirk recorded his third-straight start with 10+ strikeouts. He had 11 in each start against Northern Illinois (Feb. 24) and Dartmouth (March 4). Since at least 2004, Ouderkirk is the only Penn State pitcher with three consecutive starts with 10+ strikeouts.
Jordan Morales took the mound to begin the fifth and pitched four innings. He gave up two runs on two hits. Morales struck out four batters and walked three. Chad Rogers pitched the ninth, allowing a run and a hit, while striking out two and picking up the win.
The Nittany Lions totaled 16 strikeouts, the pitching staff's fifth game with 15+ strikeouts over the last two seasons, joining 15 vs. Northern Illinois on February 24, 2023, 15 vs. UMass on March 12, 2022, 15 vs. Bucknell on April 6, 2022 and 15 vs. Iowa on May 26, 2022.
Tobey McDonough got the start for Brown, going 4.1 innings. McDonough allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits. He recorded four strikeouts and two walks. Carter Rasmussen finished the fifth and fired 4.1 innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on three hits. Rasmussen tallied five strikeouts.
Penn State registered seven runs on eight hits. Thomas Bramley recorded two hits, including a triple, two RBI and a run. Piacentino contributed a solo homer. Marsh added an RBI double and two runs, while Anthony Steele had a double.
On a single in the fifth, Jay Harry extended his reached-base streak to 28 games. Bramley pushed his reached-base streak to 15 games and his hit streak to nine games.
Ryan Marra led the Brown offense with two solo homers, among the Bears' eight hits. Jacob Burley drove in two runs, including a solo homer, and scored twice. Reece Rappoli had two hits, including a triple, and scored a run.
Brown broke a scoreless tie in the fourth. Marra led off the inning with a homer to right-center. The Bears loaded the bases with a hit-by-pitch by Burley, a single by Nathan Brasher and a walk drawn by Jared Johnson. Ray Sass hit a ground ball that resulted in an error and Burley crossing the plate. Derian Morphew followed with a single to right to drive in Brasher. Brown held a 3-0 lead.
Penn State took the lead with four runs in the fifth. Marsh drew a walk to begin the inning. Ben Kailher reached on a throwing error, which resulted in Marsh on third and Kailher on second. Bramley followed with a line drive to the gap in right-center for a two-run triple. A single through the middle by Harry brought home Bramley. Harry moved up to second on a wild pitch and to third on a fly out. Kyle Hannon roped a single to right to drive in Harry and give Penn State a 4-3 advantage.
Brown re-gained the lead in the seventh. With one out, Marra launched his second homer of the day, this time to right. Burley made it back-to-back homers with a solo shot to left. The Bears took a 5-4 lead.
The Bears added two runs in the ninth. Rappoli led off the inning with a triple to center. With one out, Burley sent a fly ball to right field for a sac fly to bring home Rappoli. Brown extended its lead to 6-4 through the middle of the ninth.
Penn State and Brown continue the series with a doubleheader on Saturday. First pitch of game is set for noon. The teams will meet in the series finale on Sunday at 11 a.m. All games are available through livestreaming on USABaseball.TV.
Season and single game tickets for the 2023 Penn State baseball season are available here. Season tickets are $75 for adults and free for youth (ages 12 and under).
The 2023 Penn State baseball season is presented by The Family Clothesline.
Johnny Piacentino