CARY, N.C. – The Penn State baseball team collected two wins in its doubleheader on Saturday at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary. The Nittany Lions' offense exploded for a 17-6 win over Wagner in game one. Penn State tallied runs in the seventh and eighth to collect an 8-2 win over Dartmouth in game two. The Nittany Lions improved to 6-2 on the season and have won five straight games.
In game one, Travis Luensmann threw five innings, allowing two runs, and struck out five. Tayven Kelley, Grant Norris and Josh Spiegel all homered as part of 10 extra-base hits by the Nittany Lions.
In game two, Daniel Ouderkirk struck out 11 batters in 5.1 innings. Kyle Hannon launched a homer and scored three runs.
Ouderkirk recorded his second-straight 11-strikeout start. He struck out 11 against Northern Illinois on Friday, Feb. 24. Ouderkirk joined Dante Biasi (13 vs. UMass Lowell, 3/15/19; 12 vs. Minnesota, 3/23/19) as the only Nittany Lions with 10+ strikeouts in back-to-back starts since 2004.
The Nittany Lions battle Holy Cross on Sunday and Monday, both games at 1 p.m. Penn State takes on No. 13 North Carolina on Wednesday at 4 p.m. in Chapel Hill.
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.
Game One – Wagner
Travis Luensmann started on the mound for the Nittany Lions, going five innings. Luensmann allowed just two runs on two hits. The junior struck out five batters and walked three.
Jordan Morales entered the game to begin the sixth and worked a full scoreless inning, striking out one. Ben DeMell finished the game to earn his first career save. DeMell threw three innings, giving up four runs (two earned) on three hits. He struck out six and walked one.
Julian Chabot got the start for Wagner. He went one-third of an inning, allowing five runs on five hits. Zach Gorman finished the first inning and went 4.2 frames, giving up three runs on six hits. Jason Masick allowed five runs on two hits in two-thirds of an inning before Michael Cunningham threw one-third of an inning, allowing two runs (one earned). John LaPointe finished the game, giving up two runs in two innings.
Penn State collected 17 runs on 17 hits, including 10 extra-base hits. Tayven Kelley and Josh Spiegel each had three hits. Kelley drove in four runs and scored three while hitting two doubles and a two-run homer. Spiegel drove in three runs, including a solo homer, and scored two. Grant Norris had a double, a homer, two runs and four RBI. Thomas Bramley and Jay Harry each had two hits, including a double, and two runs.
Wagner tallied six runs on six hits. Henry Martinez had an RBI double and scored a run, while Mateo Matthews drove in two runs on a double. Chris Conniff hit a triple.
The Nittany Lions got on the board in the first. Kyle Hannon started the inning with a double to right-center. Hannon stole third and scored on an overthrow by the catcher. After a double to right by Bramley, Billy Gerlott sent a ground ball through the middle to drive in Bramley. Kelley followed with a double to left-center. Following a walk by Anthony Steele, Johnny Piacentino lifted a fly ball to shallow left that dropped in for a single to score Gerlott. After a pitching change, Spiegel lined a single to center to plate Kelley and Steele and give Penn State a 5-0 lead.
Wagner answered with two runs in the second. Cody Bey led off the inning with a single to right. David Melfi and Griffin Selby were hit by pitches to load the bases. A ground out by DiMaggio Cazares and a sac fly by Xavier Ulrich each brought in a run to trim the PSU advantage to 5-2.
Penn State added a run in the second. Harry started the inning with an infield single. Bramley drew a walk and a deep fly out by Gerlott moved Harry to third. With Kelley at the plate, Bramley took off for second. He was thrown out, but the play allowed Harry to score. Penn State led 6-2 through two innings.
The Nittany Lions exploded for nine runs in the sixth. Spiegel led off the inning with a solo homer to center. Norris made it back-to-back homers, launching a solo shot to left. A double by Harry and walks by Bramley and Gerlott loaded the bases. Kelley drove in two runs with a line drive up the middle, which he turned into a hustle double. A groundout to shortstop by Steele plated Gerlott from third. After walks by Piacentino and Spiegel, Norris roped a double to the wall in left to clear the bases and score three runs. PSU added a run as Harry reached on an error and Norris scored. Penn State led 15-2 after six innings.
Penn State scored two more runs in the seventh. After a leadoff double by Tyson Cooper, Kelley crushed a fly ball over the wall in right for a two-run homer. PSU extended its lead to 17-2.
Wagner got four runs back in the ninth. Two on a double by Martinez and two on a double by Matthews.
Game Two - Dartmouth
Daniel Ouderkirk started on the bump in game two for the Nittany Lions. Ouderkirk fired 5.1 innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits. He struck out 11 batters and walked two. Ouderkirk registered two strikeouts in the first, three in the second and third, one in the fourth and two in the fifth.
Ouderkirk recorded back-to-back 11-strikeout starts. He struck out 11 against Northern Illinois on Friday, Feb. 24. Ouderkirk joined Dante Biasi (13 vs. UMass Lowell, 3/15/19; 12 vs. Minnesota, 3/23/19) as the only Nittany Lions with 10+ strikeouts in back-to-back starts since 2004.
Steven Miller took over on the mound with one out in the sixth. He threw 2.2 scoreless frames, earning the win. He allowed two hits and a walk, while striking out two. Ryan Partridge pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
Dartmouth started Clark Gilmore on the mound. Gilmore threw 4.1 innings, giving up two runs on five hits. He struck out five and walked two batters. Danny Will pitched two innings, allowing six runs (three earned) and Mac Burke threw 1.2 scoreless innings.
Penn State tallied eight runs on eight hits. Kyle Hannon had a solo homer to go with three runs, two RBI and two steals. Jay Harry had two hits and two RBI, while Johnny Piacentino had an RBI double. Tayven Kelley added a double and a run.
Dartmouth collected six hits. Ivan Hoyt had an RBI double, while Tyler Robinson had two hits. Milo Suarez recorded a double.
The Nittany Lions broke a scoreless tie in the third as Hannon led off the inning with a homer to right. Hannon launched a 3-2 pitch over the wall in right for his second homer of the year.
Penn State added a run in the fifth. Hannon started the inning by drawing a walk and then stole second. A ground ball up the middle by Harry resulted in a single and allowed Hannon to score. The Nittany Lions led 2-0 through five innings.
The Big Green tied the game in the sixth. After Connor Bertsch was hit by a pitch, Hoyt lined a double to the corner in left as Hoyt scored. Two batters later, Robinson, a pinch-hitter, reached on an infield single, with a wild throw on the play allowing Hoyt to cross the plate.
Penn State answered with three runs in the bottom half of the inning. With one out, Josh Spiegel singled to center. He moved up to second on a passed ball before Grant Norris and Hannon walked to load the bases. A fly ball to left by Harry resulted in a sac fly to plate Spiegel. Another passed ball allowed Hannon and Norris to move to second and third. Thomas Bramley drew a walk with the final pitch being a wild pitch as Norris crossed the plate. With runners on the corners, a double steal by Bramley and Hannon added another run. Penn State led 5-2 after six frames.
The Nittany Lions added three runs in the seventh. After a leadoff double by Kelley, Anthony Steele reached on an error, with a throwing error on the play allowing Kelley to cross the plate. Piacentino followed with a line drive to center and hustled to second for a double, while Steele scored. After Piacentino stole third, a groundout to first by Hannon allowed Piacentino to score. Penn State extended its lead to 8-2.
Tayven Kelley