LINCOLN, Neb. – The Penn State baseball team dropped a 5-2 decision at Nebraska on Saturday evening at Haymarket Park. The Nittany Lions rallied with two runs in the seventh, both on solo homers, but could not complete the comeback. Penn State is now 24-21 overall, while Nebraska moved to 28-20-1.
In Big Ten play, Penn State dropped to 6-13, while the Huskers improved to 12-8.
Sunday's series finale is set for a noon start on ESPN2.
Jaden Henline made the start on the mound, going six innings. Henline allowed five runs (three earned) on eight hits. The junior struck out one batter and walked two. Henline worked scoreless innings in the first, third and fifth frames. Steven Miller took the mound in the seventh, tossing two scoreless innings and striking out one.
Jace Kaminska earned the start for Nebraska, working seven innings. He gave up two runs on four hits. Kaminska struck out seven batters and did not record a walk. Shay Schanaman fired two scoreless frames to close out the game.
Penn State collected four hits, including a pair of solo homers. Grant Norris launched his seventh homer of the season, while Josh Spiegel notched his second homer of the year. Jay Harry and Kyle Hannon added singles.
Nebraska tallied nine hits. Cole Evans collected three singles, three RBI and two runs. Dylan Carey contributed two hits and an RBI. Josh Caron added a double and two runs.
The Huskers jumped out to an early lead in the second. Caron reached on an error to start the inning. A sac bunt by Ben Columbus pushed Caron to second. A single to left by Evans drove in Caron. The sophomore moved up to second on a throwing error. Carey lined a single to center to bring home Evans. Nebraska led 2-0 through two innings.
Nebraska added a run in the fourth. Gabe Swansen recorded an infield single to begin the frame. Caron was hit by a pitch before Columbus placed another sac bunt to put runners on second and third. A fly ball to center by Evans resulted in a sac fly as Swansen scored. The Huskers extended their lead to 3-0.
The Huskers plated two runs in the sixth. Caron led off the inning with a double to the wall in right-center. A sac bunt by Columbus moved Caron to third. Evans shot a ground ball through the left side of the infield to bring home Caron. Evans moved up to third on a grounder by Carey. Efry Cervantes lined a single to center to drive in Evans. Nebraska held a 5-0 lead.
The Nittany Lions responded with two runs in the seventh. Grant Norris launched the first pitch of the inning over the wall in center. Norris' homer was his seventh of the season and second of the weekend. Two batters later, Spiegel blasted a fly ball over the wall in left for a solo homer. His second jack of the year cut Penn State's deficit to 5-2.
In the top of the ninth, with one out, Norris held off on a 3-1 pitch for a walk. With Harry at the plate, a call on the field was made that Harry was hit by the pitch and Norris moved to second. After video review, it was determined that it did not hit Harry but Norris was placed on second on a passed ball. Harry grounded out to move Norris to third. However, a strikeout ended the inning.
For updates on the Penn State baseball team, please follow @pennstatebase on Twitter and Instagram.
Single game tickets for the 2023 Penn State baseball season are available here.
The 2023 Penn State baseball season is presented by The Family Clothesline.
Josh Spiegel