STANFORD, Calif. – The Penn State baseball team fell 9-5 in its series finale at Stanford on Sunday at Klein Field at Sunken Diamond. The Nittany Lions held an early 3-0 lead, but the Cardinal put together big innings in the second and third to take the lead. Penn State won two of three games in the series and is now 5-2 on the season.
Frankie Sanchez got the start for the Nittany Lions, throwing a scoreless first inning. He allowed a hit and a walk, while striking out one. Mason Butash took over in the second, but did not record an out while facing four batters. He was charged with three runs on two hits. Chic DeGaetano finished the second and went 1.2 innings, allowing four runs while walking three and striking out one.
Ben DeMell completed the third inning, but gave up two runs on two hits. Matt Morash threw 2.2 shutout frames, allowing three hits and striking out one. Connor Throneberry retired the only batter he faced to end the sixth. David Lee began the seventh and threw two scoreless innings, while striking out two.
Nick Dugan started for Stanford, tossing five innings. He allowed four runs on five hits, while striking out five and walking three. Joey Volchko went two innings in relief, giving up one run on a hit and three walks. Toran O'Harran threw the final two innings and did not allow a run.
Penn State posted five runs on seven hits and drew nine walks. Joe Jaconski launched his first home run of the year and drew two walks. Kyle Hannon had two hits, including a triple, and an RBI. J.T. Marr recorded two hits and knocked in a run. Matt Maloney drove in a run and had a single. Adam Cecere reached base four times with two walks and two hit-by-pitches, while Grant Norris drew three walks and scored once.
Cecere and Norris both batted .500 on the weekend. Norris had two homers and six RBI, while Cecere collected a homer and five RBI. Bryce Molinaro recorded five hits, including two homers, and drove in five runs. Jaconski added a homer and four RBI.
Stanford tallied nine runs on nine hits. Owen Cobb had a grand slam, while Brady Reynolds hit a three-run homer and scored twice. Temo Becerra had two hits, an RBI and scored two runs.
The Nittany Lions jumped out to an early lead. Jaconski worked a 2-2 count before blasting a leadoff homer over the wall in right. Hannon followed with a triple down the line in right. Two batters later, Marr lifted a fly ball to left for a sacrifice fly as Hannon scored. Penn State led 2-0.
Penn State extended its lead in the second. With one out, Maloney dribbled a single through the middle. Back-to-back walks by Norris and Jaconski loaded the bases. Hannon dropped down a perfect bunt on the left side for a single as Maloney scored. The Nittany Lions led 3-0.
Stanford tied the game in the bottom half of the second. Luke Lavin was hit by a pitch to start the inning and Becerra followed with a single to right. On a 2-0 pitch, Reynolds lifted a fly ball over the wall in right-center for a three-run homer. The game was even at 3-3 through two innings.
The Cardinal took the lead in the third. With one out, Malcolm Moore drew a walk, Trevor Haskins was hit by a pitch and Lavin walked to loaded the bases. Becerra hit a grounder to the left side of the infield for a fielder's choice, but Moore scored on the play. Reynolds walked to re-load the bases before Jack Sapien held off on a 3-2 pitch for another walk as Lavin scored. Owen Cobb lifted a fly ball to left for a grand slam to push Stanford's lead to 9-3.
Penn State scored in the top of the sixth. Marr led off the inning with a bloop single into right-center. Cecere was hit by a pitch to put two runners on. A groundout moved the runners up to second and third. A fly ball to left by Maloney resulted in a sac fly as Marr scored from third. PSU cut its deficit to 9-4.
The Nittany Lions added a run in the seventh. Norris and Jaconski worked walks to start the frame. A groundout by Hannon moved the runners to second and third. Molinaro bounced a grounder to the shortstop and beat the throw to first for a single as Norris scored. Stanford still led 9-5.
Penn State threatened to score in the eighth. Cecere started the inning with a walk. Two batters later, Maloney worked a walk. A balk moved the runners to second and third before Norris held off on a 3-2 pitch for a walk to load the bases with two outs. However, a strikeout ended the inning.
The Nittany Lions are set to begin Spring Break with a four-game series at Davidson on March 1-3.
For updates on the Penn State baseball team, please follow @pennstatebase on X and Instagram.
The 2024 Penn State baseball season is presented by The Family Clothesline.
Joe Jaconski