EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Penn State baseball team fell 11-5 at Michigan State on Saturday at McLane Stadium at Kobs Field. Grant Norris blasted two homers, but the Nittany Lions could not overcome three big innings by the Spartans. Penn State is now 18-17 overall and 5-9 in Big Ten play.
Jaden Henline started on the bump for the Nittany Lions. He went five innings and pitched into the sixth, allowing seven runs (four earned) on nine hits. Henline struck out four and walked two.
David Lee worked an inning, allowing one run on three hits. Chic DeGaetano threw two-thirds of an inning, giving up three runs and four hits. Ben DeMell worked 1.1 scoreless frames and struck out one.
Nick Powers made the start for Michigan State. He worked seven innings, giving up two runs on six hits. Powers recorded five strikeouts and a walk. Gannon Grundman threw one inning, giving up two runs and a hit. Logan Pikur threw the ninth inning, giving up one run.
Penn State tallied five runs on eight hits. Norris recorded his second two-homer game of the season, with blasts in the sixth and eighth innings. The two homers totaled three runs. Adam Cecere had two hits, including a double and an RBI single. Joe Jaconski had an RBI single, while Tayven Kelley had two hits, including a double.
Michigan State collected 11 runs on 16 hits. Jack Frank drove in three runs and doubled. Dillon Kark registered three hits, including a double, and scored twice. Nick Williams contributed two hits, including a double, and two RBI. Greg Ziegler drove in two runs, while Sam Thompson had two hits and scored three times.
Penn State got on the board in the first. Jaconski drew a leadoff walk before Bobby Marsh was hit by a pitch. A fielder's choice put runners on the corners. Cecere bounced a ground ball through the right side to drive in Jaconski. Penn State led 1-0.
Michigan State took the lead in the third. Thompson worked a leadoff walk and moved up to second on a sac bunt. Two batters later, Kark reached on an infield single. A grounder by Williams resulted in an error as Thompson scored. A single to left by Ryan McKay drove in Kark. Another single, this time by Ziegler, brought home Williams. The Spartans led 3-1.
The Nittany Lions cut their deficit in the sixth. With two outs, Norris lifted a fly ball over the wall in right. After the 400-foot shot, Penn State trailed 3-2.
Michigan State answered in the bottom half. Christian Williams lined a leadoff double to left. Sam Busch followed with a grounder inside the first base bag for a double as Williams crossed the plate. Thompson reached on an infield single. Randy Seymour chopped a grounder on the infield for a single as Busch scored. Frank hit a fly ball to left for a sac fly as Thompson scored. A single by Kark put runners on the corners before Williams singled to right center to drive in Seymour. Two batters later, Ziegler singled to right to bring home Kark. The Spartans led 8-2 through six.
The Spartans added three runs in the seventh. After singles by Thompson and Seymour, Frank lined a double to right to drive in both runners. Two batters later, Nick Williams doubled to the right-center gap to bring home Frank. MSU led 11-2.
The Blue and White plated two runs in the eighth. With two outs, Cecere was hit by a pitch. Norris lifted a fly ball to right, which snuck inside the foul pole for a two-run homer. Norris' second homer of the day cut the deficit to 11-4.
Penn State added a run in the ninth. Matt Maloney reached on an error to start the inning. He moved up to second before Jaconski poked a single to left-center to bring home Maloney.
The Nittany Lions and Spartans conclude the series on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on B1G+.
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.
Adam Cecere