BASE: Penn State Bats Unable to Come Alive in Ohio State Sweep

Story posted April 9, 2017 in CommRadio, Sports by Joe Esquivel-Murphy

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ---- The Nittany Lions entered Sunday against Ohio State with one conference win, and that was their win against the Buckeyes on Saturday. Penn State hoped to get a sweep of the Buckeyes, but were swept by Ohio State.

The first game of the doubleheader was promising for the Nittany Lions as sophomore pitcher Justin Hagenman had an outstanding performance. He pitched eight innings of one-run baseball, only allowing 10 hits.

Hagenman was in control of his pitches as he struck out eight Buckeyes, while only walking two. His pitching helped a Penn State team that struggled to generate any offense as the Nittany Lions led 2-1 entering the ninth inning.

Eric Mock replaced Hagenman and gave up the game-tying home run to Bo Coolen to start off the inning. His struggles continued after the home run as he walked two batters and gave up the go-ahead runs on a two-run triple.

The offense for the Nittany Lions was a struggle as they were only able to muster seven hits against the Buckeye pitching staff. Riotto and Sloniger hit well as they combined to go 4-8 with two doubles and a run scored.

Unfortunately, the rest of the team went 3-23 and struck out eight times. Jordan Bowersow saw his hitting streak get snapped as he went 0-4, striking out twice.

Penn State left nine men on base and mustered one RBI on a sacrifice fly by Braxton Giavedoni. Logan Goodnight scored the other run on a wild pitch by Ohio State pitcher Jake Post.

The 11-2 victory by Ohio State in the second game was similar to the first game as the Penn State offense struggled to produce any offense. The Nittany Lions were unable to get the bats going as they only mustered five hits in the game.

Second baseman Conlin Hughes was the lone exception as he started the game with a solo shot in the first inning. Hughes talked about how the homerun helped energize him at the start.

“I thought it started some momentum,” Hughes said. “It felt good. It really felt good.”

He also had a single, as he was the only Nittany Lion to get multiple hits in the ballgame.

Myles Gayman started the second game and pitched decently as he only allowed one hit and two unearned runs. His control was spotty as he walked three batters, hit one, and threw a wild pitch.

The defense was the real problem for the Nittany Lions as they committed four errors during the contest, allowing the Buckeyes to score four unearned runs. Freshman catcher Brett Davis struggled behind the plate as he was unable to throw runners out at second.

Freshman shortstop Logan Goodnight had problems all day throwing to first as he committed two throwing errors in the second game. The errors were costly as the Buckeyes were able to score off both of his errors.

Penn State head coach Rob Cooper talked about how the errors were costly throughout the game.

“After the first four innings, we had walked or hit seven guys and made three errors,” Cooper said. “Right away, that’s 10-0 in the freebee war.”

The losses drop Penn State to 11-19 on the season and 1-5 in conference play. The next game for the Nittany Lions is against Binghamton on Monday at 6:30.

 

Joe Esquivel-Murphy is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism and Spanish. To contact him, email je5139@psu.edu