Battle of the home runs: Penn State falls to Indiana in doubleheader
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The 14-9 Nittany Lions faced off against the 18-8 Hoosiers on Sunday for a doubleheader. Indiana got the 22-11 victory in game two, and ultimately the series win.
Penn State took the first game of the series 7-2, breaking Indiana’s nine-game winning streak, and lost the first game of the doubleheader 4-1.
What couldn’t be predicted in a Sunday-long doubleheader was the combined five home runs hit by both sides.
Brock Tibbitts started the momentum for Indiana with a double off of the right-field line in the top of the second.
He scored for the game's first run on a single from freshman Tyler Cerny. Tibbitts was named Big Ten Player of the Week last week after batting .500 in Indiana’s previous series against Ohio State.
Indiana would extend its lead to 4-0 after the top of the third. Jordan Morales walked the bases loaded and then allowed a 3-RBI single.
However, Penn State brought its bats in the bottom of the third.
After a leadoff single by Tayven Kelley, junior Kyle Hannon would send one over the right field fence to put Penn State on the board.
In fact, Penn State would go deep on back-to-back at-bats. After Gabriel Levy replaced Luke Hayden on the mound, Thomas Bramley showed off his power to put Penn State just one run behind the Hoosiers, 4-3.
The Nittany Lions came alive with a six-run inning. They would cycle through the batting lineup with Hannon, the first home run of the half-inning, to be the last out.
Penn State Head Coach Rob Cooper was happy with the performance of his team in the third inning.
“You’ve got to have some pride,” he said. Though he would soon be disheartened with the rest of the game.
In alternating fashion, the Hoosiers would tie the game at six all and then begin to take the game away.
Cerny took Penn State’s relief pitcher Connor Throneberry yard in a no-doubt three-run home run.
The long balls were not done yet. With a 13-6 lead over Penn State in the top of the seventh, freshman Devin Taylor would shoot his own homerun over the centerfield wall.
To cap off the almost four-hour-long game, Phillip Glasser would send a dinger over left field, giving Indiana the 15-11 lead in the top of the ninth.
In spite of Penn State hitting two home runs themselves, Josh Spiegel said it wasn’t enough.
“We didn’t do anything offensively to help,” he said.
Going into Sunday’s game, the Nittany Lions had 25 home runs on the season. Hannon would record his sixth of the year while Bramley’s homer would just be his second.
On the other side, the Hoosiers were just under Penn State’s moon-shot numbers with 22 before Sunday’s doubleheader.
Yet, Indiana is no stranger to home run hitting.
The team hit five in one inning in a 23-5 victory over Morehead State University in mid-March. This is as impressive as it sounds; there were only eight games in the Major Leagues where this feat occurred.
When asked about the number of home runs hit in the game, Spiegel would only look forward.
“We’re coming back Tuesday,” he said. “We’re just going to attack.”
This weekend’s series marks the first time Indiana came to Medlar Field since 2015. In the historical matchup, the teams have met 90 times with Indiana having a three-game edge in the series.
Penn State continues its home stretch against Bucknell on Tuesday and the Hoosiers will travel back to Indiana, but stay on the road when they face Indiana State, also on Tuesday.
Allie Wenskoski is a first-year broadcast journalism student. To contact her, please email amw7637@psu.edu.
