Penn State Baseball Falls to Youngstown State In Nail-Biting Contest

Story posted March 22, 2022 in CommRadio, Sports by Alexis Yoder

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa — Two pass balls and wild pitch was all it took for Youngstown State to edge Penn State on Tuesday evening.

After reaching base on a single, Braeden O’Shaughnessy scampered around the bases and scored the go-ahead run in top of the ninth inning to give the Penguins the 2-1 win over the Nittany Lions inside Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.

Penn State head coach Rob Cooper used seven pitchers in the loss to the Penguins and his team played without two of its top hitters in Matt Wood and Kyle Hannon.

Neither team’s offense found rhythm throughout the contest as Penn State and Youngstown State went 2-for-9 and 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

At times, the Nittany Lions looked like they were one hit away from taking a commanding lead but outstanding defensive play from the Penguins kept the home team at bay.

“We didn’t do a good job offensively,” Cooper said. “We squared some balls up and they made some nice plays. We didn’t get any luck on our end. We didn’t get enough offensively to score.”

Penn State’s offense broke through first in the stalemate, totaling six hits through the first four innings of play, but it still found trouble breaking into the scoring column.

The team finished with seven hits, led by two apiece from Johnny Piacentino and Billy Gerlott while Anthony Steele, Jay Harry and Tayven Kelley each chipped in one hit.

Gerlott gave the blue and white the early lead in the bottom of the fourth inning after reaching base on a leadoff double. The right fielder crossed home plate on a single from Kelley, which gave him his eighth RBI of the season.

The Nittany Lions had base runners in seven out of the nine innings during Tuesday’s contest, but couldn’t produce more than one run.

After an error-filled weekend against Milwaukee, the blue and white made just one error against Youngstown State, which Gerlott said is an improvement from the team’s previous outings.

“It’s a fresh start,” Gerlott said. “We haven’t played a lot of clean baseball this year. Our infielders and outfielders are taking fielding a lot more seriously over the course of the week during practice.”

Cooper used seven pitchers in the outing against the Penguins and started Kellan Tulio, who retired all three batters he faced in order to start the game.

Jaden Henline, Jordan Morales and Steven Miller combined to pitch four-scoreless innings, holding Youngstown State to one hit while striking out five.

Tyler Shingledecker replaced Miller in the sixth when the Penguins scored their first run on a late throw from third base to first that would’ve ended the inning and the visitors’ scoring threat.

Mason Mellott relieved Shingledecker in the seventh inning — Mellott gave up one hit and one earned run while striking out two and taking the loss.

Steele replaced Mellott in the ninth inning and threw a wild pitch following a pass ball, allowing the winning run to cross the plate for the penguins.

Cooper said the team planned to utilize multiple pitchers against Youngstown State and it will continue throughout the rest of the season.

“We have enough guys that we feel can give us really good outings and especially in short bursts,” Cooper said. “It’s working out good. It takes a group of pitchers to put their ego aside. They’re just going out there and giving us a chance.”


Alexis Yoder is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, email alexisyoder2@gmail.com.

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