Penn State takes game one 5-2 over Central Connecticut State
Fresh off a thrilling late inning win over Villanova on Wednesday, the Nittany Lions (6-14) worked their eighth inning magic yet again against the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils (6-8) Friday evening at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park to kick of the weekend series between the two teams.
Winning four of their last five games, the Lions came into the weekend series with a shutdown mentality. The opposing Blue Devils came into the series winning five of their last eight.
Penn State left-hander Nick Hedge started off the game strong by establishing his breaking ball and getting hitters to chase on the outside corner. Hedge got into a little bit of trouble in the top of the fourth inning loading the bases with two outs for lefty Ryan Costello, but was able to produce a fly out to left fielder Greg Guers to end the threat.
“I just tried to attack the strike zone which has been working well for me. I have a lot of guys making great plays behind me. I missed my spots a couple times and a couple hitters put a charge on the ball but the outfield was there. I had everything going for me,” said Hedge.
Through five innings, Hedge was impressive, only giving up four hits through 5 2/3 innings of shutout baseball before being pulled for the likes of the left-handed Marko Boricich.
Boricich was not nearly as effective as Hedge, giving up the Blue Devils’ first run of the game in the top of the seventh inning after Connor Fitzsimmons drove in Costello on a two-out single.
Penn State struck first in the bottom of the fifth inning as Ryky Smith scored off of a throwing error by shortstop Bryan Rivera with one out after catcher Alex Malinsky reached on a fielder’s choice. Malinsky was eventually stranded at third base after the top of the order failed to drive him in.
The Nittany Lions doubled their lead to 2 in the bottom of the sixth inning through a little bit of small ball. Right fielder Aaron Novak squared a single right up the middle to lead off and worked his way around the base paths after a sacrifice bunt and a pair of wild pitches from Matt Blandino.
“I actually didn’t feel that great in batting practice, so I talked to the coach before hand about what I was doing wrong and he just said I wasn’t getting my back side through the ball,” said Novak. “So I made that adjustment before the game and just went up to the plate looking to hit the ball every pitch and be aggressive. The past few games I have been taking a lot of good pitches and told myself I needed to be more aggressive.”
Blandino lost some momentum with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning after Malinsky delivered a double off of an 0-2 count and Taylor Skerpon reached base after a throwing error by third baseman Ian Glassman to put runners on the corners for Guers.
The Blue Devils threatened again in the top of the eight. Glassman reached on a single and was immediately replaced by pinch runner Alex Koshgarian during the pitching change. Koshgarian advanced to second on a Dominic Severino sacrifice bunt and then to third after a single from Corey Lerche as part of his three hit night. Dean Lockery drove in Koshgarian after a groundout to third base tying the game 2-2.
Boricich went 1 1/3 innings giving up three hits and gave up both of the Blue Devils’ 2 runs. Right-hander Jack Anderson took over for him with no outs in the top of the eighth inning.
The Nittany Lions came back in the bottom of the inning with some life of their own as Novak led off with a double for his fourth hit in as many at-bats. After a walk by Haley and an eventual two-out single by Ryan Richter, Penn State loaded the bases for Smith who delivered the bases clearing double that ultimately won the game for the Nittany Lions.
“I’ve been in this situation [bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth] a couple times in the past three or four games with a chance to win the game and really was just trying to come up big for the team,” said Smith. “I went down 0-2, but I told myself I was going to battle my tail off and find a way to get the job done and, you know, I got the job done,”
Sal Biasi closed out the game for Penn State in the top of the ninth facing the minimum to retire the side.
Penn State will play the next two games of the weekend series with Central Connecticut Sunday morning at 12 p.m. as part of a double header after Saturday morning’s game was postponed. Listen in to ComRadio’s coverage at the start of the game.
Mike D’Avella is a freshman majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email mfd156@psu.edu.
