Series Preview: Penn State Baseball vs. Michigan State

Story posted April 27, 2021 in CommRadio, Sports by Logan Bourandas

Last week wasn’t great for Penn State, but it could’ve been worse.

The Nittany Lions faced off against the Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus where they would proceed to lose two out of three games.

The series started out ugly with the blue and white losing by five or more runs in each game.

Game one went bad during the second half of the game. The two teams were tied at five apiece before the Buckeyes pulled away after a four-run eighth inning. Ohio State won 11-6 as three different Buckeyes went deep.

The middle game of the series was even worse. The Nittany Lions could only muster three hits in the game as they lost 7-0. Seth Lonsway went seven innings for the Buckeyes while striking out six hitters.

However, the Nittany Lions did come through in the third and final game of the series. It was a back and forth game with Penn State taking a three run lead early before Ohio State answered with five straight runs in the fourth. The Nittany Lions took control from there however as they rolled to a 10-6 win. Mason Mellott pitched four scoreless innings in relief while only allowing two hits for Penn State.

This week the Nittany Lions are matched against a familiar foe as they host Michigan State for a three game series. These two teams met earlier in April as they split their two-game mini-series in a three-team pod in East Lansing.

The Spartans come into the series with a 12-17 record and having lost their previous series against Big Ten powerhouse Nebraska.

The opening game ended in a shutout where the only runs were scored in the fourth and fifth innings. Cade Povich pitched seven innings with five strikeouts for the Cornhuskers as they cruised to a 4-0 win.

Game two was different however as in yet another low scoring battle, the Spartans managed to come out on top. Three hits and two RBI’s from Zach Iverson proved to be the difference in a 4-2 Michigan State win.

The luck ran out for the Spartans in the rubber match and twelve innings would be played before a winner was decided. That was when the Cornhuskers would score three runs all on RBI singles. The Cornhuskers would win the game 9-6 and the series as well.

With the Nittany Lions having ended their six game losing streak in their last game there is a chance they could ride that wave into this series. With the Spartans having only won just one game since these teams last met, there is some hope that the Nittany Lions could win their first series since early April.

 

Logan Bourandas is a sophomore majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email lxb5412@psu.edu.