Penn State Baseball Rolls Past Purdue in Offensive Showcase
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa — With temperatures in the mid-50s, the sun was out and so were the Penn State bats. With multiple extra base hits and a homerun, the Nittany Lions tacked on 12 runs in the game against Purdue.
Steven Miller earned the 12-7 victory for the blue and white, while CJ Backer started and received the loss for Purdue. Tyler Shingledecker got the save for Penn State.
Curtis Washington Jr. knocked a single and CJ Valdez followed to give Purdue some early confidence at the plate in the first inning.
The Nittany Lions got off to a shaky start defensively, committing two errors in the first two innings, but they managed to keep the scoreboard blank. Purdue was giving the defense of Penn State some early tests, including slow rollers and a couple of gap shots in the outfield.
Lots of work was done in the third inning for the Boilermakers as they scored four runs.
Pablo Lanzarote started the frame with a triple to left field. It didn’t stop there, as Washington hit an RBI single to center field. Cam Johnson then hit an RBI fielder’s choice single to third base. Later, Evan Albrecht hit a two-RBI single before an eventual Miller strikeout. Johnson now has 44 RBIs, which is first in the Big Ten.
Penn State also got on the scoreboard in the third inning, as a few mistakes behind the plate lead to three runs from wild pitches. The fourth run came from an error committed by the shortstop, Albrecht.
Tayven Kelley hit a three-RBI double in the third inning as well which separated the two teams on the scoreboard. Cole Bartels then added on to the damage with an RBI single
Purdue utilized its bullpen to the max as it used five different pitchers throughout the game.
A homerun by Josh Spiegel was another highlight behind the plate for the blue and white, separating the score a bit more to give Penn State the cushion it needed to come out on top.
Throughout the game, the bats never took a rest for the Nittany Lions, unlike Purdue, which saw its engine run out too soon.
Shingledecker touched on what was working to close the game strong tonight.
“My fastball-changeup combo was definitely working tonight, and I was able to find my spots pretty well,” Shingledecker said.
Coach Rob Cooper mentioned the innings thrown by each pitcher in tonight’s game.
“Shingledecker and Miller were able to pitch thanks to our offense tacking on the runs. They were lights out for us,” Cooper said.
What happened early in the game shows that we are capable of playing better,” Cooper said. “I mean that from a baserunning standpoint and a defensive standpoint. I feel that we left some runs on the board . . . we just have to keep pushing forward.”
With strong pitching and even stronger hitting from practically the whole lineup, Penn State looks to do some more damage the rest of the series.
Daniel Maiorana is a freshman majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email dkm5903@psu.edu.
