Penn State Baseball Uses 2 Jay Harry Home Runs to Top Rutgers
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — On a cold Friday night at Medlar Field, Jay Harry’s two home runs proved to make a big difference in the Nittany Lions victory over Rutgers.
Harry said this was probably the best game of his career at Penn State.
“I’m just happy to get the win,” Harry said.
After dropping the first game of the doubleheader, Penn State took an 8-6 win over Rutgers in the later game.
The Scarlett Knights started the game off hot, scoring four of their six runs in the first inning.
Penn State crawled back into the game slowly, with Harry’s solo homer and RBI triples from both Josh Spiegel and Matt Wood making it a 4-3 game by the fourth inning.
Harry homered yet again in the fifth inning with a three-run shot that tied the game at five apiece.
Coach Rob Cooper said postgame said he loves coaching Harry.
“He’s an unbelievable kid,” Cooper said. “He’s been putting a lot of pressure on himself at the plate.”
After trading the lead with Rutgers a few times, two sacrifice flies in the sixth inning made it a 7-6 Nittany Lion lead, and they added an insurance run in the eighth inning.
The offensive game saw the two teams combine for 21 hits and 14 runs.
Penn State moved to 8-12 on the season with the win, while Rutgers fell to 15-6. Both teams opened Big Ten play with this series.
Cooper also said as his squad looks forward to Saturday’s game, he wants his team to focus on what is controllable: being competitive and playing hard, while not panicking if Rutgers scores.
“It’s kind of like a boxing match,” Cooper said, “you give a punch, then take a punch.”
Daniel Mader is a second-year student majoring in digital/print journalism. To contact him, email dbm5725@psu.edu.
