Penn State baseball has been one of the hottest teams in the Big Ten. During the Nittany Lions’ 23-14 start, they’ve only lost three times in the confines of Medlar Field. On the road it’s been a different story; Penn State was 7-8 away from home before Wednesday night.

The Nittany Lions were on the road to face off against Kent State in a high scoring affair, but they couldn’t hang on and fell to the Golden Flashes 10-9.

How It Happened

Nick Hedge came in to start on the mound for Penn State and struggled early. After getting out of the first inning without allowing a run and despite the early run support, Hedge allowed seven combined runs — five earned — in the second, third, and fourth innings.

Marko Boricich came in for relief in the third and gave up another run for Kent State to take the 7-3 lead after three. Penn State’s pitching struggled in this one. It gave up 10 runs on 15 hits and made it difficult for the offense to bring the game back. However, it still ended up being close.

After taking the early 3-0 lead in the first inning, the Nittany Lions saw themselves down 7-3 after the third inning. They rallied back behind five combined runs in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings, but still trailed 9-8 after seven. Jim Haley and Greg Guers continued their hot hitting, bringing home two runs each. Haley and Conlin Hughes each provided the team with three hits .

With Kent State scoring another run in the eighth, Penn State was now down 10-8 heading into the final at-bats. With bases loaded and two outs, a passed ball allowed Willie Burger to come home to bring the Nittany Lions within one.

With two outs and two runners in scoring position, James Coates came to the plate to try and secure Penn State’s seventh consecutive win. On a 2-2 pitch Coates popped the ball up behind him which let the catcher make the easy grab and snap Penn State’s winning streak. Penn State is now 23-15 on the season.

Player Of The Game

Jim Haley | Junior | Infielder

Haley was on fire once again for the Nittany Lions as he went 3-for-5 with a run and two RBIs. Before Wednesday’s game Haley led the team in batting average with a .347 average. The junior infielder is showing every game why he’s Penn State’s best hitter and is keeping the Nittany Lions in the best position to win games.

What’s Next?

Penn State is on the road in New Brunswick to take on Big Ten rival Rutgers this weekend starting on Friday, April 22 at 3 p.m.