Penn State (10-16, 0-3 Big Ten) traveled to Ann Arbor this past weekend to begin the Big Ten portion of its schedule against a solid Michigan team. A combination of poor pitching with little offense by the Nittany Lions led to a dominant weekend for No. 22 Michigan (22-6, 4-2 Big Ten). The Wolverines scored in double digits in each of the three games against Penn State to earn the series sweep.

How It Happened

Friday’s game was the closest the Nittany Lions came to a win in the series this weekend. Sal Biasi got the start for Penn State and allowed five earned runs in four innings of work. Michigan jumped out to a 5-0 lead after four innings before Penn State got on the board in the top of the fifth thanks to a Jordan Bowersox two-run home run to left-center field. The Nittany Lions made it a 6-4 game after the sixth, but Michigan regained control in the bottom of the seventh — plating four runs en route to a 10-6 victory.

The last two games of the series were not as close for Penn State. On Saturday, Justin Hagenman got the start and took the loss allowing six runs in 6.2 innings on the mound. The Nittany Lions scored their only two runs of the game in the fourth inning when Christian Helsel and Willie Burger went back-to-back for a pair of solo home runs. Michigan pulled away late, scoring ten combined runs in the seventh and eight innings to take game two of the series by a score of 15-2.

Sunday’s afternoon matchup looked much like the day before for Penn State. It started off well for the Nittany Lions when Burger drove in Bowersox on a single to begin the game. That run proved to be the only one that Penn State would get in this game. Eric Mock got the start on the mound for Penn State, but only recorded one out before getting pulled after allowing five Michigan players to score in the bottom of the first inning. Michael Hendrickson got the win for Michigan allowing only three hits and one run in six innings. The Wolverines had consistent offense throughout the entire game leading to a 14-1 victory and a series sweep.

Player Of The Series

Drew Lugbauer | Third Base | Junior

The junior for Michigan destroyed the Nittany Lions at the plate this weekend. On Friday, Lugbauer went 1-2 with one RBI while drawing two walks and scoring two runs. Saturday was the best game of the series for Lugbauer when he went 3-4 with four RBIs at the plate while scoring four runs. Lugbauer topped his impressive performance this weekend with another solid outing on Sunday when he went 2-4 driving in two runs and scoring two himself.

What’s Next

Penn State will make a pitstop at Pittsburgh Tuesday to take on the Panthers before returning back home to State College with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. This weekend, the Nittany Lions will host Ohio State at Medlar Field for a three-game series against the Buckeyes. Sunday’s game at 3 p.m. can be seen on BTN Plus.