Penn State baseball (18-37) took the first game of its final home series of the season, 8-7, over No. 23 Nebraska before falling 3-1 and 21-3 to the Cornhuskers the next two days.

How It Happened

Game One

The top three hitters in Penn State’s lineup — Mason Nadeau, Conlin Hughes, and Braxton Giavedoni — each collected a pair of base knocks Thursday at Medlar Field, but it was senior Nick Riotto’s walk-off double that sealed a comeback win for the Nittany Lions. Penn State scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to sink the Huskers 8-7 as reliever Nick Distasio (4-1) picked up the victory.

Game Two

Starter Justin Hagenman (1-11) wrapped up his sophomore season with an eight-inning outing that featured only two earned runs and eight strikeouts. The Nittany Lions matched Nebraska with eight hits, but couldn’t plate enough runs to catch up in the home half of the ninth. Giavedoni finished with a game-high three hits — all singles — in a 3-1 loss.

Game Three

Starter Eric Mock (0-6) was pulled after recording just two outs Saturday, and Nebraska would take a 10-0 lead after two innings. It got even uglier from there, as the Huskers went on to pile up 18 hits to Penn State’s five. Sophomore first baseman Willie Burger led the way offensively for the Nittany Lions with two hits and an RBI, but they ended up on the wrong end of a 21-3 shellacking.

Player Of The Series

Braxton Giavedoni | Freshman | Right fielder

The Punxsutawney, Pa., native recorded six hits over the final three games of a standout first season on campus.

What’s Next?

Rob Cooper’s Nittany Lions didn’t earn one of the top eight seeds in the conference, so they won’t be playing in the Big Ten Tournament this week in Bloomington.