Penn State baseball (10-3) defeated in-state rival Pitt (6-8) 7-3 on Tuesday afternoon in Pittsburgh.

The Nittany Lions posted an impressive offensive performance with seven runs off of 10 hits, six of which were doubles. Third baseman Justin Williams led the charge offensively by going 3-for-5 with four RBIs in the victory.

Pitcher Cole Bartels picked up the win after allowing two earned runs and striking out three batters in 2.1 innings.

How It Happened

With runners on first and third and two outs in the top of the second, Penn State’s Justin Williams hit a bases-clearing double down the first-base line for the first hit of his career. The double gave the Nittany Lions an early 2-0 lead over the Panthers.

Pitt struck back in the ensuing inning after a leadoff walk, stolen base, and RBI single to right field to get on the board. In the next inning, Penn State brought in left-handed reliever Tyler Shingledecker, and he picked off a Pitt baserunner at first to get him in a rundown. However, this allowed the runner on third base to score and tie the game up at 2-2.

The Panthers made a pitching change of their own to start the fourth inning. Righty Chris Gomez came out firing by striking out the first two Penn State batters he faced.

Penn State’s Jordan Bowersox led off the fifth inning by hitting a rocket off the left field fence and strolling safely into second for a double. The next batter was walked, and a wild pitch set up the Nittany Lion offense with runners on second and third and no outs.

Kris Kremer stepped up and got the job done by hitting an RBI groundout to second base, and Mason Nadeau got the job done by hitting a sac fly to left field to bring the run in on the next at-bat. The Panthers finally got out of the inning after another Penn State single from Padilla, but they trailed 4-2.

Penn State’s defense converted a beautiful 6-4-3 double play to save Shingledecker in the bottom of the fifth inning. Shingledecker settled down after hitting a batter to start the inning and got Ron Washington Jr., who went 2-for-4 with on the day, to strike out looking.

Left-handed reliever David Moore came in for the Panthers to start the sixth inning. and Penn State was able to bring in another run thanks to a double down the third base line off the bat of infielder Gavin Homer. Penn State took a 5-2 after five-and-a-half innings.

Pitt cut the Penn State lead to 5-3 in the bottom of the sixth, but the Nittany Lions weren’t done yet. They put up their final two runs courtesy of Williams’ two-run single in the top of the ninth inning, and they finished the day by improving to 10-3 on the season.

What’s Next

The Nittany Lions will return to Happy Valley for their home-opening series this weekend. Rob Cooper’s team will play four games against UMass-Lowell beginning at 4 p.m. Friday.