Penn State baseball (14-6) won a close one against Binghamton (8-10) by a score of 5-3 at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park on a chilly Tuesday night.

Penn State’s offense started slow, but it woke up just at the right time by scoring three runs in the final two innings of the game. The defense played a clean game by not committing any errors and making plays for its pitchers.

Despite a tough outing for starting pitcher Cole Bartels, the bullpen pitched well enough to give its team an opportunity to win.

How It Happened

Both teams’ offenses were quiet to start the game. The Nittany Lions had two hits through three innings — both of them were doubles from Connor Klemann and Jordan Bowersox, respectively.

Penn State starting pitcher Cole Bartels looked solid through the first two frames but got himself into trouble in the third inning. The righty walked three batters in a row to load the bases before walking a run in. Bartels was then pulled with Binghamton holding a 1-0 lead with no outs.

Freshman Tyler Shingledecker came in relief for Bartels and stepped up in a big way for the Nittany Lions. The southpaw struck out two batters and forced another into a fly out to help minimize the damage.

Kris Kremer opened up the scoring for the Nittany Lions in the bottom of the fifth inning. The second baseman hit a clutch two-out single up that drove Ryan Ford and Conlin Hughes in to score. Penn State took a 2-1 lead after Kremer’s big hit.

Jordan Bowersox drove in an insurance run for Penn State in the seventh inning. He roped a sacrifice fly that allowed Conlin Hughes to score easily from third and give the Nittany Lions a 3-1 lead.

The Bearcats battled back in eighth inning. Leadoff hitter Daniel Franchi hit a soft dribbler that Hughes bobbled and scored a run with the bases loaded. Shane Marshall kept the rally going by beating out a hard ground ball and tying the game at 3-3 as a run scored on the play.

The Nittany Lions retook the lead in the next half-inning on a Connor Klemann single. The third baseman ripped a line drive right back up the middle that scored Parker Hendershot and Jacob Padilla and gave Penn State a 5-3 lead.

Jason Freilich finished off the Bearcats in the top of the ninth inning. He forced them into a double play to earn the last two outs and gave Penn State a 5-3 win.

Takeaways

• Connor Klemann was the MVP of tonight’s game without question. The junior had three hits, including the game-winning two-run single in the bottom of the eighth inning. Klemann had just two RBI’s and seven hits on the season coming in to tonight’s game.
• Tyler Shingledecker stepped up on a night when Penn State’s starting pitcher struggled. Cole Bartels walked five batters and was only able to get through two innings of work, but Shingledecker’s relief effort was more than enough to cover for him. The freshman had seven strikeouts and only allowed two hits through 4.1 innings.
• This was an important bounce-back win for the Nittany Lions. It was important for Rob Cooper’s squad to get some momentum going before getting back into Big Ten play this weekend after suffering an ugly sweep against Minnesota last weekend.

What’s Next?

Penn State will travel to West Lafayette this weekend for a three-game series against Purdue. The first game will be played at 6 p.m. on Friday, March 29 at Alexander Field.