Penn State baseball (3-7) took on Maryland (4-6) at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park Sunday afternoon for the second game of a three-game set.

Josh Spiegel was the walk-off hero for Penn State, as his base hit in the bottom of the ninth capped a fantastic all-around day for the Nittany Lions that saw them win 6-5. Conor Larkin pitched a gem of a game, and although a bullpen hiccup pushed the celebration back a few minutes, the Nittany Lions emerged victorious.

How It Happened

A leadoff baserunner for Maryland came around to score thanks to a stolen base and throwing error, followed up by a base hit off right-hander Conor Larkin. Cole Bartels’ leadoff single and stolen base for Penn State didn’t amount to anything, as Penn State stranded two men on base in the bottom of the first inning.

Larkin cruised through the top of the second, sitting the Terps down in order, but Penn State stranded two more baserunners in the bottom of the second, carrying a 1-0 deficit into the third inning.

A five-pitch inning from Larkin brought the Nittany Lions’ offense back up in the bottom of the third. Matt Wood worked a walk but was doubled up trying to tag on a foul popup by Johnny Piacentino. A Justin Williams flyout ended the frame.

Maryland scored two runs on a home run by designated hitter Bobby Zmarzlak, but two strikeouts from Larkin limited the damage and kept the score at 3-0. Penn State got on the board in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a Tayven Kelley RBI double that scored both Gavin Homer and Josh Spiegel.

A leadoff single was stranded by Larkin, successfully keeping the game close with a seven-pitch frame. Justin Williams tied the game in the bottom of the fifth with a big fly over the left-center field fence, and the Penn State dugout was loving it.

Larkin continued his dominance, registering his seventh and eighth punchouts, along with a groundout, to send the Terps packing in order in the top of the sixth.

Homer led off the bottom half of the inning with a first-pitch single and two outs later a walk from Bartels gave the Nittany Lions an opportunity with two outs. However, the Nittany Lions could not conjure up a two-out rally.

Larkin came back out for his seventh inning of work and after laboring through four batters, registering two outs but yielding two singles, he was removed from the game in favor of southpaw Tyler Shingledecker. Shingledecker got the Nittany Lions out of trouble in the seventh.

Penn State was able to form a two-out rally in the seventh inning. Jay Harry walked and reached second base on a wild pitch, and was knocked in by Josh Spiegel’s RBI single. The Nittany Lions possessed their first lead of the day going into the final two frames.

Shingledecker allowed a leadoff walk to reach third base, but a failed squeeze bunt kept the score at 4-3. Penn State then manufactured an insurance run in the eighth, as Kris Kremer scored on a wild pitch after being advanced to third on a bunt by Kelley.

Shingledecker took the bump in the top of the ninth and allowed the leadoff baserunner to score on a triple to the left-field fence by Chris Alleyne. A double by Matthew Shaw brought in Alleyne, tying the game at five. Although Shingledecker did end up striking out the side, yet another bullpen collapse allowed Maryland to get back in the game.

Penn State wasted no time scoring the game-winning run, as Josh Spiegel brought home Johnny Piacentino to win it on a bases-loaded single. Maryland walked the bases loaded with no outs before Spiegel’s hit, which gave the Nittany Lions their third victory of the season.

Takeaways

• The dugout energy was off the charts the entire game. Following a big loss in game one, Rob Cooper’s squad moved past it and came out of the gates cheering loudly for their teammates. Camaraderie like this was a welcome sight, showing that this team possesses the no-quit attitude of a winning squad.
• Pound the zone early and often. Larkin had his stuff working in this one, registering eight strikeouts over 6.2 innings of work. Larkin also posted an elite ball/strike ratio, racking up 60 strikes out of 89 total pitches. Throwing strikes keeps you in the game, folks It’s as simple as that.
• Playing a cleaner game was something that Coach Cooper emphasized after the game yesterday, and it showed in the Nittany Lions’ overall game today. Yesterday, Cooper’s squad committed four errors and struck out 17 times at the plate. Today, they turned it around, with only one error and eight strikeouts. The manufactured insurance run that scored Kris Kremer in the eighth was the perfect example of how playing clean, simple baseball results in runs.

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