Penn State baseball (18-21, 7-8 Big Ten) took down Omaha (19-19, 10-5 Summit League) in the first game of the weekend’s series, with a score 8-7.

Despite spending most of the game in a deficit against Omaha, the Nittany Lions pulled back the tight scoreline over the seventh and eighth innings to earn a close victory.

How It Happened

It didn’t take long for Omaha to get on the board, as Maverick Devin Hurdle snuck a ball in between first and second base to send Harrison Denk home from second base. The Nittany Lions faced some early first-inning struggles, but with two outs on the board, they put together three straight hits to send Matt Wood around the bases. After a steal from Jay Harry and a walk to Billy Gerlott, Penn State had the bases loaded, however, a fly ball from Ben Kailher ended the scoring opportunity.

Just as Penn State had, Omaha found themselves with the bases loaded with two outs at the top of the second inning. The Nittany Lions survived, as Travis Luensmann threw the final strike of the inning with a full count.

Twelve straight balls from Omaha’s Easton Smith gave Penn State loaded bases in the bottom of the second with no outs. Smith recovered well, and after three more batters, the second inning ended without a score change.

After a drought of three innings, Penn State finally broke the tie. A deep hit from Johnny Piacentino sent himself to third base, while Cole Bartels and Derek Cease came home to give the Nittany Lions a 3-1 lead. A single from Wood sent Piacentino the 90 feet to home plate. A deep double from Josh Spiegel gave Penn State a 5-1 lead.

Omaha killed its own scoring drought in the fifth inning, as a single from Eduardo Rosario sent Mike Boeve home. The Mavericks’ trickle was soon a flood, as two more runs came around the bases from a single by Eddie Satisky. After Cease let a ball bounce over his head, Omaha tied the game as Satisky rounded the bases. A single from Denk bounced over second base, and Omaha took its largest lead of the game at 7-5. It was only after a flyout from Boeve that ended Omaha’s fifth inning blitz.

Tayven Kelly brought the Nittany Lions back to within one run in the bottom of the fifth inning, as he made an intuitive play to turn a single into a double and then rounded the bases on a single from Cease.

Cease tied the game in the seventh inning, as he ran himself all the way around from a single, stealing third to reaching home on a sacrifice fly from Bartels.

Penn State had a scoring opportunity in the bottom of the eighth, as Piacentino walked and then advanced to third on two wild pitches. The Nittany Lions took advantage of whatever came their way, as Omaha’s first baseman dropped a throw to allow Piacentino to advance home and give Penn State the one-run lead.

Harry closed out the entirety of the ninth inning, making the same throw three times to down the Omaha offense and give Penn State its narrow win.

Takeaways

• Matt Wood continued his hot streak in the batter’s box. He has now recorded a hit in 22 straight games for the Nittany Lions.
• Jaden Henline performed well in his first win. He gave up no runs, just one walk, and struck out four batters.
• It was an evening to leave men on base for both sides. Penn State and Omaha left a combined 19 men on base, including nine in the first two innings. All the same, they hit when it mattered later in the game, with 11 runs coming in the fourth and fifth innings.

What’s Next

Penn State will play the second game of its three-game series against Ohama at 6 p.m. on Saturday, April 30, at Medlar Feild at Lubrano Park.