Penn State baseball (12-5) took down Binghamton (8-8) Tuesday evening by a final score of 15-1. The bats were on fire today, as the team was backed by a rocking crowd of fans whose stomachs were filled with hot dogs thanks to the team’s “Dollar Dog Night” promotion.

Ben DeMell was on the mound making his first career start for the Nittany Lions. Kyle Hannon and Anthony Steele both contributed to the blowout victory by each smacking a home run in Tuesday’s contest.

How It Happened

Binghamton put the pressure on Penn State early after loading the bases on back-to-back-to-back singles in the top of the second. DeMell got out of the jam, though, thanks to an infield fly, a groundout to home, and an amazing grab by right fielder Billy Gerlott to escape the inning unharmed.

The next at-bats for Binghamton, however, would bring a run home. Three more singles for Binghamton loaded the bases, and Devan Bade hit a sacrifice fly to left field to open up the scoring in the game. Ben Kailher came up in the bottom half of the inning for Penn State and smacked a double down the line. He moved to third on a sacrifice fly and then scored on a wild pitch to tie the game 1-1.

The Nittany Lions wanted more runs, and more runs are what they got. Johnny Piacentino led off the fourth with a single up the middle, and Bobby Marsh worked a walk to put two runners on. Anthony Steele came up and hit a long fly ball to left field that found its way over the wall for an opposite-field three-run home run.

Steele wasn’t the only one to send one into the bleachers. Kyle Hannon came up with two outs in the fifth and smashed a ball over the right-center field wall to extend the lead to four. It was Hannon’s fifth home run of the year, which leads the team.

Two innings later, the offense blew the door open with six runs scored in the seventh. Kailher and Thomas Bramley started the inning with a walk and hit by a pitch, and Jay Harry came up to bat and smacked an RBI double down the line.

A wild pitch scored Bramley during the next at-bat and made the game 7-1. Hannon walked, which brought up Piacentino. He drove a single to left to score two more and extend the lead to eight.

The damage wasn’t done yet. Steele scored another run on a sacrifice fly to left, his fourth RBI of the game. Jake Cooper came on as a pinch hitter and smacked his second hit of the season for another RBI, making the game 11-1.

Now at 11-1, Penn State didn’t take its foot off the gas. CJ Pittaro hit another single to score another run in the eighth. Three batters later, with the bases loaded, Tayven Kelley joined the fun with a bases-clearing triple to make the game 15-1.

Steele came on in to finish off the game in the ninth, striking out two and giving Penn State the victory.

Takeaways

• Ben DeMell looked good in his first career start. Despite giving up six hits, he worked out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam and only allowed one run on a sacrifice fly when he loaded the bases again. He struck out two and didn’t allow a walk in 3.2 innings of work.
• The hit parade was in full force today. The Nittany Lions scored 15 runs off 13 hits in the win Tuesday evening, with nine different players having at least one hit. This was the fourth time this season they scored double-digit runs in a game.
• Anthony Steele had quite the day, going 2-for-4 with a single and a three-run home run. He totaled four RBIs, the second time the sophomore has done it this season. He also had his first pitching appearance of the year, recording two strikeouts.
• Kyle Hannon continues to hit bombs, folks. The junior second baseman smacked his fifth homer of the year, which continues to lead the team.

What’s Next

The Nittany Lions will travel to Ann Arbor this weekend to open Big Ten play in a three-game series against the Michigan Wolverines. The first game will occur at 4 p.m. on Friday, March 24.