Penn State baseball (13-8) defeated Pitt (11-11) 16-8 in an offensive win backed by a full crowd of dollar dog enjoyers Tuesday night at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.

Jay Harry and Billy Gerlott led the teams with three hits each and Ben DeMell made his second start on the mound this year. The Nittany Lions broke their three-game losing streak by piling on a season-high 20 hits against the Panthers.

How It Happened

Redshirt freshman Ben DeMell felt the pressure of a pitching start almost immediately when two singles and a walk from Pitt loaded the bases from the jump. DeMell picked up a critical full-count strikeout to keep the Panthers off the scoreboard.

Thomas Bramley earned a walk, then three-straight singles from Jay Harry, Johnny Piacentino, and Josh Spiegel granted Penn State an early two-run lead. Just two batters later, Billy Gerlott smacked a single to right field to make the score 3-0.

Pitt stormed back to take the lead during its next at-bats. Justin Acal and Johnny Long tacked on singles of their own to make it 3-1. A hit by a pitch and a walk loaded the bases and another Hess single cut the lead to one.

DeMell walked in a run and traded spots on the mound with Jordan Morales. Morales walked in another run to make it 4-3 in favor of the Panthers but picked up two big strikeouts to limit the damage.

Penn State rallied to retake the lead in the third inning. After back-to-back errors by Pitt, Spiegel and Grant Norris found themselves on second and third base. Gerlott hit his second single of the game to tie the score at four.

Immediately following, CJ Pittaro gave the Nittany Lions a one-point edge with a single of his own.

Pitt gathered itself to bring the game back to a tie in the fifth inning. A single by AJ Nessler and a bad throw by Norris put two runners in scoring position and allowed Pitt to tie the game on a groundout to first base.

The Nittany Lions would score five runs in their half of the sixth inning to retake the lead again. Harry led off the inning with a double and Piacentino walked to put two runners on base. Norris and Gerlott hit back-to-back singles to score two runs. Another single by Pittaro loaded the bases and Tayven Kelley smack a single to make it 9-5.

The runs weren’t done as Bramley joined in on the singles parade to create a five-run lead for the Nittany Lions.

The Panthers cut the lead to two in the eighth inning by way of two walks and a double. A groundout and poor throw from Harry allowed Funk to score another run to bring the game to 10-8.

After a Pittaro walk, Kelley smacked a double down the line to build Penn State’s lead back up to three. Harry added a single to right field to make it 12-8 in favor of the Nittany Lions.

Pinch hitter Bobby Marsh lined up at home plate with the bases loaded and hit a single to center to score two more. Norris blew the door open with a double down the line to score two more runs and make it 16-8.

Norris rips a two-run double to the corner!

B8 | PSU 16, Pitt 8#WeAre pic.twitter.com/O0jw54EXrd

— Penn State Baseball (@PennStateBASE) March 29, 2023

Steven Miller closed the game from the mound in the ninth inning and finished the game with a final score of 16-8.

Takeaways:

• After an unfortunate weekend in Ann Arbor, the bats were back to normal production rates with 10 runs and 16 hits in a big non-conference victory Tuesday evening.
• Jay Harry continued to play great and manufactured a double and an overall outstanding defensive performance on the field.

What’s Next?

Penn State will host its first Big Ten series against Indiana on Friday, March 31, at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. The series can be streamed on BTN+.