Penn State baseball (14-11) was defeated by Bucknell (14-14) 17-14 during the third dollar dog night of the season Tuesday. It was a sloppy performance once again by the Nittany Lions’ pitching staff as it has now given up 39 runs over the last two games.

The team was able to rally back with a huge six-run eighth inning to take a 14-13 lead, but a blown save caused Penn State to lose its third consecutive game.

How It Happened

Bucknell was in full control right from the jump. Penn State starting pitcher Kellan Tulio allowed back-to-back doubles to Bucknell’s Jacob Corson and Grant Voytovich in the top of the first, which gave the Bison an early 1-0 lead.

The top of the second saw even more runs for Bucknell, as Tulio walked three of the first four batters he faced in the inning before being pulled for right-hander Chad Rogers.

Rogers walked the first batter he faced, which gave Bucknell another run. Voytovich was up next with the bases still loaded and smacked a grand slam into the left field picnic area, making the game 6-0. Bucknell added another run in the top of the third from an RBI double off the bat of Anthony Sherwin.

Down 7-0, Penn State finally put runs on the board in the bottom of the third. A hit by a pitch and back-to-back walks loaded the bases for Jay Harry with two outs. Harry delivered, grounding a single to the right and bringing home two runs.

Tyson Cooper hit a single of his own, during the bottom of the third, to cut Bucknell’s lead down to four. During the bottom of the fifth, four consecutive singles by Penn State converted another two runs to make it 7-5. A groundout by Grant Norris rang home a third run in the inning and made it a one-run game.

The Bisons, however, tacked on a few more runs during the top of the sixth. A single by Sherwin and a double by Voytovich put runners on second and third. Sean Keys hit a deep double to score both, making it a 9-6 game.

Penn State rallied back with two runs in the bottom half of the sixth. Harry scored one run after an error by Bucknell. A stolen base and a single by Josh Spiegel allowed Harry to come around and score, making it a one-run game again.

Two innings later, Bucknell tacked on four runs to increase the lead once again. With Anthony Steele on the mound, the Bison smacked a single and double to lead off the inning. A fielder’s choice and misplay by Kyle Hannon allowed one run to score. A walk to Mason Kelly loaded the bases and Tyler Dunn smacked a double to left-center field. An error allowed all runners to score, making the game 13-8.

Penn State wasn’t out of it yet.

Cooper reached base again, this time on an error. Hannon smacked a single to right, as Cooper scored on a wild pitch. After a walk to Thomas Bramley, Spiegel scored Hannon, thanks to another error by the shortstop Sherwin. The next batter was Billy Gerlott and he kept the line moving with a single of his own to score two, putting the score at 13-12.

Bobby Marsh singled to put runners on second and third with Grant Norris coming to the plate. Norris smacked a third consecutive single to center, which gave the Nittany Lions a 14-13 lead.

Heading into the ninth, Tommy Molsky came on to close out the inning. Bucknell put two runners on early and tied the game thanks to a Voytovich single. Keys batted next and launched a mammoth three-run home run to the right-field seats, making it 17-14.

Penn State would go down in order in the ninth to lose the game.

Takeaways:

• The offense was having a fantastic game throughout the night. Down 7-0 early, the Nittany Lions managed to make up a big difference, before eventually falling at the end.
• The pitching staff continued to struggle, giving up 17 runs and 17 hits. Penn State’s pitchers put the offense in terrible deficits, blowing the lead in the ninth.
• Tyson Cooper had an excellent game, recording multiple hits in a game for just the second time this season. Cooper reached base in four of his five at-bats, bolstering a huge game behind the dish.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will begin a home non-conference series against the Delaware State Hornets starting at 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 6, at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. Folks can tune into the game on B1G+.