Penn State baseball (7-3) won two of three games against Davidson (4-7) over the weekend. What was once a four-game series shrunk to a three-game series after Friday’s game was rained-out and Saturday’s doubleheader was moved to Sunday.

Nonetheless, Penn State captured back-to-back wins after getting mercy ruled on Saturday. T.J. Marr led the Nittany Lions with his hot bat and freshman pitcher Mason Horwat and Villanova transfer pitcher Chic DeGaetano were impressive in both of their outings.

Game One

Joe Jaconski started the game with a lead-off single but was caught stealing second shortly after. Kyle Hannon ripped a one down the line for a double and stole third off Bryce Molinaro’s walk to put runners on the corners. Marr drove in Molinaro with a single to give Penn State an early 1-0 lead as Davidson got out of the inning with a double-play.

Travis Luensmann was back on the bump for the Nittany Lions as he started the bottom of the first with back-to-back walks. Eli Putnam singled to left for Davidson, but a fielding error sent Putnam to second and a runner home. Michael O’Shaughnessy then ripped a sacrifice fly to right to give the Wildcats a 2-1 lead.

A four-pitch walk and a fielder’s choice put runners on the corners until two walks and a hit by pitch scored two runs and left the bases loaded for Davidson. Nick Calero singled to bring in two more runs and made it 6-1 Davidson, and the single was enough to end Luensmann’s day.

Matt Morash came in with runners on first and second and got Penn State out of the nightmare inning with a foul out to third. Davidson kept its momentum in the second inning with a three up, three down side from Penn State and tallied two more runs with an O’Shaughnessy homer to right field. Penn State recorded three outs off the next four batters and got out of the inning down 8-1.

Penn State was unable to do anything in the third as Wilson Perkins racked up two more strikeouts and pitched his second hitless inning for the Wildcats. In the bottom half of the inning, Jacob Friend sent one over the right field wall for another Davidson two-run home run to extend the lead to 10-1.

It was more of the same for Penn State in the top of the fourth as Molinaro and Marr both went down swinging, but Adam Cecere gave the Nittany Lions a much-needed spark with a single up the middle. Grant Norris found a gap on the left side, and Bobby Marsh drove in Cecere with a single but was tagged out on his way to second to end the side down 10-2. James Lordi replaced Morash on the mound and struck out two of the first three batters to start the bottom half of the fourth until Jake Wilhoit sent a two-run homer over the left field wall to make it 12-2.

In the fifth, Perkins continued his impressive outing with two more strikeouts to close the top of the inning. A single and a hit by pitch got two Wildcats on base until Jed Howard recorded an RBI off a single through the right side of the infield. Jack Cotrone hit a double down the line to score a run to make it 14-2 but was thrown out on his way to third.

It was another three up, three down inning for Penn State at the top of the sixth as Will Perkowski became the fourth Nittany Lion to take the mound. Perkins ended his day with eight strikeouts and allowed six hits and two runs as he was replaced by Jason Ban in the seventh inning. Norris provided a spark with a double to right-center and advanced to third off of Marsh’s ground out to second but another ground out ended the game in seven innings 14-2 in favor of Davidson.

Game Two

Game two of the series and game one of Sunday’s doubleheader got underway with Davidson picking up two quick outs. Davidson’s freshman pitcher Cooper Cavanaugh received an early mound visit after a Molinaro single and steal off a wild pitch.

Cavanaugh then walked the next two Nittany Lions to load the bases as Norris ripped a two-run single through the left side of the infield. Marsh drove in another run with a single to right field to make it 3-0 Penn State, but Norris was thrown out advancing to third to end the top half of the inning.

Jaden Henline got the start for Penn State and started the day with a ground out but a walk and a base hit put Wildcats on first and second. O’Shaughnessy lined what looked like an extra-base hit to right field, but Cecere made a diving grab for the second out. Howard lined one to the left-center gap for a two-run double for Davidson, then stole third on a wild pitch, but Penn State got out of the inning with a ground out to make it 3-2.

Henline recorded his only strikeout of the afternoon with a 5-4-3 double-play to shut down the Wildcats’ offense.

Hannon tested Cavanaugh’s stamina with a nine-pitch at bat to draw a walk, but Cavanaugh overthrew first base on a pick-off attempt that advanced Hannon to third. Molinaro popped one up deep to right in foul territory, allowing Hannon to tag up and score to make it 4-2. At the bottom of the third frame, Henline pitched two ground outs and a pop fly to defend the Nittany Lions’ two-run lead.

Norris doubled after Marsh’s strikeout but was picked off at second, and Kevin Michaels went down swinging to end the side. Back-to-back base hits started Davidson’s side of the inning as a good bunt resulted in an out but advanced both base runners into scoring position. A fielder’s choice and a ground out scored one for the Wildcats to cut the Penn State lead to one run.

Two walks ended Cavanaugh’s day and was replaced by Isaac Fix. A wild pitch advanced both Penn State runners to scoring position as Marr smoked one to right field to score both runners and grew the lead to 6-3. Two more walks loaded the bases with Nittany Lions as Marsh stepped into the box and pulled one to right field to bring in two more runs and made it 8-3 in favor of Penn State.

Michaels’ walk ended Fix’s day prematurly as Jake Dunagan got Davidson out the inning with a fielder’s choice. Henline let up just one hit after another 5-4-3 double play and a fly out ended Davidson’s side of the fifth inning. Anthony Steele replaced Henline in the the next inning after a 73-pitch outing where he let up three earned runs with one strikeout.

After Steele’s 1-2-3 inning, Cecere launched a home run to right field for a solo shot to extend the lead to 9-3. In the next half inning, Wilhoit sent a two-run home run to left field to cut the deficit to 9-5. A single and wild pitch advanced Calero to second as Friend drove in the run with a single.

David Lee took over pitching duties in the seventh inning and ended the three-run inning with a shallow pop-up near the mound to make it 9-6 in favor of Penn State. The next inning, two walks and a wild pitch put two runners in scoring position for Penn State as Molinaro found a hole through the left side for a single and brought home two baserunners. Follwing the single, Marr rocketed a ball over the right field wall for a two-run home run to make it 13-6.

In the ninth inning, Penn State tallied on one more run after Billy Gerlott stole home on a wild pitch with bases loaded. Friend brought in a run with a single, but the Nittany Lions closed out game two with a 14-7 victory.

Game Three

The final game of the series started with singles from Jaconski, Molinaro, Marr, and Cecere to make it 1-0 Penn State. Mason Horwat got the nod for the Nittany Lions and started the game with a three up, three down inning.

In the second inning, Marsh singled and Gerlott doubled to put two Nittany Lions in scoring position, but Davidson got three-straight putouts to end the side with two stranded. Horwat pitched another hitless inning after a foul out and a 4-6-3 double play.

Davidson’s pitcher Ryan Feczko pitched a hitless inning, and Marr and Molinaro flew out and Cecere went down looking. The pitching dual continued as three-straight groundouts closed Davidson’s side with Horwat at 26 pitches through three innings.

Norris’ lead off single led to him reach home after Marsh was hit by a pitch and Matt Maloney singled to right field. Gerlott advanced the runners to scoring position with his ground out as a wild pitch scored Marsh from third to make it 3-0 for Penn State. Jaconski singled to right to score Maloney and to end Feczko’s outing.

Brycen Champey came in for the Wildcats and almost got a double play to get out the inning, but Hannon beat the throw. Hannon stole second, but an overthrow advanced him to third and later scored off of Marr’s single to left field to make it 5-0 Penn State. Three more ground outs was all Davidson was able to produce as Horwat has kept a good pace through four.

Gerlott’s single to right field advanced Maloney, who drew a walk to third, and Jaconski was hit by a pitch to juice the bases. After a mound visit, Champey walked Hannon to score Gerlott, but that was the extent of the damage as Molinaro fouled out behind the plate to end the inning.

Horwat remained near-perfect through the fifth inning as three more ground outs quickly ended the bottom of the inning for Davidson. In Penn State’s next at bat, Norris’ deep fly ball was robbed by Aiden Rice at the wall for the third out of the inning after Marr lined out and Cecere flew out.

Horwat’s no-hitter ended in the bottom of the sixth after Cotrone hit a single. Horwat hit the next batter and the freshman’s day ended with five hitless innings on only 54 pitches and one walk. Ben DeMell came in for the freshman and struck out the first two batters and walked Friend to load the bases for Davidson.

All of a sudden, Penn State’s lead was cut to two as Putnam launched a ball to left-center field for a grand slam. O’Shaughnessy lined out in the following at bat but signifcant damage was taken by Penn State. Davidson kept the game close as Penn State went three up, three down in the seventh.

A walk, an infield single to third, and a bunt that got the lead runner at third was the end of DeMell’s performance as he was replaced by DeGaetano. However, Penn State got out of the inning unscathed as a ground out and a strike out sealed the side.

Molinaro was Penn State’s only hit in the eighth, but Penn State maintained its lead with two foul outs, one of which was a sliding grab by Marsh. DeGaetano had another inning-ending strikeout as Penn State led by two entering the final inning.

The Nittany Lions were unable to add to the lead after their final at bat as Mason Butash replaced DeGaetano after walking the first Wildcat batter. Butash struck out Calero after throwing three-straight balls then a line out and ground out ended game three to give Penn State the 6-4 victory.

Takeaways

• J.T. Marr, who led the team in hits coming into the weekend, added five more hits and batted .417 with seven RBIs and a home run. Marr has recorded a hit in every game so far this season and multiple hits in six games.
• Pitching struggled throughout the series as Penn State burned through 11 arms and allowed 25 runs over the three games.
• The only pitching bright spots were freshman Mason Horwat and Villanova transfer Chic DeGaetano. Horwat pitched five hitless innings and allowed only two earned runs, one hit, one walk, and hit one batter. DeGaetano helped close out the third game with two strikeouts and zero hits.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will travel to Charlottesville to take on No. 13 Virginia at noon on Tuesday, March 5.