Penn State Baseball Pulls Off Comeback Victory Over UMass Lowell 21-14
Penn State baseball (11-6) defeated UMass Lowell (6-12) 21-14 in a comeback win in front of a packed Medlar Field at Lubrano Park crowd. With the win, the Nittany Lions picked up the series victory, taking two of three games against the River Hawks in their home-opening series.
It was a slugfest between both teams with a combined 35 runs. Things started off bad for the Nittany Lions who went down 9-0 in the first inning but began to chip back at the deficit throughout the game. Penn State rode a nine-run eighth inning to take the lead and pull out the win.
How It Happened
Jaden Henline was on the mound for the final matchup of the three-game series against the River Hawks. UMass Lowell didn’t take long to take the lead as Trey Brown led off the game with a single and advanced to second on an error by right fielder Adam Cecere. Alex Luccini was up next, and he smoked a double to right to make 1-0.
After getting Carlos Martinez to pop out, the River Hawks went on to hit three consecutive doubles. Ryan Proto, Conor Kelly, and Fritz Genther hit three doubles in a row to make it 4-0 River Hawks. The hits kept coming for UMass Lowell as Brandon Fish ripped a single to right to make it a five-run inning. Henline then picked up a huge strikeout for the second out, but nine-hitter Roddy Hernandez hit a single to center for another baserunner.
With two on base and two outs, Brown dug in for his second at-bat of the inning and smacked a single up the middle for another run. Luccini was next and blew the inning open, smacking a three-run home run to left-center field to make it 9-0 in favor of UMass Lowell.
Henline then faced Martinez and singled for the 10th hit of the inning for the River Hawks, and after that at-bat, Henline was pulled for Frankie Sanchez. Sanchez got the first batter he faced to lineout to second to end the top of the first inning.
In Penn State’s half of the first, the Nittany Lions answered back with a six spot of their own. Joe Jaconski led off with a hit by a pitch, and Cecere worked a walk to put two runners on. Bryce Molinaro was up next and ripped a double down the right-field line to score Jaconski. Cecere trotted home a pitch later after a wild pitch, and J.T. Marr ripped a single through the right side to make it 9-3.
The hits kept coming as Bobby Marsh and Matt Maloney hit back-to-back singles to score another run, cutting the deficit to five. Grant Norris grounded into a fielder’s choice, but Billy Gerlott picked him up, smacking an RBI double to right-center.
Derek Cease, who earned his first start of the season, ripped a single to left to score Gerlott from second to make it a 9-6 game. Jaconski struck out to end the inning after 15 combined runs were scored.
In the second inning, no runs were scored by either team. UMass Lowell went down in order with Sanchez picking up two strikeouts. Penn State also went down 1-2-3 with Cecere picking up a strikeout. The River Hawks got another run on the board in the third. River Hart led off the third with a walk, and two batters later, Luccini smoked a double to center to make it 10-6.
Penn State went down in order again in the third, but the River Hawks continued to add on. In the fourth inning, UMass Lowell worked three straight walks to lead off the inning loading the bases. Penn State got a ground ball and connected on a 4-6-3 double play, but a run scored. Hart was up next, and he hit an infield single, letting another run score to make it 12-6.
Gerlott led off the bottom half of the fourth with a single but couldn’t find his way home. UMass Lowell threatened in the fifth inning, getting the bases loaded with one out, but back-to-back popups ended the inning. After three scoreless innings, Penn State finally got some more runs on the board.
Molinaro led off the inning with a double to right-center, and Marr followed with a single to right field, putting two runners on with no outs. Marsh stepped into the box and smoked an RBI double to right center to make it 12-7. Maloney and Norris made back-to-back outs, bringing Gerlott to the plate with two outs and two in scoring position. A back throw to second by the catcher went into center field, allowing Marr to score from third, but Gerlott grounded out on the next pitch to end the inning.
In the sixth, Fish led off the inning with a single and moved over to second on a sacrifice bunt. After a strikeout from Hernandez, Brown ripped a single to the left, bringing in another run for UMass Lowell. Luccini struck out after the single to end the inning, but the River Hawks led 13-8.
Zach Fortuna came into pitch for UMass Lowell and picked up three strikeouts against Penn State in the sixth inning. The River Hawks went down in order in the seventh, but in the bottom half of the inning, the Nittany Lions inched to cut their deficit.
Marr led off the inning with a single, and Maloney walked to put runners on. Penn State committed two outs, but Gerlott came up big and hit a single to left to score a run. Michael Dimartini came into hit for Cease, worked a walk, and loaded the bases for Jaconski. With a 1-2 count, Jaconski smoked a three-RBI double to straightaway center to make it a 13-12 game.
Cecere popped out to end the inning, but the Nittany Lions battled back to make it a one-run game.
Down a run in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Nittany Lions finally took the lead. Molinaro led off the inning with a single to left, and Marr worked a walk to put two on with no outs. Marsh stepped up next and smoked an RBI double to left-center to tie the game at 13. Maloney struck out for the first out of the inning, and Norris was intentionally walked. That brought Tayven Kelley, and he delivered, smacking a two-run single through the left side to make it 15-13 for Penn State.
With the lead for the first time in the game, the Nittany Lions kept the runs coming. Kevin Michaels walked and Jaconski flew out to the center for a sacrifice fly to increase the lead to three. Cecere was next without a hit in the day, but he changed that quickly, smoking an RBI single to left for another run.
Molinaro then walked to load the bases and Marr followed up with a two-run single to left to make it 19-13. Back-to-back singles by Marsh and Maloney added two more runs to extend the lead to eight. Norris then struck out after that to end the inning, with the Nittany Lions putting up a nine spot in the eighth inning.
In the top of the ninth, David Lee went in to finish the River Hawks. Lee got the first batter to groundout, but two singles and an error allowed a run to come home to make it 21-14. With one out, Lee got Proto to pop out to first, and with the runner on first running, flipped the ball to first for the double play to end the game with Penn State on top 21-14.
Takeaways
- Penn State battled back to pick up a huge win. Down 9-0, the Nittany Lions remained gritty to beat the River Hawks in a slugfest. A combined 35 runs were scored in the game, and the first inning produced 15 runs total.
- J.T. Marr and Bobby Marsh led the offensive attack for Penn State as they each picked up four hits and three RBIs in the win. Marsh smacked two doubles and two singles, while Marr had four singles on the day, increasing his average on the season to .465.
- While pitching overall didn’t start out great for Penn State, the relief only gave up four runs after the nine runs Jaden Henline allowed in the first inning. Connor Throneberry was especially great, throwing three innings, allowing only one run, and striking out three.
What’s Next?
The Nittany Lions will be in action for a mid-week matchup against the St. Bonaventure Bonnies on Dollar Dog Night. The game is set to start at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, March 19, at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park
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