Penn State baseball (6-1) destroyed Richmond (7-2) 17-6 on Friday afternoon in its first game of the Central Virginia Challenge at Pitt Field in Richmond, Virginia.

The Nittany Lions got off to a fast start as they scored in all three innings before they scored seven runs in the seventh inning to mercy rule the Spiders in that inning.

How It Happened

Paxton Kling led off for Penn State once again and drew the walk after being hit by a pitch by Esteban Rodriguez. Kling stole second base on a wild pitch before Ryan Weingartner singled to left field to get Kling to third base. Then, on a 2-2 count, Joe Jaconski hit a ground-rule double to give the Nittany Lions a 1-0 lead.

With base runners on third and second, Bryce Molinaro grounded out to shortstop but got Weingartner to score to extend Penn State’s lead to two. After Cole Wagner drew a walk and Jack Porter flewco out, Matt Maloney hit a single to drive Jaconski home and make it 3-0. The top of the first inning came to an end when Rodriguez forced Jesse Jaconski to foul out. In the bottom half of the opening frame, Mason Horwat retired the Spiders in order.

Kling led off the second inning and drew another walk. This forced Richmond to replace Rodriguez on the mound with Glenn Smith. On error by Cole Palmeri, Weingartner stole second and advanced to third with no outs. Jaconski fouled out but drove the runner in to give Penn State a four-run lead. This forced Richmond to make another pitching change as things started to get ugly for it.

Jackson Kraemer came in to replace Smith for the Spiders and managed to get the final out they needed to end the second inning. However, Richmond refused to go away and started to make things complicated for Horwat by having bases loaded with one out.

On a 2-1 count, Palmeri hit a ground ball to Weingartner, and he managed to get Michael Elko out at second base, but Joe Jaconski could not get the double play as Palmeri reached on fielder’s choice and gave Richmond its first run of the game. With bases loaded with two outs, Horwat got himself out of trouble by forcing Aaron Whitley to pop out to second base.

Penn State’s bats stayed hot as the third inning got underway. After Wagner and Porter got on base with one out, designated hitter Nate Voss blasted a three-run home run to give the Nittany Lions a 7-1 lead. However, Penn State continued to put its foot on the gas as it drove in another run to extend its lead to seven. With bases loaded with two outs, Smith managed to end the top frame by forcing Wagner to fly out to the infield.

In the bottom half of the third inning, Richmond managed to get two runners on base but couldn’t generate any runs as the inning came to an end. Despite having runners in scoring position, Penn State could not generate any runs in the fourth inning as it had its first scoreless inning of the game.

However, Horwat’s dominance on the mound continued as he retired Richmond’s batters in order as the fourth inning came to an end. Weingartner led off the fifth inning by reaching first base on a fielding error and stealing second base. Then, Molinaro singled to left center to bring Weingartner home and extend Penn State’s lead to eight. This was the only run the Nittany Lions could generate as Richmond pitcher, Paul Witkop, retired the last two batters.

The Spiders refused to go away and responded by scoring two runs with no outs recorded. After the Nittany Lions recorded a double play, Joey Wilga singled to drive in another run for Richmond and decrease its deficit to five. However, Horwat stuck out Elko to end the fifth inning and keep Penn State’s five-run lead intact.

Richmond continued to get its momentum in the game, but after Weingartner tripled, Kling brought him home to give Penn State a 10-4 lead. Joe Jaconski struck out right after as the top of the sixth inning came to an end. As the bottom of the inning began, Horwat was replaced by Dimond Loosli, but he managed to keep the Nittany Lions’ lead intact as he retired all three batters in order.

Penn State’s offense continued to put on the pressure on the Spiders in the seventh inning. After Porter singled to drive in a run for the Nittany Lions, Derek Cease drew in a walk to give Penn State a 12-4 lead. Then, Kling hit a grand slam to give Penn State a double-digit lead. Right after that, Weingartner hit a solo homer before the top of the inning came to a close.

The Spiders continued to fight, and Jordan Jaffe hit a two-run homer to trim Richmond’s deficit to 11. Then, things started to get a little tricky as the bases were loaded for the Spiders with no outs. However, the Nittany Lions were able to get out of the bases loaded as the mercy rule was placed into effect and they won the game 17-6.

Takeaways

• Penn State’s offense was on fire and got off to a fast start by driving in eight runs in the first three innings. The Nittany Lions’s defense managed to back that up as they only let one run to Richmond during that time. This fast start allowed Penn State to have a huge cushion throughout the game, control the rest of the game, and get more runs in as the game went on.
• Richmond’s errors came back to haunt it in this game. They had four errors compared to Penn State’s zero errors. This allowed the Nittany Lions to get more runs than usual and end the game by the seventh inning.
• The seventh inning played a key role in determining the outcome of the game as Penn State drove in seven runs and Richmond drove in two. This allowed the Nittany Lions to end the game by the seventh inning instead of going the distance to the ninth inning.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will look to keep their hot start ongoing as they stay in Richmond, Virginia for the Central Virginia Challenge to take on VCU at 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon. The game can be watched on ESPN+.