Penn State baseball (24-14, 13-9 Big Ten) was defeated by Purdue (24-16, 6-13 Big Ten) 11-8 on Easter Sunday afternoon at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.

In a game that featured multiple comebacks, the Nittany Lions would ultimately lose by three, as a sloppy bullpen performance proved costly.

How It Happened

Logan Olson got the nod for the Nittany Lions as the starting pitcher. The lefty started off strong, striking out the side on 14 pitches.

In the bottom of the first, Ryan Weingartner flew out to right to begin the game for Penn State. Paxton Kling drew a walk but couldn’t advance, as a shallow flyout and groundout ended the frame.

Olson picked up where he left off in the first inning, striking out Avery Moore and CJ Richmond swinging. All five strikeouts had been whiffs thus far. Houston Russell grounded out to end the top half of the inning.

Penn State went one-two-three in the bottom of the second, as Jesse Jaconski, Nate Voss, and Joe Jaconski hit into two groundouts and a flyout, respectively.

The Boilermakers began the third inning with a leadoff walk by Breck Nowik, marking Purdue’s first base runner of the afternoon. Albert Choi grounded into a fielder’s choice to the pitcher, as Penn State erased the lead runner.  

Camden Gasser lined a double in the right field gap, plating Choi from first and allowing him to record the first run of the game. Purdue took a 1-0 lead with one out in the frame. Brandon Anderson followed up with an RBI double of his own, launching the ball off the base of the wall. Immediately after that, Logan Sutter followed suit. The third consecutive two-base hit gave the Boilermakers a 3-0 lead. Sutter’s ball was a warning track shot to left center field.

After Penn State tried to calm down Olson with a brief mound visit, his shaky inning continued with a walk. Richmond then grounded out to the second baseman, ending the top half of the frame without further damage.

Patrick Graham led off the bottom of the third with a hit to right, Penn State’s first of the game. Boilermaker pitcher Austin Klug drilled Joey DeMucci in the arm, allowing him to take first base. Purdue challenged the hit by pitch call but was unsuccessful. Weingartner then struck out on an off-speed pitch for the first out of the inning. 

After a walk by Kling loaded the bases for the Nittany Lions, the Purdue catcher overthrew the first baseman on an infield dribbler by Bryce Molinaro. The E2 allowed three runs to score, as Penn State tied the game. 

Immediately following the error, Jesse Jaconski launched a home run to the porch in left field. The Nittany Lions took a 5-3 lead on the dinger, scoring all of their runs to this point in the third inning. Klug got out of the frame, but the harm had already been done.

Olson recorded another strikeout to begin the fourth. He followed that up with a walk to Russell but was able to quickly regroup, as the succeeding Purdue batters grounded and flew out.

In the bottom half of the inning, Joe Jaconski notched a single up the middle on relief pitcher Michael Vallone. Graham laid down what appeared to be a perfect sacrifice bunt, as he reached first base, but was called out after making contact with the ball while running. 

Kling then recorded an RBI single, with the ball just getting under the glove of the shortstop. Penn State doubled Purdue’s run tally as they took a 6-3 lead. Molinaro drove in two runs of his own with a long double to straight away center field. The Nittany Lions extended their margin to five, now ahead 8-3.

Lefty reliever Matthew VanOstenbridge came into the game for Penn State in the fifth. He had a rough start to his outing, walking Gasser and hitting Anderson in the hand to begin the inning. After Sutter flew out to left, another long fly ball to center allowed the runners to tag up. Richmond plated both, as a single through the hole in the right side permitted the two Boilermakers in scoring position to reach home. Purdue now trailed 8-5.

Penn State went three up, three down in the bottom half of the frame.

In the top of the sixth, right fielder Jack Porter misplayed a deep fly ball, as it bounced out of his glove. The E9 allowed a hustling Nowik to get to third base. Choi hit a ground ball to third, but Nowik was able to cross home plate as the throw gunned the batter out at first. Purdue slowly crawled back, now behind 8-6.

The Nittany Lions went scoreless in the frame, striking out twice in the bottom half of the sixth inning. They would make a call to the bullpen in the top of the seventh, with Harrison Lollin entering the game.

Anderson began the inning with a strong, 12-pitch at-bat, culminating with a liner into the right field gap for a double. Stutter followed that up with an RBI single, as Purdue drew within one run, trailing 8-7.

The Boilermaker bats continued to roll in the inning, as a hard-hit ground ball by Moore got through the infield. The first out came courtesy of a towering fly ball, but the runner on second was able to tag. The onslaught of hits prompted a Penn State pitching change, as Dimond Loosli aimed to get the remaining two outs of the seventh.

Loosli did not even get a pitch off before Purdue tied the game at eight. An attempted pick-off throw sailed over the head of first baseman Joe Jaconski, with the next pitch hitting pinch-hitter Aaron Manias to load the bases.

Russell got under a bunt attempt, as the catcher snagged the pop-up. Another pop-out allowed Loosli to escape the jam. The game would head to the bottom of the seventh with the score knotted 8-8.

Avery Cook took the bump for Purdue in relief of Vallone. He clipped the leadoff batter in Kling, allowing the outfielder to take first. A groundout by Molinaro allowed Kling to advance into scoring position. He proceeded to take third on a flyout by Voss. Jesse Jaconski drew a walk to put runners on the corners for the Nittany Lions. Penn State didn’t capitalize, as a lineout to center field ended the inning.

The top of the eighth began with a hit by pitch, as Loosli’s pitch deflected off the elbow of Choi. With the infield in, Gasser sent a hard-hit, opposite-field ball past the ball of the Penn State third baseman. Choi reached third base on the play as Gasser came into second.

Purdue took the lead back thanks to a sacrifice fly by Anderson. Penn State would intentionally walk Sutter with its sights set on a double play. A squeeze bunt by Moore plated Choi, as the Boilermakers regained the lead, 9-8. A line drive through the hole on the left side of the infield allowed Purdue to extend its advantage, driving in two and bringing the score to 11-8.

After Penn State began the bottom of the eighth with a routine groundout to second, another hit by pitch gave the team some life. The runner would stay put, as Weingartner’s struggles continued, striking out to end the inning and bringing his stat line to 0-for-5 on the day.

Mason Butash came into the game for the Nittany Lions in the ninth. He would not allow a base runner, as Penn State would hope to rally during its last licks. 

Penn State’s lone base runner in the bottom of the ninth came courtesy of yet another hit by pitch, this time on Porter. The group would fail to stage another comeback, as it dropped the final game of the series 11-8. 

Takeaways

• After Olson started the game with five consecutive strikeouts, things unraveled for him in the third inning. Klug had a similar outing, though only one of the runs he gave up in the third was earned. The Boilermakers were able to tee off on the Penn State relief pitchers, which proved to be the difference. 
• It was a lackluster display of hitting for the Nittany Lions. No batter in the lineup recorded more than one, and their total number of hits on the day was five. A slew of walks and hit by pitches helped give both teams men on the basepath. 
• Unanswered runs were the storyline of the series. Penn State scored 10 on Friday, 10 on Saturday. Despite scoring eight on Sunday, Purdue responded with eight of its own to seal the game.

What’s Next?

Penn State will remain home for a matchup against West Virginia on Tuesday, April 22. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. The game will mark the final Dollar Dog Night of the season.