Penn State baseball (29-20, 15-15 Big Ten) dropped its final Big Ten game against Rutgers (26-26, 13-14 Big Ten) 9-6 on Sunday afternoon.

Despite securing the series with an 11-7 win on Saturday, Penn State couldn’t complete the road sweep of the Scarlet Knights. The Nittany Lions allowed seven unanswered Rutgers runs to thwart a potential undefeated weekend.

How It Happened

Penn State’s offense came flying out of the gates, as a well-placed single up the middle by Paxton Kling put a runner on base for Bryce Molinaro, who smacked a home run over the left field fence to give the Nittany Lions an early 2-0 lead.

Rutgers responded in the bottom of the first frame, drawing three walks in four at-bats to load the bases for JT Thompson, who delivered a single to center field that scored two runners, knotting the game up at 2-2.

Derek Cease reached base at the top of the second inning after a Rutgers throwing error, but was left stranded after back-to-back Penn State strikeouts at the plate. Meanwhile, Rutgers went three up, three down to end the frame.

Kling and Molinaro drew consecutive walks to start the third. After reaching on a fielding error, Jesse Jaconski loaded the bases for his brother, Joe Jaconski, who delivered a sacrifice fly that scored Kling and moved Molinaro to third. Jesse Jaconski stole second, and Nate Voss took his base on a walk to reload the bases for Penn State. Matt Maloney put the ball in play, forcing Molinaro out at home, but the Rutgers catcher airmailed the ball back to first base, allowing Maloney to make it to second base and Jesse Jaconski to score. Cease drew a walk with bases loaded to bring in another unearned run for the Nittany Lions, who led 5-2.

Rutgers responded quickly as Trevor Cohen cranked a one-out double for the Scarlet Knights to put a runner in scoring position. Peyton Bonds singled up the middle, scoring Cohen and cutting the lead to 5-3. Molinaro and Jesse Jaconski reached on consecutive singles, with Joe Jaconski joining them after drawing a walk, to load the bases. However, Voss nor Maloney could capitalize on the opportunity.

Rutgers continued to chip away at Penn State’s lead, as Yomar Carreras knocked a lead-off double to right field, and shortly after, advanced to third after a wild pitch. Brennan Hyde plated Carreras with a single that dropped into shallow center field, making it a 5-4 ballgame at the bottom of the fourth.

After Penn State notched another scoreless trip to the plate, Rutgers took a 6-5 lead when a wild pitch from Anthony Steele scored Bonds, who had reached on a single earlier in the inning. Pablo Santos moved to third on the wild pitch and scored after RJ Johnson grounded out to first.

The bats remained silent for the Nittany Lions through the top of the sixth, sending Rutgers back to the plate, where a two-out rally was sparked by a Ty Doucette double to center field. Cohen reached base with a single that moved Doucette to third. Bonds continued the rally with a single to center field that scored Doucette and pushed Cohen to third. Then, Bonds stole second, baiting the catcher to throw to second while Cohen stole home to extend the 8-5 lead.

At the top of the eighth, Kling and Molinaro drew a pair of walks to put two on base, but both Jaconski brothers flew out to end the at-bat for Penn State.

With two outs on the board, Bonds swung at the first pitch of his at-bat, sending the ball over the right field fence for a solo home run that extended the 9-5 lead and effectively put the nail in the coffin for Penn State.

In its last breath, Penn State loaded the bases with walks from Maloney, DeMucci, and Weingartner. Kling plated a run with a base hit to make it 9-6, but Molinaro struck out looking to end the ball game.

Takeaways

• Although Penn State’s offense started hot, scoring five runs in three innings, it went silent for the remainder of the game, allowing Rutgers to complete a successful comeback bid.
• Once again, Penn State couldn’t execute with runners in scoring position, and it made all the difference. They went 0-12 while Rutgers went 5-13.
• All of Penn State’s six hits were generated by the top of its lineup. To make a run in the conference tournament, the lower-hole hitters will have to make a bigger impact offensively.

What’s Next?

Penn State remains on the road to take on Pitt at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 13. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.