Penn State Baseball Loses Fifth Straight, Falls To No. 19 Nebraska 8-6.
Penn State Baseball (8-21, 3-9 Big Ten) lost the third game of the series and got swept by No. 19 Nebraska (26-6, 11-1 Big Ten) by a score of 8-6 at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park on Sunday.
Michael Anderson hit two home runs, and the Penn State bullpen was solid, holding Nebraska scoreless through six and two-thirds. The Nittany Lions scored three runs in the ninth, but it was not enough to overcome the eight runs given up by starter Isaiah Shayter.
Cooper Katskee pitched seven strong innings for the Cornhuskers.
How It Happened
Katskee took the bump for Nebraska in the top of the first, and the Penn State offense started with a bang. Leadoff hitter Jayden Davis singled, and Anderson launched a home run over the left field fence to take a 2-0 lead. Katskee was able to limit the damage after that, retiring the next three Nittany Lions with two flyouts and a strikeout.
Shayter got the Sunday start for Penn State and walked the first batter he faced. He got the next two Cornhuskers to fly out and worked around a two-out single, getting out number three on a ground ball to third.
In the top of the second inning, Jesse Jaconski drew a walk, but Katskee shut down the rest of the Nittany Lions with two strikeouts and a flyout.
The Cornhusker bats came alive in the bottom of the second. Shayter gave up a quick single and an RBI double before Drew Grego knocked one over the center field fence to give Nebraska the lead. A pair of infield singles allowed Jeter Worthley to drive two more runs home, making the score 5-2. Shayter finally got the Cornhuskers under control, ending the inning with a strikeout and a pair of flyouts.
In the third inning, Anderson stayed hot, sending a one-out rocket to dead center field for his second home run of the day.
Shayter, who threw 52 pitches in the first two innings, stayed on the mound to start the bottom of the third. After a leadoff walk and a single put two Cornhuskers on base, Rhett Stokes hit a three-run bomb to put Nebraska up by five and knock Shayter out of the game. Mason Butash came in to pitch for Penn State and got out of the inning with a pair of flyouts.
Katskee sat the Nittany Lions down in order in the top of the fourth inning, ending the frame with a backwards K on Maddox McDonald.
Butash started the bottom of the fourth with a strikeout. He hit Dylan Carey with a pitch but induced a flyout for the second out. Avery Smith threw out Carey attempting a steal to end the inning.
In the top of the 5th, Katskee had his second straight 1-2-3 inning, including a strikeout of Anderson.
Butash recorded two quick outs before giving up a double to Grego in the bottom of the fifth. A groundout ended the inning with the Cornhuskers still up 8-3.
Bryce Molinaro lined out to begin the sixth inning. A Spencer Barnett flyout and a Jack Porter groundout gave Katskee his third 1-2-3 inning in a row.
Butash gave up a single to start the bottom of the sixth, and a sacrifice bunt moved the runner to second. After a walk put two runners on base, Dimond Loosli came in to replace Butash on the mound.
Loosli got the second out of the inning with a strikeout, but threw a pickoff attempt into center field, allowing the runners to move to second and third. The sixth inning ended with a popout to Preston Yaucher at short.
Katskee returned to the mound for the seventh inning and quickly got Smith to fly out. His streak of 11 straight Nittany Lions retired ended on a fielding error that allowed Jaconski to reach first. Katskee got right back on track, getting McDonald to ground into an inning-ending double play.
After Loosli gave up a leadoff single and a walk, Ben DeMell came in to pitch for the Nittany Lions. He got three quick outs and stranded the two Cornhuskers on base, ending the inning.
After seven strong innings, Katskee’s day was done, and Kevin Mannell took the mound for Nebraska. After the first two Nittany Lions got out, Anderson hit another ball hard to center field, but this one stayed in the park and was caught for the third out.
Mason Horwat replaced DeMell on the bump for the bottom of the eighth inning. After giving up a single and a four-pitch walk, Horwat settled down and got Jett Buck to ground into a double play to end the inning.
In the top of the 9th, the Cornhuskers sent Chase Olsen to the mound to try and close the game. Molinaro drew a leadoff walk and stole second without a throw. Barnett fell behind 0-2 but fought back to earn a seven-pitch walk and knock Olsen out of the game after just two batters faced.
Pryce Bender came in to replace Olsen and gave up a single to Porter, loading up the bases with Nittany Lions. He then walked Smith to bring home a run and end his brief outing after facing two.
J’Shawn Unger got the save in the first game on Saturday, and he was the third Cornhusker to throw a pitch in the ninth before an out was recorded. He got Jaconski to ground into a double play, allowing one run to score but getting two huge outs for Nebraska.
Unger’s first pitch to the next batter was wild, allowing Porter to score from third and shrink the lead to two. He walked Kevin Karstetter to bring the tying run to the plate in the form of Yaucher, who grounded out to end the game.
Penn State’s fight in the ninth was enough to shrink the deficit to two, but Nebraska held on to win the game with a score of 8-6.
Takeaways
- Shayter struggled on the mound, giving up eight earned runs in just 2.1 innings. The freshman had a much better performance just one week ago against Illinois, giving up three runs in 5.2 innings pitched.
- Butash was on point today, pitching 3 scoreless innings in relief of Shayter.
- Anderson’s pair of homers tied him for seventh place on the Penn State single-season leaderboard
- With the exception of Anderson, the Penn State bats were ice cold. Davis’s leadoff single and Porter’s ninth-inning single were the only Nittany Lion hits outside of Anderson’s two home runs.
What’s Next?
The Nittany Lions are heading home to State College, where they will face the FDU Knights on Tuesday, April 7. Fans can follow along with the action on Big Ten Plus.
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