Penn State Baseball Rallies Back For Series-Opening 10-6 Win Over Ohio State
Penn State baseball (10-21, 4-9 Big Ten) rallied back from an early five-run deficit to beat Ohio State (17-15, 7-6 Big Ten) on Friday afternoon in Columbus, 10-6.
The Buckeyes jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second inning against Penn State ace Colin Fitzgerald, but the offense rallied back in the game behind home runs by Bryce Molinaro, Michael Anderson, and Kevin Karstetter to end Ohio State’s six-game conference winning streak.
How It Happened
Ohio State ace Gavin Kuzniewski got the start for the Buckeyes, his ninth of the season. The right-handed sophomore began his outing by sitting down the Nittany Lions in order.
Penn State sent out Fitzgerald for his ninth start and he wasn’t able to answer Kuzniewski’s scoreless first, giving up a long home run to center field to Noah Furcht, his fifth of the season, to make it 1-0 Buckeyes after one.
Jack Porter singled with one out in the second, but was erased on a 5-4-3 double play. Jayden Davis extends his Division I lead with his 11th double play grounded into. In the bottom half, Fitzgerald got the first out, but then surrendered four consecutive hits, capped off by a Miles Vandenheuvel home run to left field to make it 5-0 Ohio State.
Penn State got a run back in the third. Kevin Karstetter drove a ball to deep right-center field that went off the top of the wall for a triple, before scoring on an Avery Smith sacrifice fly. Fitzgerald gave up a walk and a single in the bottom half, but finally put up a zero by striking out Lee Ellis and getting a pop-out to end the inning.
Anderson led off the fourth with a smoked double down the left field line to set the table for the red-hot Molinaro, who got the Nittany Lions right back in this game with his ninth home run of the season to left-center field to cut the deficit to 5-3.
Fitzgerald got the first two outs of the bottom of the fourth, but gave up a walk and double to put himself back in a jam. With runners on second and third and two out, Furcht came just a few feet away from blasting his second home run of the game, being robbed of an extra-base hit by Cohl Mercado in center field to end the inning.
Kuzniewski sat down the Nittany Lions in order, 1-2-3, in the fifth. Looking to finish his outing on a high note, Fitzgerald delivered his best inning of the day, capping it with a beautiful bare-handed play to end his outing after five innings, settling in after giving up five runs in the first 1.1 innings.
After Mercado struck out to lead off the sixth, Anderson got a hold of a first-pitch breaking ball and blasted it to dead center field for his 14th home run of the season to cut the deficit to 5-4. Ben DeMell took over in the sixth for Penn State, and worked around a two-out single to put up another zero.
Kuzniewski started the seventh for the Buckeyes, but was pulled after two batters. Jake Michalak took the mound with one on and one out and just couldn’t seem to get his team back in the dugout. Karstetter singled to left, Smith hit an RBI single into right field to tie the game, Mercado got plunked, and Anderson ripped a two-run double down the left field line to bring the Nittany Lions all the way back with a 7-5 lead.
Dimond Loosli got the ball on the other end of the seventh-inning stretch, looking to hold the lead. The inning started innocently enough with a single and a pair of groundouts, but Loosli started to lose control with two outs and a runner on third. A passed ball by Smith allowed the runner on third to score, and two walks and a hit-by-pitch suddenly reloaded the bases.
Kyle Emmons was summoned from the bullpen to put out the fire, which he did by striking out pinch-hitter CJ Reid on a 3-2 pitch to hold a 7-6 lead after seven.
Michalak came back out for the eighth for Ohio State but wasn’t able to calm down the Penn State offense. Spencer Barnett singled, Davis walked, and Karstetter smacked his first home run as a Nittany Lion to right-center field to jump out to a 10-6 lead.
After plunking Smith, Michalak was replaced by Lincoln McVicker, who finally got out of the inning. Emmons tossed a shutdown, 1-2-3 frame in the bottom half.
Anderson led off the ninth with a hard-hit grounder to third that Maddix Sampson threw away, allowing the slugger to get to second on an E5. Molinaro jumped ahead 3-0 right after, but McVicker bared down and not only struck Molinaro out, but K’d the next two batters to send this game to the bottom of the ninth.
Emmons started the ninth, looking for Penn State’s first save of the season. He gave up a one-out double to Mason Eckelman, but shut the door after that to secure the victory.
Takeaways
- Bryce Molinaro’s home run in the fourth inning was the 33rd of his career, tying Dan Beers for third in program history. He’s also now eighth in program history in total bases (296). He’s slashing .385/.500/.923 over his last 11 games.
- Michael Anderson continues to mash the ball at a level that we’ve never seen at this university before. With at least 21 games left, Anderson’s 14 home runs are tied for sixth-most in a season in program history and just five shy of the record. He’s now hitting .394 on the season with a baffling .862 slugging percentage.
- Cohl Mercado missed Tuesday’s game with an undisclosed injury and appeared to be shaken up after his tremendous run-saving catch in the fourth. He played another three innings of defense, but was removed for Maddox McDonald in the eighth.
- This was the best game in the very brief Penn State career of Kevin Karstetter, who head coach Mike Gambino has been trying to get in the lineup after he battled a concussion earlier in the season. He went 3-for-4 with a home run and a triple.
- It took 31 games, but a Penn State reliever has finally registered a save. Kyle Emmons successfully put out the fire in the seventh and coasted from there for a seven-out save.
What’s Next?
Penn State continues its three-game weekend set in Columbus with Ohio State at 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 11. The game will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus.
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