Penn State baseball (10-23, 4-11 Big Ten) came up short in yet another late comeback effort against Ohio State (19-15, 9-6 Big Ten) losing 15-10 on Sunday afternoon in Columbus, Ohio.

Penn State’s Sunday starter, Isaiah Shayter, didn’t record an out in the second inning before he was pulled and was credited with six runs, forcing Mike Gambino to lengthen his relievers out. However, the Buckeyes were all over Penn State’s bullpens’ arms. They scored three runs each on three of Penn State’s four arms.

The bats took too long to get cooking in support of their relievers, as they only scored three runs through five innings. They finally jumped on the Buckeyes’ bullpen arms in the eighth inning, scoring four runs, and brought their best hitter up with bases loaded in the ninth, but was unable to score.

How It Happened

Pierce Herrenbruck toed the slab for the Buckeyes and cruised through a 12-pitch first inning, facing four Nittany Lions and getting all three outs on balls in play.

Shayter had a much different outcome in his first inning. The freshman got two outs in only four pitches, but allowed five consecutive hits, including an RBI double and a two-RBI single, putting Ohio State out in front 3-0.

The Nittany Lions got two back for their first-year starter. Jack Porter got his hands through on an 0-2 curveball and punched it into center field for a single. Jayden Davis followed Porter up with a double, putting both in scoring position. Kevin Karstetter scored one with a groundout, and Preston Yaucher scored the other by reaching first on an error.

A defensive blunder and barrage of hits cursed Shayter’s second inning. Grant Mangrum hit a lead-off triple and scored on a single to left. Shayter walked the next batter, then produced a ground ball to Yaucher that was thrown wide of third base as the shortstop tried to get the lead runner.

Shayter walked in a run on the Buckeyes’ clean-up hitter. Gambino pulled him for Mason Horwat. The reliever allowed one of Shayter’s runners to score on a ground ball, but staved off further damage with a strikeout. Ohio State led 6-2 after two innings of play.

Herrenbruck retired the Nittany Lions in order in the top of the third with eight pitches. Horwat did the same in four more pitches.

The Buckeyes’ starter allowed a single to Jayden Davis in the fourth, but worked smoothly through Penn State’s bottom of the lineup for the second time. It looked like Horwat would do the same after striking out Ohio State’s three-hole hitter looking on three pitches, but Dane Harvey got ahold of a 3-2 fastball for a solo home run.

Horwat needed three pitches to get the next two outs.

Michael Anderson matched Harvey with a solo home run of his own, which put him back atop the Big Ten leaderboard for home runs this season. However, it was the only run Penn State got, and they still trailed 7-3.

The game was blown open in the fifth when Horwat hit two of the first three Buckeyes to the plate. Kyle Emmons relieved Horwat and hit the next batter, loading the bases for Henry Kaczmar. The shortstop turned on an up-and-in pitch for a grand slam to take an 11-3 lead.

Ohio State tacked on another run with a pair of infield singles before Emmons finished the inning with a strikeout.

The Penn State bats finally broke through in the sixth. Spencer Barnett watched four balls go by for a free pass to first, and Porter singled him over to second. Both runners moved into scoring position on a groundout, and Barnett scored on Karstetter’s single. Karstetter and Porter both crossed home thanks to a Preston Yaucher double and Avery Smith groundout.

With a six-run deficit, Gambino called upon Robert Brown III. The reliever sat two Buckeyes down looking but not before allowing a run to cross on Mangrum’s single.

Anderson led off the seventh with a double, but was fittingly stranded on second as Bryce Molinaro, Barnett, and Porter were all retired.

Brown III didn’t make it through the bottom of the seventh after he allowed a two-run home run to freshman Jacob Parr and a two-out double to Lee Ellis. Dimond Loosli came in to get the third out of the inning.

The Nittany Lions made a run for Ohio State’s lead in the eighth thanks to some poor defense. Davis led off with a double, and Karstetter reached on an error that put Davis on third base. Davis scored on a wild pitch, and another one moved Karstetter over to third.

Following Yaucher’s walk, Cohl Mercado ripped a double into the gap, scoring both of them. Anderson brought him in on a blooper single into center field. The deficit was cut to five before the Buckeyes cleaned up the inning.

Loosli collected two strikeouts in the bottom half of the eighth on his way to a clean inning — the first one since the third inning for Penn State.

Takeaways

• Michael Anderson is still Penn State’s best slugger and in the Big Ten. After his double, home run, and single, Anderson’s on-base plus slugging percentage is 1.303, which leads the Big Ten. His 14 home runs are tied for first place in the conference, and he’ll only need five more to set the single-season program record.
• Isaiah Shayter is coming off his worst outing of the season against Nebraska, where he didn’t make it out of the second inning and allowed eight runs. This start didn’t go much better. He couldn’t even get an out in the second inning, and put his team in a six-run hole.
• The Penn State bats took too long to get going in Sunday’s match, and after Shayter’s disastrous start, the Nittany Lions needed middle-inning runs. Pierce Herrenbruck had no problem keeping them off the board.

What’s Next?

Penn State heads to Maryland on Wednesday for a neutral site game against WVU. It’s the second scheduled matchup against the Mountaineers, but the first one to be played. First pitch is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on BTN+.