Penn State baseball (10-26, 4-13 Big Ten) was bested by Rutgers (20-19, 7-10 Big Ten) with a 4-1 loss on Saturday afternoon at Medlar Field.

After jumping out to an early lead, the Nittany Lion bullpen allowed four runs, and Penn State couldn’t mount much offensively, leading to a second loss in its series against Rutgers.

How It Happened

Ben Hudson got the start on the mound for the Nittany Lions. He walked his third batter faced, but got out of the inning with a fly out to right field.

Jayden Davis hit a leadoff double to left-center in the bottom of the first. However, nothing resulted from the runner in scoring position after three straight groundouts, ending the first inning.

Gabriel Rivera got the first hit of the day for the Scarlet Knights in the second. He was left on base when Hudson got his first strikeout, then forced a groundout.

Singles by Jack Porter and Kevin Karstetter kicked off the bottom of the second. Maddox McDonald drove home Porter with a one-out single to open up scoring; however, Penn State stranded two runners with two straight outs.

Hudson got out the side in order, keeping the shutout going through the third.

Michael Anderson singled for another leadoff hit for Penn State, but the inning ended after a strikeout and a double play.

Another dominant inning by Hudson followed in the top of the fourth. He struck out two of three batters faced for a three-up-three-down inning.

While Avery Smith reached on a fielding error, the Nittany Lions couldn’t take advantage, and the game remained 1-0 through four.

Rivera singled for his second hit of the day to lead off the fifth. He advanced to third after two consecutive groundouts and was brought home with a single by Ryan Jaros to tie the game.

Anderson was the only Nittany Lion to get on base in the bottom of the fifth, and the game stayed 1-1 going into the sixth.

Hudson remained the Nittany Lion pitcher for the sixth; he recorded three quick outs, including two strikeouts, to keep the game tied.

Karstetter reached on a single with two outs and advanced to third with a hit by Smith. McDonald was up to bat already with the lone RBI for Penn State, looking to break the deadlock. He came up short by hitting a flyout to center field on the first pitch he saw, ending the inning.

Rutger’s infielder Yomar Carreras singled to lead off the top of the sixth. He advanced to second after a groundout. A single by Trey Wells put runners on the corners. A shallow fly to right field was good for the second out and held Carreras at third. Hudson was pulled in favor of Kyle Emmons following the out, ending a great outing on the mound for the sophomore.

Wells stole second to put two runners in scoring position. With two strikes, Jaros hit a dart to center field, bringing in two runs with a single. A groundout ended the inning before Rutgers could do any further damage.

Three straight outs in the bottom of the seventh kept the Nittany Lions down 3-1.

Jack Sweeney led off the top of the eighth by hitting a double to the warning track of left field. He advanced to third following a single by Charlie Meglio. After getting two outs, Emmons walked two batters in a row, bringing in a Rutgers run. A fly out to right ended the top of the inning with the score at 4-1.

Vincent Borghese remained on the slab for Rutgers as he got three outs quickly to conclude a great outing with eight innings pitched.

Ben DeMell came into the game to pitch the ninth inning for Penn State. He would concede a double by Tristan Salinas, who would get thrown out trying for three. Demell retired the rest of the side to get out of the inning while only facing three batters.

Smith led off the final inning for the Nittany Lions. He drew a walk before two straight strikeouts. Davis was hit by a pitch to bring Anderson to the plate, serving as the tying run with two outs. He hit a fly out to center field to end the game with a 4-1 final score.

Takeaways

• Both starting pitchers had great outings, with Vincent Borghese in particular being stellar, going a full eight innings with 113 pitches while only allowing one run.
• Ryan Jaros had a great game for the Scarlet Knights. He drove in three of the four Rutgers runs on two hits.
• Penn State was sluggish offensively, being held scoreless after the second inning and hitting just .212 as a team on the day. The team was particularly poor with runners in scoring position, hitting a measly .125 compared to Rutgers’ .400.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will conclude their series with the Scarlet Knights on Sunday, April 19, at Medlar Field. The game is set to start at 1 p.m. and will be streamed on Big Ten Plus.