Penn State hardballers sweep Purdue

UNIVERSITY PARK — Penn State baseball completed a three-game series sweep of the Purdue Boilermakers April 1 and 2 in their first Big Ten Conference series of the season.

With the sweep of Purdue, Penn State stands at 15-12 overall and sports an impressive 9-1 home record.

Penn State won game one 3-1, won game two 7-2 and won game three in dramatic fashion, 7-6 in twelve innings.

The Nittany Lions are currently on a six-game winning streak, with their last six victories coming against Illinois, Youngstown State, Binghamton, and Purdue (3).

In game one, Penn State first baseman Tyler Kendall (.314 BA) went 3 for 4 with three hits and one huge RBI, which came in the bottom of the eighth inning. Haley led off the inning with a double and advanced to third on a groundout by Greg Guers. With one on and one out, Kendall came to the plate and smacked an RBI triple to left center that scored Jim Haley from third base.

Kendall’s run-scoring triple gave Penn State a 2-1 lead. The very next batter was Jordan Bowersox, who hit an RBI single to centerfield that scored Kendall and gave the Nittany Lions an insurance run and a 3-1 lead.

Jack Anderson recorded the final five outs coming on in relief of Dakota Forsyth with one out in the eighth. The senior right-hander had three strikeouts, retiring the side in the ninth, striking out all three Purdue batters. Anderson was the winning pitcher in the game, leveling his record to 1-1 on the season.

In game two, Penn State starter Sal Biasi (3-3) earned the win, pitching a career-high 7 2/3 strong innings and allowing only two runs on six hits, while recording seven strikeouts for the Lions.

Purdue starter Matt Frawley (1-2) took the loss, tossing 4 1/3 innings and giving up six earned runs (four in the third inning) on six hits, while striking out four.

In the Nittany Lion’s 7-2 victory, Penn State second baseman Christian Helsel went 2 for 3 with two RBIs, while leftfielder James Coates and Kendall had two RBIs apiece. Penn State outhit the Boilermakers 12-6 in game two.

In game three, Jack Anderson (2-1) earned his second win of the three-game series. Starter Justin Hagenman pitched 5 2/3 quality innings, allowing four runs on eight hits and striking out none in the no-decision.

This game went into extras and took twelve innings to complete, as the score remained tied at 4-4 from the seventh to the eleventh.

Finally, in the twelfth, Purdue broke the scoring drought with two runs in the top of the inning, but Penn State answered in the bottom of the inning with three runs, which completed the three-game sweep in dramatic fashion.

Junior catcher Alex Malinsky came to the plate in the bottom of the twelfth with runners on first and third and one out: Penn State was down 6-5 until Malinsky hit a booming, walk-off 2-run double to left field that scored Bowersox (tying run) and Coates (winning run), preserving the three-game sweep for the Nittany Lions over Purdue. Penn State won the game 7-6 in stunning, 12-inning-walk-off fashion.