UNIVERSITY PARK — After taking wins in the first two games of the Big Ten weekend series against Purdue, the Penn State baseball team sprinted out to a five-run lead after the first three innings in the final game on Sunday afternoon at Medlar Field.
But Purdue, behind the relief pitching of Michael Vallone and Avery Cook, dug deep and outscored Penn State 8-0 over the final five innings in a series-saving 11-8 victory.
The win prevented a Nittany Lion sweep of the series and set the team’s overall record at 24-14 overall and 12-9 in the Big Ten.
Penn State, however, showed off its offense in the first two games of the series.
On Friday, April 18, in the opener, the Lions got solid pitching performances from four pitchers and banged out 13 hits in a 10-2 win.
Then on Saturday, April 19, Penn State overcame an early deficit and pulled away for a 13-6 win that saw the Lions collect another 13 hits in their 23rd win of the season.
Jack Porter led the Lions in Friday’s win with three hits and three RBIs, while Ryan Weingartner and Bryce Molinaro each had two hits and two RBIs.
On the mound, Ryan DeSanto took the win with two runs on five hits with five strikeouts over five innings. Relievers Domond Loosli, Matt VanOsterbridge and Harrison Lollin combined to pitch four no-hit, no-run innings in the victory.
It was Penn State’s ninth win in series-opening games this season, and the 19th time the team has broken 10+ runs in a game this season.
No. 20 came just a day later.
Led by Jesse Jaconski’s three hits and three RBIs and Joe Jaconski’s three hits and three RBIs, the Lions again went into double figures in a 13-6 victory on Saturday, April 19.
The Lions struck 13 hits altogether, including a home run by Jesse Jaconski, and upped their run and hit totals for the weekend to 24 and 26.
Ben DeMell took the win on the mound after 3.2 innings of two-hit, no-run baseball, as PSU took its 24th win of the season.
On Sunday, April 20, in the series finale, Penn State jumped out to an 8-3 lead after four innings of play, but that would be all the Lions would get.
Purdue saved a win when it scored eight unanswered runs from the fifth to the eighth innings and then held off PSU for the 11-8 win.
Cook was the star on the mound for the Boilers as he pitched the final three innings and did not give up a hit or run.
Bryce Molinaro had a hit and three RBIs for Penn State, and Jesse Jaconski hit a two-run home run, but the Lions could not score over the last five innings and took the loss.
Penn State dropped to 12-9 in the Big Ten with the loss and will next travel to the West Coast to take on UCLA at Jackie Robinson Stadium on Friday, April 25, Saturday, April 26 and Sunday, April 27, before returning home against Rider on Wednesday, April 30.
