Penn State RS sophomore Drew Irsfeld will be the starting pitcher for the Nittany Lions

1st Inning:

In addition to runs by Penn State’s Louie Picconi, and Sean Deegan, Ben Heath scores his 7th home run on the season to put the Lions up 3-0. Heath’s 7th home run in this inning is more than any Nittany Lion had all last season. Steranka had a team high six home runs last year.

Pittsburgh responds with 3 runs of its own from Kevan Smith, Joe Leonard and Danny Lopez. Score tied at 3-3

3rd Inning:

Pittsburgh adds 3 more runs in the 3rd thanks largely to single hits by Travis Whitmore, Sean Toole, Danny Lopez and a double by Cory Brownsten that started the scoring. This prompts PSU coach Robbie Wine to pull starting pitcher Drew Irsfeld for RS Senior David Lutz who strikes out John Schultz looking to retire the inning. Drew Irsfeld struggled in the 2.2 innings he pitched allowing 6 runs on 8 hits to the Panther. PITT up 6-3.

7th Inning:

Both pitchers have settled down and have retired 4 scoreless innings since the 3 run outburst by Pitt in the 3rd. A double play by Penn State ends any threat by Pitt to add to their 6-3 lead.

8th Inning

Picconi hit by pitch from PITT’s Ray Black. Steranka singled to right field, advances Picconi to 2nd. DeBernardis singled, RBI. Seranka advances to 2nd and Picconi took advantage to score a run from 2nd. PSU cuts PITT lead to 6-4. Wild pitch by PITT Nathan Hood allows DeBernardis to advance to 2nd and sends Seranka to 3rd. Heath Johnson grounds out to SS for the third and final out ending all PSU scoring threat stranding 2 players on 2nd and 3rd. By now, Penn State has left 6 players on base in 8 innings.

Pittsburgh responds when Danny Lopez is walked then successfully steals 2nd. A sacrifice out by John Schultz allows Lopez to advance to 3rd. A Joe Leonard single sends Lopez across the plate for another PITT run. Score is now PITT 7 PSU 4.

9th Inning

3 quick outs, Searer grounds out to SS, a pop up out to 2nd base by Jacobs and a Deegan fly ball caught out to left field snuffs out any hope for yet another Penn State comeback. Final score PITT 7 PENN STATE 4.

Final Notes:

Penn State did not help itself by leaving 6 players on base throughout the game.

7 different Panthers recorded hits with 6 of them scoring at least a run, numbers Penn State simply could not match.

3 Lions, Jordan Steranka, Ben Heath, and Joey DeBernardis scored hits and only 2 of them recorded multiple hits. Ben Heath led the team with a 2 for 4 performance and 3 RBIs including 1 home run in the first inning. Joey DeBernardis matched Ben Heath’s 2 for 4 performance and 1 RBI but did not score a run.

Starting RS sophomore pitcher Drew Irsfeld struggled early in the game allowing 6 runs on 8 hits in just 2.2 innings. He was eventually pulled in the middle of the 3rd for David Lutz who was far more consistent allowing no runs on 3 hits in over 4 innings.

The loss now drops Penn State’s overall record to 6-11 on the season. Pittsburgh is now on a 8 game winning streak following this victory.