The baseball team, after splitting a doubleheader with Big Ten power Ohio State Sunday, got bucked all the way back to State College after losing 10-1 and 8-0 in the series' second doubleheader yesterday in Columbus.
With the losses, Penn State fell to 17-19 overall and 4-12 (tied for ninth) in the Big Ten. Ohio State raised its record to 25-14 overall and 11-5 in the Big Ten.
The Nittany Lions, however, will receive little rest as they scamper back to play Cornell at 1 this afternoon at Beaver Field. Cornell leads the series between the two schools, which began in 1906, 19-18.
Penn State has to bounce back quickly from yesterday's losses.
In the first game in Columbus, Penn State managed only one run as Derek Bochna led off the top of the first with his fourth home run of the season. Ohio State pitcher Scott Klingenbeck (5-1) pitched a three-hit complete game and registered eight strikeouts.
Freshman Justin Craig pitched three innings for the Lions and gave up five runs on six hits. Eric Gates, who leads the Lions in hitting, relieved Craig as he pitched in his first game ever at Penn State. In his three innings of work, Gates surrendered five runs and six hits. Craig, though, picked up the loss and dropped his record to 3-2.
For the Lions, the second game proved to be less productive than the first.
Penn State managed only six hits off a combined effort by Ohio State pitchers Matt Beaumont and Mark Mesewicz. The Buckeyes, who knocked out eight runs on 13 hits off pitchers Brian Ishler and Randy Geis, were led by third baseman Jamie Taylor.
Taylor, batting .407 and ranked seventh in the Big Ten, produced five hits, four runs, two RBI and his fourth home run of the year in the two games. On Sunday, Taylor was shut down by Penn State pitching as he struck out three times, hit into a double play and failed to get a hit in his five at-bats.
One postive aspect for the Lions is centerfielder Kirk Rentschler, who doubled twice and had three of Penn State's nine hits in the two games.
Cornell, which is 9-13 overall, play in the Eastern Intercollegiate Baseball Association, which consists of all the Ivy League schools as well as Army and Navy. Currently, Cornell is 3-5 in its division and is coming off a split with Princeton. Cornell won the first game 5-1 and lost the second game 3-1.
Last year, Penn State split a doubleheader with the Big Red in Elmira, N.Y. The Lions, with their biggest offensive game of the year, beat Cornell 20-9 in the first game and lost the second game 7-6.
Cornell is led by first baseman Jamie Blattstein, who is batting .355 with three home runs and 21 RBI.
