Sloppy play highlighted the first inning for Bucknell. On the first at-bat of the game, Penn State's Joel Shadle drove a pitch to right field, which Bucknell right fielder Micah Derr dropped, allowing Shadle to proceed to third. The game went downhill from there for Bucknell.

"That's usually how we hit -- line drives, doubles, triples," said Penn State starting pitcher Jim Sadowski. "We've got a lot of team speed, so we can usually stretch them out."

Before the opening frame was over, Penn State led 2-0 off of only two hits.

In the second, however, the tide seemed to turn in Bucknell's favor. Bucknell managed to get three runners on base off Sadowski, with a run crossing the plate on Bucknell's first hit.

With the bases loaded and only one out, Sadowski pitched himself out of a jam, retiring the next two batters to close out the inning.

Bucknell was able to keep the Penn State bats silent for the next two innings, until left fielder Aaron Thompson started the scoring barrage. The freshman lined a double to start the third, but Bucknell starting pitcher Daniel Livingston once again pitched kept Penn State from placing points on the board.

Penn State used Thompson's offensive spark to slowly increase their lead over the next three innings, culminating in a three-run outburst in the seventh. Thompson led the charge once again, smacking a triple and knocking in the final run of the game for Penn State. The freshman ended the game 3-4 with two runs scored.

"Thompson's been unreal the past three games," said Penn State coach Greg "Sandy" Sanderson, "he's really hitting the ball well. He started off in a slump, but now he's really in a groove."

Pitchers Scott Swindells came in for Sadowski in the seventh, allowing three runs in two innings of work -- not enough for Bucknell to overtake the lead.

John Fisher closed out the ninth for Penn State, retiring the only three batters he faced.

Sanderson was impressed with Sadowski's outing against Bucknell, considering that the pitcher hasn't started a game since the team's spring-break tournament in Florida.

"He threw a lot of pitches -- I think his pitch-count was over 120 -- but it wasn't really his fault," Sanderson said. "We were letting too many guys getting on by errors."

Penn State has this weekend off, but resumes play at home April 10 against the Maryland Club Baseball team and April 11 against the Rutgers Club team.