Even before Ben Heath's contact with the ball turned out to be the game-winning hit, teammate Louie Picconi knew he was going to be in safely.

"The pitcher wasn't looking at me and the infield was way back on the grass," Picconi said. "So I kept taking more, kept taking more until he got the hit and then I was already moving toward third base."

Picconi, the second baseman, scored from second base on Heath's line drive single to center with two outs in the eighth inning as the Penn State baseball team beat Bucknell, 6-5, Tuesday night at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.

The two-out, game-winning hit was the catcher Heath's only hit of the game and was just his fifth RBI of the season.

Preceding the rally, the Lions (15-10) blew a four-run lead in the top half of the inning when the Bison scored four runs on two two-RBI hits.

Before the rally, Penn State first took a 3-0 lead after two innings when RBI singles by Jordan Steranka and Rick Marlin were followed up by freshman Sean Deegan's RBI triple. The hit was Deegan's first extra base hit and RBI of his career.

Despite the setback regarding the blown lead, starting pitcher Paul Cianciolo, who earned a no-decision, said the entire team was "cool, calm and collected."

That remained even after Picconi scored the run.

After Picconi crossed home plate, Heath simply stood by the first-base bag after initially turning the corner. There were no fist pumps or high-fives.

"It was good to see. It was a resilient bunch coming back," coach Robbie Wine said of the comeback. "What I question is why didn't we have that intensity the whole game?"

Wine said one of the reasons why the offense may have struggled in some stretches was the revolving door on the Bucknell mound. Wine said having a lot of pitchers hurts the hitters' rhythms, and by game's end, the Bison used seven pitchers, and the starter, Daniel Hart, went just two innings.

Despite the back-and-forth late innings, Wine said winning midweek games are important for a team's RPI.

But in the eighth inning, Picconi started the rally with a leadoff walk. Calling the junior a "sparkplug guy," Wine said Picconi was the key to the game.

Mike Deese then moved Picconi over with a sacrifice bunt before a walk and pop up set the stage for Heath's hit.

"I just tried to make something happen, see some pitches," Picconi said of walking to start the half inning against Bucknell pitcher Alex Cillo. "He looked pretty inconsistent throwing strikes. So I just tried doing the best I can, try to foul a couple of pitches off because I knew he was going to throw four [balls]."

Penn State will be back in action at 5:35 tonight against Kent State at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. Freshman Ryan Ignas will be the starting pitcher for the first time in his career. The Lions already beat the Golden Flashes earlier this season, winning 9-2 last week.