Penn State's offense erupted for 20 hits as Rick Marlin and Cory Wine led the Nittany Lions to a 11-9 comeback victory against Purdue Saturday afternoon at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.
After taking an early 1-0 lead, the Lions fell behind by as many as four before putting four runs on the board in both the fifth and eighth innings. Wine led off each of the big frame with solo home runs over the right-center field wall, marking the first time a Penn State player has hit multiple home runs in a game since Wine did the same last April versus Illinois.
Each inning followed the same pattern, with third baseman Jordan Steranka and designated hitter Ryan Boonie following Wine's homers with singles before Marlin ripped two-run doubles. Wine's home run in the bottom of the eighth tied the game at eight, while Marlin put the Lions ahead for good with his second double.
"Everybody's being patient, we're staying within the system and if we screw up, we know the guy behind us is going to help us out," Marlin said. "So we're all confident that we can get the job done."
Purdue's Dan Black hit his second home run of the game to lead-off the ninth against Ryan Ignas, but Ignas finished his third save of the season when Marlin caught a fly ball in right field and doubled up Tyler Spillner at first to end the game.
Penn State starting pitcher Calvin Grumley earned a no-decision after allowing six runs in four innings. In relief, Paul Cianciolo allowed two runs in four innings to pick up his third victory of the season before Ignas closed it out.
The teams will play in the rubber match of the series 1:05 Sunday as Mike Lorentson takes the mound for Penn State against Matt Morgan.
