Baseball

Now that their series with No. 23 Mississippi State is finished, here’s an update of how the 2-9 baseball team is faring during their Spring Break road trip:

Sat., Mar. 3: 7-4 win at Samford
W: Cody Lewis (1-2)
L: Kyle Putkonen (0-2)
Third baseman Joey DeBernardis had a big three-run homer in this one to seal the Lions’ lone win thus far on the trip.

Sun., Mar. 4: 4-1 loss at Samford
W: Charles Basford (2-0)
L: Neil Herring (0-1)
Despite a strong outing from Lions’ starter John Walter (6.0 innings, one run, seven strikeouts), there wasn’t much they could do against the dominance of Basford. The Samford senior pitched a complete game, with this sparkling line: 9.0 IP, six hits, one run, no walks, eight strikeouts.

Mon., Mar. 5: 7-3 loss at Samford
W: Josh Martin (3-0)
L: Steven Hill (0-2)
Penn State starter Steven Hill got lit up in this one, giving up seven runs (six earned) through 7.1 innings of work, throwing 111 pitches. Just like the last game, a Samford starter was lights out; Martin went 7.0 innings and allowed no earned runs while fanning ten. A lone bright spot for the Nittany Lions came with a Steven Snyder hit that extended his hitting streak to eight games.

Tue., Mar. 6: 7-3 loss at No. 23 Mississippi State
W: Tanner Gaines (1-0)
L: Mike Franklin (0-1)
Gaines pitched 4.2 innings of no-hit ball in relief to earn the victory. The Lions’ offense, their biggest weakness this season by far, mustered only five hits against the MSSU pitching. It was their sixth straight game scoring four runs or less.

Wed., Mar. 7: 10-6 loss at No. Mississippi State
W: Jacob Lindgren (1-0)
L: Evan Dixon (0-1)
It looked like PSU would pull off the big upset in this one, as they led 6-3 in the middle of the seventh. But relievers Dixon and Casey Kulina would combine to allow 4 runs in 1.2 innings of work to send the Lions packing.

The Lions get a day off Thursday before traveling to Birmingham, Al., for a three game series with UAB.