Despite a late rally, Penn State falls short against Minnesota

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- The Penn State Nittany Lions fell short to the Minnesota Golden Gophers 5-4 in the second game of a three-game series.

Jaden Henline was on the bump for Penn State, looking to bounce back from his subpar performance against Michigan State last week.

The Nittany Lions were able to break through in the third inning when Grant Norris hit a line drive that got over the centerfielder Josh Fitzgerald’s head for a little league inside-the-park home run.

Henline threw a strong first five innings in this contest. He impressively worked out of trouble in the third inning, getting a called strike three to strand runners at second and third.

His scoreless outing would crumble in the sixth inning, where a rally by the Golden Gophers would give Minnesota a 3-1 lead.

“He was throwing the ball great.” “I think if I tried to take him out before that the guys in the dugout would’ve tackled me,” coach Gambino said when asked about the decision to leave Henline in.

Travis Luensmann would come in relief for Henline, which would mark his first relief appearance of the season. Gambino implied that this was the plan for the game, as he wanted to keep the workhorse starting pitcher on schedule.

Minnesota would get two more runs in the eighth inning via a two-RBI single from switch-hitting catcher Sam Hunt.

When it seemed like all energy was sucked out of the ballpark and transferred to Beaver Stadium for the upcoming Luke Combs concert, the Nittany Lions began to get the bats going with a two-out rally.

Joe Jaconski got his first hit of the game, an RBI single to cut the Minnesota lead to 5-2. A Brandon Marsh walk would set the table for J.T. Marr, who smacked a single into right field which would make it a one run game.

Adam Cecere, who is the current Big Ten leader in OPS, had a chance to tie the game with a hit. Cecere would strike out to end the game, but according to coach Gambino, there is no other player he would rather have in that spot.

“If you have a chance to win the game with J.T. and Adam at the plate, I will take that any time.”

Gambino later alluded to Cecere’s season, where he said “Adam didn’t get it done but he’s been getting it done all year.”

As of right now, Penn State is the ninth seed in the conference, which is just outside of the eighth seed threshold needed to make the Big Ten playoffs.

Penn State has one more matchup with Minnesota tomorrow, and two conference series’ against Rutgers and Maryland to potentially make up some of that ground.

Frankie Sanchez will be on the mound tomorrow in the rubber match, where Penn State looks to head into finals week with a series victory.

Will Harrison is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email wbh5205@psu.edu.