Penn State baseball falls to Michigan State in series finale

On a chilly Sunday afternoon at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, there were plenty of furry friends in the stadium for the Bark in the Park promotion. They weren’t the only dogs at the field, as Michigan State’s lineup showed they “had that dog in them.”

The Spartans defeated the Nittany Lions 10-5, a victory that also won them the weekend series. Michigan State scored first in the second inning, scoring two runs off of a walk with the bases loaded and a sacrifice fly that knocked Penn State starter Logan Olson out of the game after just one and two-thirds innings.

Even though Penn State answered back with a run of their own in the second on a single from catcher Nate Voss, Michigan State scored four runs in the fifth inning on four hits and two walks. After that, the Spartans scored one run in the eighth and three more in the top of the ninth.

Penn State attempted to rally in the seventh while down 6-1, scoring three runs on RBIs from Bryce Molinaro, Joe Jaconski and Jack Porter. They scored one more run in the ninth off of an error from Michigan State right fielder Parker Picot that allowed Molinaro to reach second and Paxton Kling to score his second run of the game.

Penn State outhit Michigan State 12 to 10, but the deciding factor of the game was walks, as the Nittany Lions pitching staff surrendered 10 free passes that assisted the Spartans in their big innings. Coach Mike Gambino gave his input on his staff’s performance.

“We kind of walked too many guys and walked the bottom of their order a little bit too much,” Gambino said.

Ryan McKay also continued to be a thorn in Penn State’s side, going three for five with three singles, two RBIs, one run scored and a walk, giving him an overall .642 batting average on the weekend against Penn State.

“Ryan McKay turned into Pete Rose this weekend,” Gambino added.

Another crucial statistic was hitting with runners in scoring position, as Michigan State hit .429 while Penn State hit .231. Throughout the game, the Spartans were able to work long at-bats, causing the Nittany Lions to go through six different pitchers.

After the game, Gambino also talked about Penn State’s offensive struggles, saying that the at-bats were “inconsistently good” but that he believes that the offense will be able to turn itself around. He realizes that you can’t win every series.

“I want to win every weekend, you’re not going to win 14 straight weekends. It’s the first weekend we haven’t won a weekend, right?” Gambino said. “I want to, and I wish we did, but this is not a ‘hey, we have to re-look at everything we’re doing,’ it’s kind of just get back to doing what we were doing.”

Up Next:

Penn State continues their seven-game homestand on Tuesday, March 25 as they host the Pitt Panthers for Dollar Dog Night. First pitch is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

Dylan Sechrist is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email dks5749@psu.edu.