Penn State drops Friday series opener against Maryland

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - A wet and rainy day turned into a beautiful setting at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park as Penn State opened up its penultimate Big Ten series against the Maryland Terrapins.

Ryan DeSanto took the mound and faced early adversity in his outing.

The Terrapin lineup provides a lot of pop, and it was on display in the early innings. Chris and Eddie Hacopian turned into the new Bash Brothers, going back-to-back to start the game, pushing the Terrapins out to an early 3-0 lead.

Jacob Orr wanted to join the fun and peppered the left field seats as well. The Nittany Lions were staring at a 4-0 hole and had to dig the cleats in.

Paxton Kling became good friends with the second base bag, picking up two doubles in back-to-back at-bats as the Nittany Lions tried to scratch and claw their way back into the game.

Joe Jaconski was able to score from second base as Kyle McCoy sent a failed pickoff attempt into center field. In that sequence, the Nittany Lions set a new program record with 92 steals in a single season.

Bryce Molinaro tallied his 50th RBI of the season. The last Nittany Lion to reach the plateau was Matt Wood back in 2022 when he recorded 53 total that year.

Terrapins pitcher McCoy continued to show why he can be a valuable choice in the upcoming MLB Draft. The southpaw is ranked within the top 20 of all lefty pitchers, sitting at No. 17 in Perfect Game’s rankings.

He finished the night with a quality start, going six innings and allowing only three runs with five strikeouts. His pitch count reached 103 on the night.

DeSanto would be charged with six runs on six hits over his five innings of work.

“Our offense felt tension and anxiety, and I didn’t like that, that’s not who we are,” head coach Mike Gambino said.

The Nittany Lions were able to get runners on base, but getting those runners home was the challenge. 12 Nittany Lions would be left on base throughout the game.

With the regular season almost at the finish line, the Big Ten standings are tight, leaving minimal room for error if teams want to make it to the dance in Omaha. The Nittany Lions sit ninth in the standings after Friday night’s loss.

The top 12 teams make the Big Ten tournament, and with Maryland and Rutgers being the final two conference opponents for the Nittany Lions, series wins in both can certainly lock the team in a spot for postseason baseball.

Game 2 between these two teams is set to be played Saturday at noon.

Anthony Desher is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email desher1119@gmail.com.