Penn State Struggles in the Field, Loses 11-9

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - This ball is deep, this ball has height, this ball is outta here! Penn State hit four home runs in their Friday game against UMass Lowell but still dropped the game 11-9.

So what was the problem? Penn State’s defense struggled.

“They got on our heels a little bit, for a couple of things,” head coach Mike Gambino said. “We didn’t play clean defensively.”

The Nittany Lions had to use five pitchers on the day with a combined ERA of 6.5. Mason Horwat was the only pitcher to pitch more than two innings, and he was the blue and white’s starter.

Not only was the pitching subpar, but Penn State recorded three errors and four unearned runs with three of those coming in the top of the fourth. If it wasn’t for those runs, Penn State would have won the game.

It was the top of the fourth inning that spelled disaster. With the bases loaded and no outs, a Penn State error allowed for Carlos Martinez to score.

The Nittany Lions still led 6-2 until a back-to-back fielder’s choice, double and single brought in four more runs for UMass Lowell.

Roddy Hernandez would then steal second and advance to third on an overthrow error.

“I’m not thrilled with the fourth inning today,” Gambino said. “But as a group, [the Penn State pitchers] are way better than they were early on in the fall.”

Penn State would earn a run back in the bottom of the fourth, but still give UMass Lowell the lead and a seven-run fourth inning.

The Nittany Lions would never get the lead back and would have one more error in the top of the eighth, once again a throwing error.

On the contrary, UMass Lowell would only have one error on the day, coming in the bottom of the fifth inning. They would then record three straight outs and keep that error from impacting the scoreboard.

The only thing to say about Penn State’s offense was that it did its job.

Six of their nine runs came in the bottom of the second inning, all by homers. Adam Cecere’s solo led things off with Grant Norris bringing home Bobby Marsh and Kyle Hannon collecting both Billy Gerlott and Tayven Kelley.

Gambino called Cecere a “program changer.”

Cecere would hit his second home run of the night, this time a two-run long ball in the seventh. He said his success at the plate was due to daily practice.

“I’ve been seeing the ball great, feeling really good…I saw a lot of pitches last night and I think that led to a solid day today,” he said.

Cecere also commented on the loss, saying it was a disappointment.

“We scored a lot of runs tonight, but we just weren’t good enough defensively to get it done,” he said.

Allie Wenskoski is a second-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, please email amw7637@psu.edu.