Penn State had already sealed the series victory, but attempted the series sweep against Xavier in the final weekend of the regular season.
The Nittany Lions couldn’t hold off a late push from the Musketeers as Xavier took the final game of the series, avoiding the sweep, 8-6.
The offenses were held scoreless in the opening inning as the starters, Mason Butash for Penn State and Logan Schmidt for Xavier, limited runners.
The Nittany Lions’ offense jump-started in the second inning with shortstop Ryan Weingartner and designated hitter Nate Voss reaching base. Catcher Matt Maloney remained red hot at the plate, driving in Weingartner on an RBI double.
The blue and white’s lead wouldn’t hold for long as second baseman Nolan Tucker tied it on hard-hit double. The Musketeers took the lead on a sacrifice fly from third baseman Luke Hammond.
The back and forth series continued in the final game of the series with two lead changes in the first three innings.
The bottom part of the order struck again for the Nittany Lions with Maloney notching a solo home run to right field to tie the game, 2-2.
Penn State reliever Skip Shenosky shut down Xavier’s offense for most of his multi-inning outing. Shenosky entered in the fourth and worked through the middle of the seventh.
The Nittany Lions retook the lead in the bottom of the sixth with a Voss RBI double. Voss batted No. 6, showcasing the depth of Penn State’s lineup.
Similar to the first runs of the game, the Musketeers responded in the next inning and eventually retook the lead as Tucker hit his second double of the game, bringing in the go-ahead run.
First baseman Connor Misch doubled the lead with a single, pushing the score to 5-3 in the seventh.
The seventh inning struggles continued to show up as reliever Harrison Lollin threw a five-pitch walk to load the bases with two outs.
Lollin forced a flyout in foul territory to get out of the jam and keep the deficit at two.
Penn State had the top of its order up to bat in the bottom of the seventh. First baseman Joe Jaconski and centerfielder Paxton Kling reached base on a single and a walk, respectively, bringing the middle of the order to bat speed on the base paths.
The speed wasn’t utilized as the next two batters struck out and flew out to end the inning without any damage.
Reliever Carson Renner dealt with command issues in the eighth. With wild winds, Renner walked the bases loaded with one out in the inning, leaving reliever Brandon Wingenroth with a jam.
Wingenroth made an appearance for the first time since March 21 as coach Mike Gambino dealt with trying to hold off Xavier’s offense while also keeping his bullpen rested for a potentially long week.
Tucker added his fourth hit of the day with an infield single to shortstop. The ball was hit soft enough that Weingartner had no play anywhere across the infield, extending the lead to 6-3.
Wingenroth picked off a runner and forced a flyout to end the inning without any additional runs crossing the plate.
The Manheim, Pennsylvania, native returned to the mound for the ninth inning. However, he couldn’t find the same success as he did at the end of the previous frame.
Xavier centerfielder Aedan Anderson launched a two-run home run to left field, extending the lead to 8-3 in the final inning of the game.
The Nittany Lions needed five runs in the bottom of the ninth to keep the game going.
With two runners on base, Kling popped one up to the second baseman. However, with the wind blowing out to left field, Tucker couldn’t stay under it, letting it drop, allowing a runner to score.
Weingartner laced a ground ball through the infield for an RBI single, bringing the tying run to the plate.
Similar to Kling’s pop-up, Voss popped up to shallow right-center field. The ball dropped in and another run scored, pulling the score to 8-6.
However, Maloney grounded out to end the game, putting away the chance of a series sweep.
Up Next
Penn State will await its position in the Big Ten standings for the upcoming Big Ten Tournament. The blue and white will play in at least two games in the tournament during the pool play part of the format.
Injury Report
First baseman Cole Wagner remains out of the lineup with a broken bone in his wrist. He was taking ground balls pregame during the Xavier series.
Designated hitter Jack Porter will be out of the lineup for the series and may miss the Big Ten Tournament due to an injury.
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