Following a series sweep against Texas Tech, Penn State hit the road again and faced Georgetown on Tuesday afternoon for the first of a two-game series.
The Nittany Lions entered the contest with a subpar record of 4-9 and the worst team-ERA in the Big Ten at 8.71, so their pitching staff had to limit runs against the Hoyas, who entered atop of the Big East at 10-6.
Penn State’s losing streak extended to four games in its 8-2 loss against Georgetown, behind more poor pitching and cold bats.
A pair of right-handers battled it out on the mound with Charlie Hendrix starting for Georgetown while Frankie Sanchez got the ball for Penn State. Both offenses went down quietly in the opening frame, but applied pressure in the second.
Right fielder Jack Porter laced a leadoff single up the middle and then Hendrix hit second baseman Jesse Jaconski. Porter was now in scoring position with just one out, but Hendrix retired first baseman Joey DeMucci and left fielder Maddox McDonald to end the threat.
Sanchez also ran into some trouble in the bottom of the second. Christian Hamilton poked a one-out single through the left side and Braxton Templin then drew a walk. However, Sanchez got Dylan Larkins to ground into an inning-ending double play to shortstop Preston Yaucher.
The blue and white broke the scoreless tie in the third. Yaucher launched a deep ball into center and raced around the bags for a leadoff triple. Then the Nittany Lions got some help from the Hoyas’ defense as center fielder Cohl Mercado’s routine ground ball to shortstop Connor Peek was bobbled and allowed Yaucher to score.
Though it was just a 1-0 lead, Penn State hasn’t possessed many leads throughout its slow start. However, the Nittany Lions wouldn’t have the lead for long as Georgetown answered right back and plated four runs across in its half of the third.
AJ Solomon worked a long one-out walk and Ashtin Gilio gave the Hoyas the lead with one swing of the bat. The junior smothered a two-run home run deep over the center field wall and put the Hoyas up, 2-1.
Sanchez was a little rattled and walked Travis Ilitch on five pitches. Now facing the heart of Georgetown’s lineup, Connor Peek crushed a double into right-center and set up runners on the corners.
After Sanchez retired cleanup batter Jeremy Sheffield, Coach Mike Gambino brought in left-hander Matthew VanOstenbridge.
Yet the sophomore didn’t stop the bleeding. Hamilton delivered a clutch two-out single and extended the Hoyas lead, 4-1. Now down three runs, the Nittany Lions would have to play catch-up again to pull off the victory.
Right-hander Andrew Citron retired the blue and white in order and the Hoyas added two more runs in their half of the fourth. Larkins drew a leadoff walk and then was shifty on the basepaths as he stole second.
VanOstenbridge committed an error that allowed Larkins to quickly reach third. The pressure was on and Solomon drew another walk-off, a wild pitch that let Larkins score. The errors continued for the Nittany Lions’ defense as Gilio reached base off an error by DeMucci at first.
Ilitch then laid down a perfect bunt single and bases were now loaded with still only one out. Gambino turned to right-hander Ben DeMell in the jam. The redshirt senior didn’t get help from his defense as the errors continued in the inning.
Peek reached first and scored another run off the third error of the frame by Bryce Molinaro at third. DeMell stayed composed and surrendered no further runs, but Penn State was in a massive 6-1 hole.
After a quiet fifth inning, Molinaro helped cut into the five-run deficit in the sixth. The Drums, Pennsylvania, native launched his third home run of the season into left center and chipped the Nittany Lions closer, 6-2.
DeMell provided a few shutdown innings, but left-hander Logan Olson struggled with his command in the seventh and Georgetown capitalized on bases loaded with no outs and plated two more runs.
While the blue and white’s pitching continued struggling throughout this game, its bats also didn’t produce much. Penn State struck out 10 times and totaled just five hits and one walk.
With the loss, the Nittany Lions fell to 10-4 on the campaign.
Up Next
Penn State looks to split the series against Georgetown at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
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