Northwestern Drops 11-1 Decision to Penn State in Series Finale
April 20, 2003
Penn State Box Score in PDF Format STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Northwestern and Penn State wrapped up their four-game Big Ten series at Beaver Field in University Park, Pa., Sunday afternoon, with the host Lions winning, 11-1. PSU used a three-run first inning to take control and never looked back. The loss drops NU to 14-15 overall, 6-8 in the Big Ten. Penn State set the tone early, jumping out to a 3-0 lead, stringing together three hits off Wildcat starter Mark Brauer (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton-Warrenville South). Brauer, starting his third game of the year, threw 42 pitches in the inning, including 10 to the leadoff hitter. After quiet second and third innings, PSU extended its lead to 4-0 on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth. The Lions loaded the bases with one out on a single and two Brauer walks. One of the walks was intentional, to set up a double play. NU scored one run in the top of the fifth, loading the bases with no outs. Catcher Ken Padgett (Littleton, Colo./Arapahoe) hit a one-out sacrifice fly to left field, scoring designated hitter Jason Krynski (Niles, Ill./Niles West) from third. Krynski walked and moved to third after Dan Pohlman (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) was hit by a pitch and Brandon Ackley's (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) sacrifice bunt turned into an infield single.
Penn State extended its lead to 5-1 in the bottom of the sixth as a one-out Evan Blesoff (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park River Forest) walk came around to score on a stolen base and single to right. Blesoff relieved Brauer in the fifth throwing three and two-third innings
The Nittany Lions added six insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth as NU made two pitching changes in the inning. PSU had five hits, taking advantage of one Wildcat miscue. Offensively, Padgett had two hits while right-fielder Brandon Ackley (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) also had two hits. NU is next in action when they host Valparaiso on Wednesday afternoon at 3 p.m. |
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