College Baseball · 1 year ago

Penn State Baseball Advances to Big Ten Semifinals with Dramatic Win

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Penn State Baseball Advances to Big Ten Semifinals with Dramatic Win

Bryce Molinaro’s go-ahead grand slam in the bottom of the eighth inning propelled Penn State to a 9-5 victory over fourth-seed Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament at Charles Schwab Field on Friday night. Michigan had taken the lead earlier in the inning with a three-run homer. With this win, the Nittany Lions improved to 28-23 overall, while Michigan fell to 31-27.

The eighth-seeded Nittany Lions will face the winner of Illinois vs. Michigan in the semifinals on Saturday at 2 p.m., broadcast on Big Ten Network.

This marks Penn State’s first time winning two Big Ten Tournament games since 2007, which is also the last time they advanced to the semifinals. PSU is the first eighth-seed to reach the Big Ten semifinals since Indiana in 2022.

Jaden Henline started for Penn State, pitching seven innings and allowing two runs on eight hits. Henline struck out a career-high nine batters and walked one. He struck out the side in the first inning and added three strikeouts in the third, two in the fourth, and one in the fifth. Henline also surpassed 200 career innings pitched in the second inning.

Anthony Steele pitched two-thirds of an inning, giving up three runs on one hit and four walks. Matt Morash closed out the game with 1.1 scoreless innings, striking out three.

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Michigan’s Chase Allen started the game, going 4.1 innings and allowing three runs on seven hits, striking out three and walking two. Ricky Kidd threw three innings, giving up six runs (four earned) on five hits. Brandon Mann got the final two outs of the eighth.

Penn State tallied nine runs on 13 hits. Molinaro’s grand slam was one of his three hits, which also included a double. J.T. Marr notched two hits, including a double, and three RBIs. Adam Cecere collected three hits, including a double and an RBI single. Tayven Kelley had two hits and scored a run.

Marr recorded his 29th multi-hit game of the season, reaching 90 hits on the season, and now sits third in a season at Penn State. Cecere contributed multiple spectacular defensive plays, including a diving catch in the fourth and a throw home to get a runner at the plate in the seventh. Kelley added a sliding grab earlier in the seventh.

Michigan had five runs on 19 hits. Mitch Voit hit a three-run homer, while Will Rogers went three-for-three, including a two-run shot.

Penn State got on the board in the second inning when Matt Maloney drove a double down the left-field line, and Kelley singled to left, allowing Maloney to score. Michigan took the lead in the fifth inning with a two-run homer by Rogers. Penn State re-claimed the lead in the bottom half, with RBIs from Marr and Cecere.

In the eighth inning, Michigan plated three runs on a three-run homer by Voit. In the bottom of the eighth, Penn State’s Cecere led off with a single, followed by a single from Bobby Marsh, and a walk from Grant Norris to load the bases. Molinaro then hit a grand slam to left-center, giving Penn State the lead. Marr added two more RBIs with a single, pushing Penn State’s lead to 9-5.