Liberty University
10-6
Penn State
1-12
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penn State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 3 |
| Liberty | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 1 |
Liberty Walks Off With 7-6 Win Over Penn State
3/14/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Left fielder Nick Paxton was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and two outs, forcing in the winning run, as the Liberty Flames defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions, 7-6, in game three of the Liberty Invitational, Saturday afternoon at Liberty Baseball Stadium.
After the Nittany Lions scored four runs in the top of the fourth, the Flames plated five unanswered run to take a 6-4 lead headed into the ninth. However, Penn State pushed across two runs in the top of the inning to tie the contest at 6-6.
In the bottom of the inning, Liberty filled the bases without a hit to open the bottom of the frame. First baseman Andrew Yacyk was hit by a pitch, designated hitter Becker Sankey walked and shortstop Dalton Britt was safe on a fielding error to load the bases. After the Nittany Lions put five fielders on the infield, reliever Jack Anderson retired the next two batters, only to hit Paxton to force in Sankey with the winning run and a 7-6 victory.
Liberty catcher Alex Close collected two hits, one a double, drove in two runs and scored two runs in the win. Britt hit his second home run of the season in the fourth inning.
The Flames extend their winning streak to four games and improve to 10-6 with the victory. The Nittany Lions drop to 1-12 on the season. The contest, which started three hours later than its original start time of 1 p.m. due to rain, was the first of two games for Liberty, Saturday. The Flames faced Western Carolina in their second contest of the day.
The Flames took a 1-0 advantage in the game's opening inning. Center fielder Aaron Stroosma walked and stole second to open the home half of the first. After advancing to third on a ground out by second baseman Nick Salisbury, Close singled to score Stroosma with the contest's first run.
Penn State took advantage of a Liberty error in the top of the fourth to take a 4-1 lead. Right fielder Aaron Novak reached on a fielding miscue by Salisbury, leading off the inning. First baseman J.J. White and shortstop Jim Haley followed with back-to-back singles, loading the bases. Third baseman Christian Heisel then lifted a sacrifice fly to bring home Novak with the first tally of the frame. Two batters later, center fielder Ryan Richter's two-out single plated White for a 2-1 Nittany Lions' edge. Catcher Nick Graham followed with a two-run single, giving Penn State a 4-1 advantage.
Britt trimmed Liberty's deficit to two runs in the bottom half of the fourth The Liberty shortstop opened the frame with a home run over the center field wall to trim the Nittany Lions' advantage to 4-2.
With starting pitcher Victor Cole and Shawn Clowers combining to retire the next 13 Penn State batters, the Flames were able to reclaim the lead.
In the fifth, the Flames tied the game. Salisbury walked and scored from first on a double by Close to the bottom of the center field wall to begin the home half of the inning. Later, third baseman Sammy Taormina singled to score Close, knotting the contest at 4-4.
Liberty plated two in the seventh without the benefit of a hit to go in front once again. Salisbury walked and Close was hit by a pitch to open the bottom half of the inning. Two batters later, Sankey drew a one-out walk to load the bases. Britt followed with a sacrifice fly for a run and Close scored on a passed ball to make it, 6-4 Flames.
Penn State tied it in the top of the ninth. Shortstop Jim Haley doubled and Heisel walked to lead off the inning. Two batters later, Richter tripled into the left-center field gap to knot the game at 6-6 with one out. However, Clowers retired the next two batters to strand the go-ahead run at third and keep the visitors from taking a lead.
Clowers moves to 5-0 on the season. The left-hander gave up two runs on two hits over the final two innings of the contest. He struck out two and walked one batter.
Nittany Lions reliever Anderson falls to 0-2 on the year. The last of four Penn State pitchers, he gave up one run on no hits, striking out one and walking two.
Liberty collected six hits. Taromina joined Close with two for the Flames. Penn State had nine hits.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Clowers, Shawn (5-0)
L: Anderson, Jack (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Haley, Jim 1 ; Helsel, Christian 1
3B: Richter, Ryan 1
RBI: Helsel, Christian 1 ; Richter, Ryan 3 ; Graham, Nick 2
SF: Helsel, Christian 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Novak, Aaron 1 ; White, J.J. 1 ; Haley, Jim 2 ; Helsel, Christian 1 ; Richter, Ryan 1
Batting:
2B: Close, Alex 1
HR: Britt, Dalton 1
RBI: Close, Alex 2 ; Britt, Dalton 2 ; Taormina, Sammy 1 ; Paxton, Nick 1
SH: Britt, Dalton 1
SF: Britt, Dalton 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Stroosma, Aaron 1 ; Salisbury, Nick 2 ; Close, Alex 2 ; Sankey, Becker 1 ; Britt, Dalton 1
SB: Stroosma, Aaron 1 ; Paxton, Nick 1
CS: Roberts, Tray 1
HBP: Close, Alex 1 ; Yacyk, Andrew 1 ; Sankey, Becker 1 ; Paxton, Nick 2
