Game 1 Box
Game 2 Box
NORFOLK, Va. – Jordan Steranka and Sean Deegan each had six hits combined as Penn State swept a doubleheader from Norfolk State by scores of 5-1 and 12-1 on Saturday at Marty L. Miller Field.
Steranka was 4-for-4 with three RBI in the first game, while Deegan was 3-for-4 in both games and hit an inside-the-park home run in the nightcap for the Nittany Lions (9-4).
James Taylor had a career-high four hits for the Spartans (5-9) in the opener.
PSU got off to a quick start in both games. In the opener, Steranka had an RBI single and Joey DeBernardis an RBI double as PSU scored twice in the first off Spartan starter Ryan Shook (1-3). Steranka added run-scoring singles in the second and fourth innings for the Nittany Lions.
NSU matched Penn State's 11 hits in the opener, but couldn't come up with enough timely hits and stranded eight runners as a result. The Spartans' only run came in the bottom of the fifth. John Lynch hit a one-out triple, his first three-bagger of the year, and scored when Taylor followed with an RBI single. Chris Joyce followed Taylor's single with one of his own, putting two runners on base. But PSU reliever Greg Welsh struck out Brandon Hairston and Blaze Zeilman to end the threat.
The Lions added their fifth and final run in the seventh on a Luis Montesinos RBI single.
Shook took the loss for NSU despite matching his career high with nine strikeouts in just five innings. He allowed eight hits and four runs, all of them earned, and walked two.
Welsh got the win out of the PSU bullpen. He pitched the final four innings, allowing five hits and one run with six strikeouts.
Lynch and freshman Tyon Ore had two hits each for NSU in the opener. Michael Glantz was 2-for-3 with two runs scored for the Nittany Lions.
PSU again got off to a fast start in the nightcap. Deegan reached on an error to start the game, and both he and Steranka scored on Mario Eramo's two-run single. Ryan Clark added an RBI groundout in the frame.
Steranka and DeBernardis both scored on a two-out error in the third for PSU, extending the lead to 5-0.
Lynch scored NSU's only run in the bottom of the third. He reached on an error and went to second when Taylor was hit by a pitch. Joyce then grounded into a fielder's choice, and Lynch, hustling all the way, scored from second by sliding around the tag attempt at home plate.
But PSU added one run in the sixth and six more in the seventh off NSU relievers to seal the win. The run in the sixth came off Deegan's inside-the-park homer. He hit a towering fly ball to right, which hit high off NSU's 20-foot wall past the outstretched arms of a leaping Lynch, and bounced back some 30 feet toward the infield.
PSU's first five batters in the order had 11 of the team's 13 hits in the nightcap. Deegan had three, while Montesinos, Steranka, DeBernardis and Eramo had apiece.
Hairston went 2-for-4 for the Spartans in the nightcap. Joyce was held hitless for the first time this season, breaking his 15-game hitting streak dating to last year's MEAC Tournament.
Ryan VanAssche took the loss for NSU to drop to 2-1 on the year. He allowed five hits and five runs, but just one earned, in four innings. He struck out five hitters. Steven Hill (1-1) picked up the victory for PSU, pitching a complete game while yielding just six hits and one unearned run. He fanned five.
The teams play another doubleheader on Sunday beginning at noon.
