Penn State baseball continues slide with loss to Bucknell

State College — The bats were hot, and so were the hot dogs on dollar dog night Tuesday. But unfortunately, Penn State baseball couldn’t get the win against Bucknell, falling 17-14 in a non-conference shootout. The defeat comes two days after the Lions lost both games of a doubleheader to Indiana by a combined score of 26-12. Penn State baseball has now entered a serious slide, losing three games in a row and posting a 2-6 record since March 24. 

Lions can’t silence Bison’s bats

Bucknell struck first with an RBI double in the first inning and increased the lead in the second. A walk with the bases loaded brought in another run, and then a grand slam broke the game opened to a 6-0 Bucknell lead. By the third inning, the Bison had already put up a touchdown on the Lions.

Penn State baseball finally stopped the bleeding in the bottom of the third inning. Jay Harry hit a single to the right side to score Tyson Cooper and Kyle Hannon, shrinking Bucknell’s deficit to 7-2. Tyson Cooper added another run off a single in the fourth. After RBI singles from Thomas Bramley and Billy Gerlott and a fielder’s choice error in the fifth, Penn State had made it a one-run game. 

Bucknell responded with two quick runs in the sixth inning to expand the lead to three. But Penn State baseball responded in its half of the inning with two runs to make it a 9-8 ballgame. In the eighth inning, the Bison added four runs to expand the advantage to 13-8. But again, the Lions responded in their half of the inning. Several Bucknell errors helped lead to a six-run burst from Penn State. The Nittany Lions took their first lead of the game, 14-13, going into the final frame. 

But sadly, Penn State baseball couldn’t silence Bucknell’s bats. The Bison scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning, including a three-run home run. However, the Lions had no more runs left in their bats and fell by a final of 17-14. 

Final.

Harry 2H, 2R, 2RBI
Spiegel 2H, 2R, 3 RBI
Norris H, 3 RBI
T Cooper 2H, 2R, RBI#WeAre pic.twitter.com/zmLJEt6UPz

— Penn State Baseball (@PennStateBASE) April 5, 2023

Luensmann wins B1G co-pitcher of the week

Despite the three consecutive losses, the Nittany Lions did get some good news this week. Travis Luensmann won conference co-pitcher of the week honors after pitching dominant innings against Indiana Friday. This honor is the first of this kind for Penn State baseball this season and shows the special year Luensmann is having. Luensmann has a 3.06 ERA with 36 strikeouts on 32 innings pitched this season.

A B1G award for @TravisLuensmann!

After firing four shutout relief innings and a career-high 10 strikeouts in Saturday's win over Indiana, Luensmann has been named Big Ten Co-Pitcher of the Week!

➡️ https://t.co/zAPY8sG5vE#WeAre pic.twitter.com/d6ymM7MtSl

— Penn State Baseball (@PennStateBASE) April 3, 2023

Turnaround needed for Penn State baseball

The Nittany Lions will look to snap their losing streak when they start a three-game non-conference series against Delaware State on Thursday.

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