Penn State baseball wins first game against Brown in an unexpected way

On Friday, March 10th, the Nittany Lions returned to the Team USA ballpark in Cary, N.C., to play their first game in a series of four against Brown. Here is how Penn State baseball fared:

Penn State Baseball 7, Brown 6

Brown struck first in the fourth inning with a solo home run to give them the lead, 1-0.  They were then able to capitalize off of an error by Penn State and hit an RBI single to increase their lead to 3-0.  

Penn State started erasing their three-run deficit in the fifth inning when Thomas Bramley tripled and scored two runners.

Trip, trip, Triple! Thomas Bramley crushes a line-drive to the gap in right-center to drive home Marsh and Kailher!

B5 | PSU 2, Brown 3#WeAre pic.twitter.com/QTRXOshFhy

— Penn State Baseball (@PennStateBASE) March 10, 2023

They then took the lead in the fifth from a Jay Harry RBI single (which scored Bramley from third) and Kyle Hannon single that scored Harry. The score after the fifth inning was 4-3 in the Lions’ favor.

Brown was able to take back the lead in the seventh inning. Two solo home runs got the score to 5-4 Brown.

All action would occur again in the ninth inning. A sacrifice fly from Brown increased their lead to 6-4. Penn State had one more shot at winning the game, and it was in the bottom of the ninth.

To start things off for Penn State in their crucial bottom half of the ninth inning, center fielder Johnny Piacentino hit a solo home run to straightaway center to cut the deficit to a single run. Designated hitter Bobby Marsh hit a double that scored Derek Cease (pinch running for first baseman Anthony Steele) and tied the game 6-6.

The winning run for Penn State baseball would not come from a hit but from a Brown fielding error. Billy Gerlott reached first base due to a fielding error by the Brown second baseman. This, in turn, allowed Bobby Marsh to score from second base and gave Penn State the win in walk-off fashion, though in the most unconventional way.  The final score was 7-6 in favor of Penn State baseball.

Nittany Lions win!!! Gerlott sends a ground ball to 2nd and the throw gets past 1st as Marsh scores the winning run!

Penn State 7, Brown 6#WeAre pic.twitter.com/P2SAIJj9pz

— Penn State Baseball (@PennStateBASE) March 10, 2023

The Penn State baseball Nittany Lions are set to play a doubleheader against Brown on Saturday, March 11th. Game 1 is currently scheduled to start at noon, while Game 2 is slated to begin at 3:30 pm.

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