MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (March 7, 2011) – The Penn State Berks baseball team has gone 1-3 over the past two days of its spring break to Myrtle Beach. The Nittany Lions fell 7-4 to Wilkes in Sunday's opener and then gained its win with a thrilling come from behind 12-11 victory. On Monday afternoon, Berks lost its games to Catholic and Eastern.
In the win, Jade Hendrick played a crucial role for the Nittany Lions. A day after throwing over 100 pitches against Allegheny, he was called on for relieve. Hendrick threw the final 1 2/3 innings to earn the win, but it was his work at the plate that was the most heroic.
With no players left on the bench and two outs in the eighth Hendrick singled and moved up to second on a walk to Jason Mays. Freshman Jeff Bell then hit a walk off single to score Hendrick and complete the comeback.
Both teams traded runs in the early going. Wilkes scored three in the first inning, but the Lions fought back and gained a 7-5 lead after the second. The Colonels tacked on three runs in the fourth and seventh.
In the bottom of the seventh, Geraldo Garcia reached base after getting hit by pitch. He advanced to second on a passed ball then moved to third on a fly to right. With two outs and an 0-2 count on the batter, Garcia scored on another passed ball to even the game at 11-all to set the stage for Hendricks.
The Nittany Lion offense was unable to carry that momentum over to their games on Monday. In the opener, Catholic downed Berks 9-0. The Lions were held scoreless through the first six innings against Eastern in the night cap. Freshman Cody Kauffman, who has reached base safely in all three of his trips to the plate this season, finished 1-for-1 with an RBI. Bell and Ryan Zawaski also drove in a run, but the Lions suffered a 12-5 setback.
Berks will return to action with a doubleheader against Swarthmore College beginning at 3 p.m.
