Ryan Tantala batting
Gene Walsh
2
Penn State Berks PSBM 19-20
14
Winner Marietta MAR 30-14
Penn State Berks PSBM
19-20
2
Final
14
Marietta MAR
30-14
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Penn State Berks PSBM 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 4 2
Marietta MAR 3 0 0 1 4 0 0 6 X 14 15 0

W: Herstine (9-1) L: Erb, Luke (0-4)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Nittany Lions fall in regional opener to Marietta

MARIETTA, OH (May 14, 2014) - The Penn State Berks baseball team was doomed by a few defensive miscues as NCAA Regional host Marietta College earned a 14-2 victory in the opening round on Wednesday afternoon at Don Schaly Stadium.

The Nittany Lions (19-20) trailed just 4-0 after four inning, but in the bottom of the fifth an error and not covering the bag on a shift led way to four runs by the Pioneers. Berks was able to chip in a run in both the sixth and seventh off of sacrifice flies, but that is as close as they would get.

Luke Erb received the start for the Nittany Lions and deserved a better fate after giving a strong performance. After surrendering three runs in the first inning, he settled in a pair of scoreless innings and a single run in the fourth. Then the wheels came off defensively in the bottom of the fifth. Rockie Long tossed 2 2/3 innings of one-hit scoreless relief.

Ryan Tantala went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored, while Kyle Rissmiller was 1-for-1 with a run scored. Phil Anderson added a sacrifice fly to left field in the seventh inning.

Erb did receive some defensive help throughout the game, including two plays in the first inning. The Pioneers had runners on first and third base when a Tom Grablewski cut off a chopper and threw the runner out at home plate. Later in the inning, Marietta had one run score on a single before Connor Corson through out the runner at the plate trying to score from second base.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Pioneers singled to center and Rissmiller attempted to throw the runner out trying to go from first to the third. The runner had the throw beat, so Grablewski caught the throw and fired a shot to second base, catching the hitter trying to stretch into a double.

Christian Herstine picked up the win on the mound to improve to 9-1 with a 1.13 ERA. The sophomore right-hander, who was recently named Ohio Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year, struck out nine batters and issued just one walk.

The Nittany Lions will look to keep their season alive when they take on No. 5 seed La Roche College in an elimination game at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 15. La Roche opened up the tournament with an 8-1 loss to Widener University.
Print Friendly Version