CARY, N.C. — The Holy Cross baseball team won its third straight game with an 11-5 win over Big Ten foe Penn State on Sunday, March 5 at the USA Baseball Complex.
Holy Cross (4-7) earned its second win over a Big Ten opponent this season after beating Purdue on Feb. 18; the Crusaders have also scored double-digit runs in three consecutive games.
The Crusader pitching staff struck out a season-high 15 batters and snapped a five-game winning streak for Penn State (6-3).
STATS LEADERS:
Holy Cross
Scanlon (2-for-5, walk, four RBI)
Toomey (2-for-5, home run, three RBI, two runs scored)
Jones (3-for-3, double, three runs scored)
Manning (1-for-1, four walks, three runs scored)
Brown (W, 3.0 IP, one run, five strikeouts)
LeMond (S, no runs, one hit, three strikeouts)
Penn State
Harry (1-for-3, home run, two RBI)
Coffin (4.0 IP, no runs, two hits, four strikeouts)
THE DECISION:
W: Brown (1-0)
L: Molsky (0-1)
S: LeMond (1)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Penn State hit a two-run homer to take an early lead in the bottom of the first.
- Sophomore shortstop Brendan Jones hit a two-out single in the second, and freshman right fielder Jack Toomey tied up the game with a two-run homer to left field. Holy Cross then loaded up the bases after a walk by freshman catcher Lucas Manning, single by sophomore third baseman Connor Peek and an error by the Nittany Lions that put sophomore center fielder Connor Cooney on first. Sophomore designated hitter Sean Scanlon then drew a bases-loaded walk to give Holy Cross a 3-2 lead.
- The Nittany Lions tied up the game in the bottom of the second after an error.
- The Crusaders used a six-run third inning to take control of the game. Toomey hit a go-ahead single to make it a 4-3 game; junior second baseman Jake McElroy then scored on a wild pitch. Two more runs came across after a fielder's choice and a throwing error to build a 7-3 lead, and an RBI groundout made the score 8-3. Scanlon followed with an RBI single to push the lead to 9-3.
- Penn State began to chip away, hitting an RBI double in the fourth to cut within 9-4. Freshman reliever Oliver Brown was able to quell the Nittany Lions' rally in that frame, earning a swinging strikeout and leaving the bases loaded to end the inning.
- The Nittany Lions made it a 9-5 game with a one-out single in the sixth, but Brown struck out the next two batters to keep the Crusaders ahead by four. Penn State put on two runners in the seventh, but LeMond secured another strikeout to keep the Nittany Lions off the board.
- Scanlon hit a two-run single in the top of the ninth to add on some insurance runs for the Crusaders and push the lead to 11-5.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
- Senior starting pitcher Nate Chudy recorded a career-best seven strikeouts.
- In 2022, Holy Cross scored double-digit runs in just four contests; this season, it has done so in four of the last five games.
- Holy Cross is now 8-0 all-time against Penn State; this was the first matchup between the two teams since the 1952 College World Series.
DUE UP:
- The Crusaders and Nittany Lions face off again at 1 p.m. on Monday, March 6.
FOLLOW THE CRUSADERS
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Twitter - @HCrossBaseball | @goholycross
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