River Hawks score three in the ninth, but Penn St wins 7-6

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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The UMass Lowell baseball team rallied with a three-run ninth inning, but Penn State plated the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the frame to pick up the 7-6 victory on Saturday afternoon.

Kris Kremer tripled and later scored the winning run with two outs in the frame as the Nittany Lions (12-3) picked up the series win.

“We showed a ton of character battling back and giving us a chance to win,” said Head Coach Ken Harring. “We continue to find out who we are as a team, and despite the tough ending, there were a ton of positives to take from the game. We have been fighting it at the plate and just need more competitive at-bats early in the game, but we know that these games will make us better by the end of the schedule.”

Entering the ninth trailing by three, the River Hawks (2-15) loaded the bases after the first out of the inning and Robert Gallagher () drove in the first of the inning with a RBI grounder to second. Following an intentional walk, Oscar Marchena (Miami, Fla.) reached on a throwing error by the shortstop that allowed Cam Climo (Billerica, Mass.) and Steven Passatempo (Medford, Mass.) to cross the plate and tie the game at 6-6.

Penn State scored four unanswered runs in the fifth and sixth innings to build a 6-2 advantage, following two runs for UMass Lowell on Ciaran Devennety’s () two-run double to draw the visitors even in the top half of the fifth. Devenney sent a 2-2 pitch to left center with two outs that scored Marchena and Andrew Roden (Sherill, N.Y.), after the pair reached with singles.

Nick Rand (Hyde Park, N.Y.) and Joshua Becker (Burlington, Mass.) combined to strike out 10 Nittany Lions, and the pair of Marchena and Roden recorded two hits apiece.

The teams wrap up the series tomorrow at noon.