ORLANDO – LHP Dante Biasi (Hazle Township, Pa.) and RHP Mason Mellott (State College, Pa.) combined to limit UCF to three hits and four Nittany Lions enjoyed multi-hit games, as Penn State defeated the Knights, 5-2, in non-conference baseball action Friday night in John Euliano Park.
Biasi (1-1) was dominant for Penn State (8-2), striking out nine in six innings and allowing just two runs (one earned) on two hits – both by UCF (9-4) designated hitter Chandler Robertson – and three walks. He retired nine-straight from the end of the third inning to the start of the sixth inning and did not allow a hit after the third. Mellott (2) earned his second save of the season, allowing just a hit and a walk over the final three innings.
The Nittany Lions out-hit the Knights 13-3 for the game. Centerfielder Jordan Bowersox, playing near his hometown of Winter Springs, and first baseman Parker Hendershot (Barton, N.Y.) both had season-high, three-hit games and a run scored, while Hendershot added an RBI. Catcher Ryan Sloniger (Punxsutawney, Pa.) and left fielder Kris Kremer (Hershey, Pa.) both had two hit games, with Sloniger tallying an RBI and Kremer tallying two.
The bulk of the scoring took place in the third inning.
Penn State jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the third, opening the frame with four-straight hits. Designated hitter Mac Hippenhammer (Fort Wayne, Ind.) poked a double that landed on the right field line, and he then scored on a ground rule double to left by second baseman Gavin Homer (Battle Creek, Mich.) Bowersox and Hendershot followed with back-to-back base hits, with Hendershot's scoring Homer from third for a 2-0 advantage. After an out, Kremer and Sloniger followed with back-to-back base hits, the fifth and sixth of the inning, to score Bowersox and Hendershot, respectively.
UCF responded with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning to have the advantage though. With two on via a hit-by-pitch and walk and two outs, Robertson delivered with a single to right field that was bobbled allowing the second run to score unearned.
The score remained the same though until Kremer drove in an insurance run in the top of the ninth.
RHP Chris Williams (1-1) worked six innings for UCF, allowing four runs on 10 hits with no walks and six strikeouts.
Penn State and UCF continue the series Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
Penn State opens its home slate Mar. 15 and tickets are on sale online by clicking here or by calling the Medlar Field at Lubrano Park ticket office at 814-272-1711.
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NOTES: Penn State's 8-2 start is its best since opening the 1980 season at 9-1 … Kris Kremer has reached base in the last nine-straight games … Hippenhammer's double was the first of his career … Penn State's 13 hits were its most since doing the same against St. Bonaventure on May 14, 2018 … It took Penn State 44 games in 2018 to throw three three-hitters, but it has accomplished the feat in just 10 games played this season.
