OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Adam Cecere drilled a two-run home run in the top of the 10th inning to propel…
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Adam Cecere drilled a two-run home run in the top of the 10th inning to propel eighth-seeded Penn State into its second ever Big Ten Tournament championship game with a 7-6 win over fourth-seeded Michigan on Saturday.
The Nittany Lions (29-23) face the winner of the late game between Nebraska and Indiana. Penn State last made the championship game in 2000, the last time it played in the NCAA Tournament.
The Wolverines (32-28), who beat top-seeded Illinois after being sent into the loser’s bracket by a 9-5 loss to Penn State on Thursday, got a two-out home run from Mitch Voit in the bottom of the 10th.
Ben DeMell pitched the final two innings to earn his first decision. Grant Norris had three hits.
Kyle Dernedde had a two-run double in the three-run fifth and and Stephen Hrustich had an RBI triple and scored on a wild pitch in the sixth to give Michigan a 5-3 lead.
The Nittany Lions took a 3-0 lead in the fourth on Matt Maloney’s RBI single to right and Hrustich’s throwing error and Tayven Kelley’s sacrifice fly.
Penn State tied the game at 2-2 in the eighth when Joe Jaconski homered to lead off the eighth and Bryce Molinaro singled in a run, but rightfielder Hrustich cut down the go-ahead run at the plate.
Josh Denner (9-5) struck out nine over the final six innings but took the loss, giving up four runs on four hits. Voit and Hrustich both had three hits.
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