The baseball team took on Penn State on March 22-23 in a two-day double-header that took place in both University Park, Pa. and Lewisburg. While they finished 1-3 for the weekend, the highlight came in a shutout at home when the Bison beat the Big Ten school for the first time since 1998, ending a 16-year drought for the Bison.

The pitcher’s duel ended in favor of the Bison, thanks to shutout pitching by Andrew Andreychik ’16 who was backed by a lockdown defense. Pitching his second complete game of his career, Andreychik led his team to a 1-0 victory in this third game of the series. He allowed only four hits and recorded five strikeouts to improve to 2-2 on the season. He retired the last 11 batters that he faced without allowing a single walk, lowering his ERA to 3.12, the best among Bison starters. The Orange and Blue offense outlasted an equally outstanding pitching performance by the Nittany Lions, sneaking in the only score of the game on an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth.

“There were a lot of positives that came out of the weekend, but a lot of things surfaced that our team needs to work on,” Anthony Gingerelli ’15 said.

Andreychik’s shutout proved to be one of the positives, while the other three games highlighted some problem areas for the Bison. The Orange and Blue dropped their first two games at Penn State, unable to capitalize on an early lead in both. They fell 7-2 in the first game and 4-3 in the second. After a nearly flawless performance by both teams in the third game, the Bison and the Nittany Lions unraveled in the fourth. Together, the two teams posted a combined six errors and four unearned runs. The sloppy play resulted in an early Nittany Lion lead, as Penn State capitalized on the weak defense and quiet Bison bats. Despite a late Orange and Blue rally started by Brett Smith ’17, Penn State’s six run lead proved too much to overcome. The Nittany Lions retired the side 1-2-3 in the ninth to defeat the Bison 6-2 in the final game.

With the double-header scheduled for March 25 against Binghamton postponed, the Bison look forward to beginning Patriot League play this weekend at Depew field with a four-game series against Navy.

“The weekend didn’t go as we had planned. However, it opened our eyes to many things that we need to work on in order to be ready for this weekend [against Navy]. A good week of practice will both physically and mentally prepare us for the Patriot League opener,” Joe Ogren ’16 said.