Penn State Baseball makes history in the Big Ten Tournament

After rain delayed the start of the 2022 Big Ten Baseball Tournament, Penn State Baseball got the event started with a 5-2 win over the Iowa Hawkeyes, their first win in the conference tournament since 2008.

The pitching was brilliant from both sides, as both teams combined for 32 strikeouts.

The difference, however, was a three-run home run off the bat of Nittany Lions star catcher, Matt Wood, that may or may not have landed yet.

Penn State’s starting pitcher, Tyler Shingledecker, was tremendous, striking out eight and only allowing one hit in 5.2 innings, but reliever Travis Luensmann was arguably even better.

The Altoona native and transfer from South Carolina got the Hawkeyes’ five-hole hitter swinging to end the sixth inning, stranding a pair.

Penn State had runners on the corners with nobody out in the top of the seventh, but were not able to push across any insurance runs, stranding the two runners – which was the theme of the day for the offense, as they also left the bases loaded in the eighth.

It was not a problem though, as Luensmann threw 3.1 scoreless innings in relief, securing an upset win for Penn State Baseball over the No. 3 seeded Hawkeyes.

The Nittany Lions will take on the winner of Rutgers vs Purdue in the second round of the tournament, which will take place on Friday afternoon, approximately 40 minutes after the completion of the first game of the day, which will begin at 10:00 AM ET. So, anticipate the first pitch of the Penn State game to take place sometime in the early afternoon on the Big Ten Network.

Penn State lost two out of three in a series against the Scarlet Knights in late-March, but took two out of three from the Boilermakers in mid-April. A win would put the Nittany Lions in the Big Ten semifinals, at which point they would have to win just one out of two, to advance to the conference championship.