Shenango Bests Beaver in Opening Day

Sharron, PA - After a tough winter of waiting for season to start the Penn State Beaver Baseball team finally got to hit the field. After getting day one of their weekend postponed the team finally took the field against Penn State Shenango on a sunny but cold afternoon in Pennsylvania. Dropping both games to Shenango was tough but Beaver battled and took opportunities when they came but a couple rough innings did it in for Beaver. Losing the first game 10-7 after 7 innings and losing the second game 13-1 after 5 innings, Beaver now has 2 games under their belt just in time for Spring Training in Myrtle Beach, SC. 

Game one started slow for Beaver now scoring a run until the 4th inning. Beaver was down 3-0 after the first inning and clawed their way back slowly. Scoring 1 in the 4th, 1 in the 5th, and 5 in the 7th, Beaver's bat and base running were staring to pick up but it was a little to late. Beaver had 5 hits in game one and made 2 errors, while Shenango had 11 hits making the same amount of errors. Leading the team in game one was Second-Year, Christopher Cann (Selden, NY) who went 2 for 4 and had 2 RBI's. First-Year Logan Ferguson (Mufeesboro, TN) who went 1 for 3 with a walk and 1 RBI while scoring 2 runs and hit the teams only extra base hit this game. Third-Year, Jericho Dela Cruz (Auburn, WA) went 1 for 4 this game scoring twice and bringing in 2 RBI's and having the teams only stolen base this game. The team had a total of 5 RBI's, 5 walks, and went to bat 25 times. On the mound for Beaver was First-Year, Nathan Asher (Ross, OH) who threw 2 innings, gave up 3 hits, 2 earned runs, and had 4 strike outs. Taking over from their was First-Year Christian Kreeger (London, OH) who threw the next 3 innings giving up 4 hits, 2 earned runs, and struck out 3 batters. Ending the game on the mound was First-Year, Cayden Jacobs (Rochester, PA) who threw on inning giving up 4 hits, no earned runs, and had 1 strike out. 

Game two was a much different outcome for Beaver. Losing 13-1, after 5 inningswas tough after a good battle in game one. Beaver didn't score until the 3rd inning which would be the only time a Beaver play would cross the plate in game two. Penn State Shenango took a very early lead going up 11 in the bottom of the first and taking 2 more on in the bottom of the 3rd. Beaver had 3 hits compared to Shenangos 9 hits and each team had 1 error each. Cann went 1 for 1 this game with 2 walks. Beaver's 3 hits came from Cann, First-Year, Brayden Loucks (Krum, TX) and Third-Year, Aaron Stribling (Hainesport, NJ). First-Year, Ian Butler (Stafford, VA) had the teams only RBI this game. Beaver had 4 walks, 3 hits, 1 RBI, and 18 at-bats. On the mound in game two was First-Year, Kairu Fujinuma (Saitama, Japan) who threw 0.2 innings giving up 3 hits and striking out 2 batters. Taking over for him was First-Year, Justin Pererea (Clarksburg, MD) who threw the remaining 3.1 innings, giving up 6 hits and striking out 1 batter.

The team will use this as a opportunity to grow and develop since the team is so young and it gives a good starting point to push off of going into Spring Training! The team is currently 0-2 on the season with many games ahead of them. Their next game will be on March 2nd at 1pm when they take on Bay College at The Ripken Experience in Myrtle Beach, SC. Stay tuned for all things Penn State Beaver Athletics at beaverathletics.com or watch games live on the Rise and Roar Network!