MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Jackson Cramer, called upon to pinch-hit in the bottom of the ninth, narrowly missed a game-tying homer when his towering drive drifted outside the right-field foul pole.
And West Virginia missed its chance to avoid a 6-5 upset loss against reeling Penn State.
The Nittany Lions (15-32), the last-place team in the Big Ten, used two walks and a hit batter to score the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth. In snapping a six-game losing streak, Penn State also got a three-run blast from freshman Logan Goodnight, the graduate of Wheeling’s Linsly School, whose first college homer cleared the left-field wall in the second inning.
West Virginia (27-20) slipped seven spots in the RPI to No. 20, while Penn State climbed 10 spots to 218th, improving on its 0-16 record against top-100 opponents.
The teams will rematch Wednesday night at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
Cramer, WVU’s big first baseman, nearly ended a 3-for-39 slump when he yanked a pitch from Dakota Forsyth (4-2) over the right-field fence, only to see the ball curl a couple feet foul. Cramer struck out two pitches later.
Braden Zarbnisky gave the Mountaineers life with a two-out single before Kyle Davis ended the game by flying to center.
After West Virginia pulled within 5-4 on Jimmy Galusky’s two-run single in the seventh, Cole Austin’s homer tied it in the eighth.
West Virginia reliever Jackson Sigman (3-4) retired 10 of the first 11 batters he faced until experiencing control difficulties in the ninth. He hit .212 hitter Christian Helsel before loading the bases with two more walks. When WVU couldn’t turn a double play on Mason Nadeau’s grounder, Penn State had its 6-5 lead.
Freshman right-handed Carter Camp lasted two innings for WVU, which has lost five of its past seven games. He surrendered two hits, two walks and Goodnight’s homer to leave trailing 3-1 after 37 pitches.
Penn State’s Schuyler Bates allowed four runs on seven hits over five innings.