State College, Pa., May 6, 2001 - The Penn State baseball squad dropped its third straight game to Northwestern on Sunday afternoon by the score of 5-4. The Nittany Lions, who trailed 5-3 entering the bottom of the ninth, had a chance to tie the game in their last at bat after a clutch two-out RBI single by Brian Bishop (Reading, Pa.) cut the margin to 5-4. Penn State came up short however as Chris Netwall (Allentown, Pa.), who represented the tying run at third base, was tagged out on the back-end of an attempted double steal for the final out of the game.

The Lions lost the final game of the series with Northwestern despite out-hitting the Wildcats 14-7. Penn State left 11 men on base in the contest, while Northwestern only stranded five runners.

The loss drops Penn State to 24-27 overall and 11-11 in the Big Ten. Northwestern improves to 23-28 overall and 11-13 in the conference. The single run loss marked the Nittany Lions ninth of the season, sending their season record in one-run contests to 3-9.

Penn State (24-27, 11-11 Big Ten) took the game's first lead at 1-0 in the bottom of the first when a Chris Wright (State College, Pa.) sacrifice fly brought home Rod Perry (San Diego, Calif.), who opened the frame with a single and a swipe of second.

Northwestern (23-28, 11-13) tacked on a pair of runs in the second via a Travis Tharp RBI double to left center and a sacrifice fly by Wes Robinson to take a 2-1 advantage.

Matt Lindert (Pensacola, Fla.) knotted the contest at 2-2 in the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run, his second of the season, over the left field wall.

After Tharp gave Northwestern a 3-2 edge in the top of the sixth on a two-out RBI single, Zack Smithlin (Fair Lawn, N.J.) tied the game for a second time with a two-out run-scoring hit of his own in the bottom half of the sixth.

The Wildcats took the lead for good with two runs off three hits in the top of the ninth. Pinch hitter Matt Thompson delivered the big blow with a two-RBI double to right field with two outs in the frame.

Penn State starter Justin Nash (3-5) (Hunt Valley, Md.) took the loss for Penn State after allowing four runs off six hits over 8.2 innings, while fanning seven. Zach Schara (7-5) earned the win for Northwestern after giving up three hits and one run over 1.2 innings of relief.

Mike DeRenzo (Murrysville, Pa.) and Zack Smithlin (Fair Lawn, N.J.) sparked the Penn State offense in the loss with three hits apiece. John Richmond (Pittsburgh, Pa.) also posted multiple hits as he finished 2-for-3 with a triple and run scored.

Tharp led Northwestern with a pair of hits, a run and two RBI. Dan Pohlman went 2-for-4 with a run scored, while Thompson finished with a hit and two RBI.

Penn State returns to action at Beaver Field next weekend as it hosts Big Ten foe Michigan State in the final series of the regular season. The Nittany Lions and Spartans will open the four-game set with a single game on Friday, May 11 at 3:00 p.m.

Complete Box Score