UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (May 14, 2004) - Michigan State scored four runs in the second inning and three more in the eighth and the Penn State baseball team couldn't counter with its offense in a 7-3 defeat Friday afternoon at Beaver Field.

The two squads will continue their four-game series with a doubleheader on Saturday that begins at 1 p.m. Both games will be carried live on ESPN Radio WMAJ 1450 AM and a link to the broadcast will be available at www.GoPSUsports.com.

The Nittany Lions dropped to 26-22 overall and 15-10 in the Big Ten withh the loss. The Spartans improved to 28-21, 15-10 to pull into a tie with Penn State in the conference standings. Both teams sit in third place and 1 1/2 games behind Minnesota for the Big Ten lead.

Michigan State got to Penn State starter Jim Farrell (Harleysville, Pa.) in the second inning after James Moreno led off with a double. RBI singles by David Miller and Troy Krider and a two-run double by Erik Morris made it 4-0.

But Farrell settled down and gave the Nittany Lions a chance to creep back into the game.

Michigan State starter Bryan Gale was great all afternoon and had a perfect game going into the fifth inning. But Clint Eury (Butler, Pa.) reached on a fielding error by Krider at shortstop. Sophomore Lance Thompson (Brisbin, Pa.) walked and senior Brett Showalter (Waynesboro, Pa.) loaded the bases, and ended the no-hit bid, with a one-out single. Senior Matt Harter (Centre Hall, Pa.) walked with the bases loaded and freshman Jim Leitgeb (Elkton, Md.) had an RBI groundout to cut the Spartans' lead in half at 4-2.

The game stayed that way until the eighth inning when Farrell issued a lead-off walk to Sean Walker. Freshman Craig Clark (Phoenixville, Pa.) relieved Farrell and gave up a one-out single to Ryan Basham and a walk to Alan Cattrysse to load the bases. Krider delivered an RBI single through the left side that plated Walker and Basham. Basham scored after the ball got by freshman Travis Laird (Conneaut Lake, Pa.) in left field. Morris added a sacrifice fly to make it 7-2.

Penn State made an attempt at a comeback in the bottom of the ninth inning when they faced three different pitchers. Clay Kovac relieved Gale and immediately gave up singles to Michael Milliron (DuBois, Pa.) and Scott Gummo (Tyrone, Pa.). Milliron moved to third base on Gummo's single and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Eury. Kovac walked Thompson and was relieved by Ryan Kurtz. Kurtz got the second out of the inning and then walked Showalter to load the bases. That brought Jon Kowalski into the ballgame to face Harter with the bases loaded and two outs. But Harter just missed on a 2-1 count and wound up flying out to left field to end the game.

Milliron extended his team, season-high hitting streak to 12 games with his single in the ninth inning. Showalter had two of Penn State's six hits.

Gale gave up two unearned runs on three hits and struck out six over 8.0 innings.

For more information on Penn State baseball, please visit our official athletic website at www.GoPSUsports.com.

Michigan State 040 000 030 - 7 8 1
Penn State 000 020 001 - 3 6 2
Pitchers:
Michigan State - Gale; Kovac (9); Kurtz (9); Kowalski (9).
Penn State - Farrell; Clark (8).
Win: Gale (4-3).
Loss: Farrell (3-9).
Save: Kowalski (1).
Time: 2:29.
Attendance: 646.