EAST LANSING, Mich. (May 14, 2005) ¨C The Penn State baseball team battled from behind all day long, but couldn¡¯t get the clutch hit when it needed one as Michigan State defeated the Nittany Lions 10-6 and 6-5 in a doubleheader Saturday at Kobs Field.

The Spartans won Game 2 in the bottom of the seventh inning after E.J. Daws drew a bases loaded, 3-2 count, two-out walk to give Michigan State the 6-5 win.

The Spartans lead the four-game series 2-1, and the fourth and final game will be played 1 p.m. Sunday at Kobs Field. That game can be heard live on ESPN Radio WMAJ 1450 AM, and a link to listen will be available at www.GoPSUsports.com.

Senior Michael Milliron (DuBois, Pa.) had three hits on the day to extend his hitting streak to 12 games. He also scored three runs, drove in one run, and had two stolen bases. He played in his 203rd career game to move into a fifth place tie with Shawn Fagan on Penn State¡¯s all-time games played list. He moved into a fifth-place tie with Chris Wright with 659 at-bats, and a seventh-place tie with Derek Bochna with 137 career runs scored. He also moved into 10th place with 28 career stolen bases, and he is one base hit away from tying Mike DeRenzo and Zack Smithlin with 190 career hits in seventh place. He is 4-for-4 in stolen bases this weekend to give him 14 on the season, which is 11th on Penn State¡¯s single season stolen bases list.

Junior Lance Thompson (Brisbin, Pa.) was 3-for-4 in Game 1 with an RBI, and freshman James Spinelli (Berwyn, Pa.) had a two-run single in Game 1.

The Nittany Lions dug themselves a hole early in Game 1 after Michigan State scored two runs in the first inning, two more in the second, and three in the third inning to take a 7-1 lead. It was a deficit Penn State wasn¡¯t able to overcome.

The Nittany Lions made it 7-2 in the fifth inning on an RBI double by Thompson.

But the Spartans answer in the bottom half of the inning on a solo home run by James Keyton to make it 8-2. It was one of four homers in the game for Michigan State.

Penn State rallied in the sixth inning to make the game 8-6. Sophomore Matt Cavagnaro (Brightwaters, N.Y.) had an RBI single, Spinelli had a two-run single and Milliron added a sacrifice fly.

But the Spartans answered once again with two runs in the next half inning to put the game away at 10-6.

The Nittany Lions jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning of Game 2 on back-to-back RBI doubles by sophomore Matt Lewis (Arnold, Md.) and sophomore Jim Leitgeb (Elkton, Md.).

However, as they have all weekend long, the Spartans answered again to take a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the first inning. RBI doubles by Troy Krider and Ryan Basham, and an RBI groundout by Tony Clausen accounted for the runs.

Spinelli singled and scored on an error to tie the ballgame at 3-3 in the top of the fifth inning.

But Michigan State took the lead again in the next half inning. Adam Tripp had an RBI single, and eventually scored on a wild pitch to give the Spartans a 5-3 lead.

Penn State wouldn¡¯t quit though, as it rallied in the sixth inning to score runs on a pinch-hit RBI double by junior Colin Runt (State College, Pa.) and an RBI groundout by freshman Scott Gaffney (Westbury, N.Y.) to make it 5-5.

Gaffney came in to pitch to Tripp during a jam in the sixth inning. Gaffney tossed three straight strikes to catch him looking, and end the threat.

Gaffney worked the bottom of the seventh inning, and loaded the bases with nobody out. He got Kris Morris to ground into a fielder¡¯s choice, forcing the first out at home plate. Gaffney then struck out Steve Gerstenberger for the second out. That brought Daws to the plate. Gaffney worked to a 2-2 count, and just missed on two straight pitches to walk Daws.

For more information on Nittany Lion baseball, please visit Penn State¡¯s official athletic website at www.GoPSUsports.com.

Game 1 Michigan State 10 Penn State 6 Penn State 001 014 0 ¨C 6 10 2 Michigan State 223 012 x ¨C 10 12 2 Pitchers: PSU ¨C Craig Clark, Matt Carroll (4), Matt Ogrodnik (6). MSU ¨C Craig Brookes, Chris Malec (6), Drew Mahan (7). WP: Craig Brookes (6-1). LP: Craig Clark (3-4). Time: 2:13. Game 2 Michigan State 6 Penn State 5 Penn State 200 012 0 ¨C 5 5 0 Michigan State 300 020 1 ¨C 6 10 2 Pitchers: PSU ¨C Steve Cline, Gary Amato (1), Clint Eury (5), Josh Palm (5), Matt Ogrodnik (6), Scott Gaffney (6); MSU ¨C Mike Takashima, Chris Toepper (6), Chris Malec (6), Drew Mahan (7). WP: Drew Mahan (1-2). LP: Scott Gaffney (1-2). Time: 2:29.