MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (May 23, 2003) - The Penn State baseball team scored three runs in the sixth and four more in the seventh to eliminate No. 6 Indiana 8-4 Friday and remain alive in the Big Ten Tournament.

The fourth-seed Nittany Lions were knocked into the loser's bracket earlier in the day when No. 1 Minnesota scored one run in the bottom of the ninth to secure a 4-3 victory at Siebert Field.

Penn State (28-27, 17-15) will now face No. 3 Michigan at 1:05 p.m. Saturday. If the Nittany Lions win that game, they would play at 8:05 p.m. against the loser of the Golden Gophers and No. 2 Ohio State game, which will be played at 4:35 p.m. All Penn State baseball games can be heard on ESPN Radio WMAJ 1450 AM and a link to the broadcast can be found at www.GoPSUsports.com.

The Nittany Lions, 30 minutes removed from a heartbreaking loss versus Minnesota, came out a little sluggish against the Hoosiers. But starter Clayton Hamilton (Beaver Falls, Pa.) kept Indiana scoreless through four innings.

Indiana finally opened the scoring in the fifth inning. Kevin Mahar walked to lead off the inning. He moved over to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Cody Wargo and then scored on an RBI single by Reggie Watson.

But Penn State bounced back with a run of its own in their half of the inning. Senior Willie Melendez (Cayey, P.R.) doubled with one out, moved to third on a groundball out by senior Zack Smithlin (Fair Lawn, N.J.) and then scored on an RBI single by freshman Derrick Barr (So. Williamsport, Pa.)

The Nittany Lions broke the game open in the sixth inning when Indiana starter Jacob Cary walked senior Wes Reohr (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) on four pitches to leadoff the frame. Reohr moved to second on a wild pitch and then went to third on a groundout by sophomore Clint Eury (Butler, Pa.). Senior Adam Warchal (Nanticoke, Pa.) gave the Nittany Lions their first lead of the game with a sacrifice fly to centerfield. Eury's sac fly was the second out of the inning, but Penn State kept it going with a two-out rally. Freshman Lance Thompson (Houtzdale, Pa.) singled to rightfield, junior Matt Harter (Centre Hall, Pa.) walked and senior Mike DeRenzo (Murrysville, Pa.) singled up the middle to score Thompson. Melendez, who was 2-for-4 with two doubles, made it 4-1 with an RBI double to score Harter.

However, the Hoosiers weren't going easy. A leadoff walk to Cody Wargo cost Clayton Hamilton in the seventh inning. Brad DeStefano pinch ran for Wargo and moved to second on a single by Kenny Marrs. DeStefano scored on an RBI double by Seth Bynum to put runners on second and third with one out. Corby Heckman then plated Marrs with a sacrifice fly to deep right field. Hamilton put Vasili Spanos, who has been a tough out for Nittany Lion pitchers, on first base with an intentional walk and Nick Evans tied the game with an RBI single. Evans went to second when Smithlin threw to third trying to nail Spanos. Junior Aaron Tressler (Pennsylvania Furnace, Pa.) relieved Hamilton and surrendered a walk to Ryan Parker to load the bases and then he got Kevin Mahar to look at strike three to end the threat.

Penn State regained the lead for good in its half of the seventh on a very costly throwing error by Spanos at third base. Barr and Reohr started the rally with back-to-back singles. Eury laid a perfect bunt down the third base line that Spanos fielded and threw off-balance towards first base. But the throw sailed into right field, allowing Barr and Reohr to score and Eury to advance to second base. Junior Brett Showalter (Waynesboro, Pa.) pinch ran for Eury and moved to third when catcher Kurt Weigle's failed pick-off attempt got by shortstop Seth Bynum. Thompson then scored Showalter with an RBI double and he scored on an RBI single by Harter to complete the scoring and keep the Nittany Lions alive in the Big Ten Tournament.

Hamilton gave up four runs on nine hits while striking out four and walking five over 6.2 innings in the no-decision. Tressler, who received the loss against Minnesota, struck out three, walked two and gave up just two hits to improve to 3-5 on the season.

Quotes from the post-game press conference:

Head coach Joe Hindelang:

After losing the first game in the bottom of ninth, was the team down in the early stages against Indiana, did they look flat to you?
"Yes, you are in a loser's bracket game. You just lost in one of the most difficult ways possible in the ninth inning and then you're asked to play again. You eat a turkey sub and get ready in 30 minutes.

"It's a loser's bracket game and it's hard because teams are so equally matched depending on who's on the mound."

Were you impressed with the way your team was able to battle back in that second game?
"I was. As a coach, you are always trying to coach a perfect game and you want your players to play perfect, but that never happens. We won and we're still alive tomorrow. I am impressed with them and I'm proud of them because it's not easy to play two games in one day."

How satisfied are you with what Clayton Hamilton gave you today?
"I thought he did a commendable job today and he got us into the later innings and he put us in a position where we could have a chance to win. I was proud of the way he came back because he has been up and down and that's why he didn't start the first two games. But he helped today and got us into tomorrow."

Did you feel safe with the lead?
"I never felt safe with a three-run lead or a four-run lead because (Indiana) swings the bat and they are good or they wouldn't be here."

Lance Thompson:

Talk about your RBI double in the seventh inning:
"(Troy Ragle) threw me a curveball the first pitch. I was sitting on a fastball on the second pitch, but he threw me another curveball and I just stayed balanced and pulled it down the line."

What was the mood in between games?
"Everything was pretty gloomy. People were eating, people were changing and nobody was talking. We weren't on a level that we should have been going into (the second) game. We just won this game and I think we'll have a lot of intensity going into tomorrow."