UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The baseball team cut into a deficit with a two-run seventh inning, but Penn State ultimately emerged with a 8-2 victory on Wednesday night in a non-league game at Medlar Field.
 
Playing in its final tune-up before the start of Ivy League play this weekend, Cornell (9-5) couldn't overcome its first four-error performance since March 22, 2015. Penn State (10-13) got three hits and three RBI apiece from Christian Helsel and Alex Malinsky.
 
Freshman Colby Wyatt took the loss for the Big Red, though the only run he surrendered his three-inning start was unearned. He had three strikeouts in just his second collegiate outing, aided by a pickoff of a runner on second base from junior catcher Ellis Bitar in the second inning.
 
The Nittany Lions plated three in the fourth inning to a take a 4-0 lead behind five scoreless innings from starter Schuyler Bates. With league games on the horizon, the Big Red employed seven pitchers on the night.
 
Cornell finally made a dent in the Penn State bullpen with two runs in the seventh. Senior Cole Rutherford led off with a double, then junior Trey Baur pulled a base hit through the left side of the infield to put runners on the corners. A wild pitch then allowed Rutherford to score.
 
Senior Frankie Padulo and junior Ryan Krainz worked a pair of one-out walks to load the bases and bring the go-ahead run to the plate. Freshman Kaleb Lepper drove in one run with a sacrifice fly, but the threat ended there. The Nittany Lions then added two runs apiece in the seventh and eighth innings to pull away.
 
Cornell will make its Hoy Field debut this weekend when it host a pair of inter-divisional Ivy League games in Ithaca, N.Y. The Big Red takes on Brown in a twin bill at noon Saturday, then it meets defending Red Rolfe Division champion Yale for two games at noon Sunday.