Happy Valley Hardball with a sabermetrics twist

Junior Ben Heath hits his 12th home run of the season, good for eighth in single-season school history.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Penn State baseball team scored five runs against one of the conference’s top pitchers, but it wasn’t enough as Purdue exploded for 18 runs over the first five innings to hand the Lions (14-18, 2-5 Big Ten) an 18-7 defeat in Friday’s series opener at Lambert Field. Matt Bischoff, a two-time Big Ten Pitcher of the Week, came in with a 2.09 ERA, third in the conference. Junior Ben Heath (Huntersville, N.C.) had the first blow, a long solo home run to deep left-center field for his 12th of the season and third in the last two games, but the Boilermakers’ offense continued to respond. The teams reconvene for game two of the series on Saturday at 2 p.m.

With his 2-for-3 performance, Heath extended his career-high hitting streak to 19 games, good for sole possession of fourth place in school history. He is hitting .389 on the season, including .459 (34-for-74) during the streak. Only two Nittany Lions have ever recorded hit streaks of 20 games or longer, a list Heath hopes to join on Saturday.

via Purdue’s Bats Too Much for Nittany Lions in 18-7 Defeat – PENN STATE OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE.