Josh Caron has 3-homer day, Nebraska defeats Indiana twice to reach Big Ten championship game
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Josh Caron drove in four runs in the first game, Joshua Overbeek did the same in the second game and Nebraska defeated Indiana 4-2 and 10-4 on Saturday to reach the championship game of the Big Ten Tournament.
Caron hit two home runs and drove in all the runs and Will Walsh pitched a complete game as Nebraska stayed alive with the win in the first game.
In the second game, Overbeek had two doubles and drove in four runs for the Cornhuskers.
The second-seeded Cornhuskers (38-20) will play No. 8 seed Penn State in a one-game championship on Sunday.
In Saturday's first game, Caron hit a three-run homer in the third inning and added an insurance run with his 14th of the season in the eighth.
In the second game, Overbeek's bases-loaded double deep to center field staked the Cornhuskers to a 3-0 lead in the second inning and they never trailed.
Caron hit his third home run of the day and Ben Columbus and Gabe Swansen also went deep. Swansen went 4-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Starter Drew Christo (3-3) went five innings and allowed one run.
The Hoosiers (32-24-1) led 1-0 through two innings of the first game but did not lead again for the final 16 innings of the day.
Adam Cecere's 2-run home run in 10th sends Penn State past Michigan 7-6, into Big Ten final
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Adam Cecere drilled a two-run home run in the top of the 10th inning to propel eighth-seeded Penn State into its second ever Big Ten Tournament championship game with a 7-6 win over fourth-seeded Michigan on Saturday.
The Nittany Lions (29-23) face the winner of the late game between Nebraska and Indiana. Penn State last made the championship game in 2000, the last time it played in the NCAA Tournament.
The Wolverines (32-28), who beat top-seeded Illinois after being sent into the loser's bracket by a 9-5 loss to Penn State on Thursday, got a two-out home run from Mitch Voit in the bottom of the 10th.
Ben DeMell pitched the final two innings to earn his first decision. Grant Norris had three hits.
Kyle Dernedde had a two-run double in the three-run fifth and and Stephen Hrustich had an RBI triple and scored on a wild pitch in the sixth to give Michigan a 5-3 lead.
The Nittany Lions took a 3-0 lead in the fourth on Matt Maloney's RBI single to right and Hrustich's throwing error and Tayven Kelley's sacrifice fly.
Penn State tied the game at 2-2 in the eighth when Joe Jaconski homered to lead off the eighth and Bryce Molinaro singled in a run, but rightfielder Hrustich cut down the go-ahead run at the plate.
Josh Denner (9-5) struck out nine over the final six innings but took the loss, giving up four runs on four hits. Voit and Hrustich both had three hits.