Penn State Baseball Is Primed for Another Postseason Run at Big Ten Tournament

Penn State, seeded ninth in the 12-team Big Ten Tournament, swept pool play with wins over fifth-seeded Washington and fourth-seeded USC. The Nittany Lions (33-22) will face one of top-seeded Oregon, Nebraska or Michigan State in Saturday's semifinals at Charles Schwab Field. UCLA meets Iowa in the other semifinal.

Penn State has reached the Big Ten semifinals in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2000-01. The Nittany Lions' 33 wins also rank second in school history, behind the 2000 team that won 45. That's quite a start for Mike Gambino, Penn State's second-year head coach.

"Other people talk about [having] their backs against the wall. We just talk about playoff baseball," Gambino told reporters in Omaha after the game. "They just love playoff baseball. We talk about it all fall, we talk about it all winter."

Beyond Voss' heroics, Penn State won the game with its pitching staff and a huge play in the third inning. With the game tied 1-1, USC's Adrian Lopez doubled to left, and teammate Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek attempted to score from first.

But the Nittany Lions executed a perfect relay, with shortstop Ryan Weingartner throwing home and Voss applying the tag. USC challenged the call, which was upheld to keep the game tied.

Penn State used five pitchers in limiting USC to one run on seven hits, including three doubles. Once again, Nittany Lions' pitching limited damage on the bases. Penn State held USC to 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position, as the Trojans stranded 12 baserunners. Washington stranded eight runners, batting 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position, on Wednesday.

Dimond Loosli earned the win for Penn State, pitching 2.1 scoreless innings with two strikeouts. When Loosli came off the mound in the eighth, he told Gambino, "I'm not going home."

"That's what you feel from this group," Gambino said. "This group has come together. They're talking about fighting for another day and staying together and competing hard. But when that guy looks at you and says that, and the rest of the group is there with you, you can just feel it. 'I'm not going home.' OK, we're not going home. I think that's how the boys feel."