A day after Penn State ace Joe Kurrasch was selected in the MLB Draft, two of his teammates were chosen on the draft's third and final day. The Nittany Lions' All-Big Ten first baseman Jordan Steranka was selected by his hometown Pittsburgh Pirates in the 21st round, while John Walter, a tall right handed pitcher, was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 29th round.
Penn State lefty Joe Kurrasch was selected by the San Francisco Giants in the eighth round (268th overall) of the Major League Baseball First Year Player draft on Tuesday. Kurrasch, a native of San Juan Capistrano, California, is coming off a fantastic first season as a Nittany Lion. He went 4-2 with a 2.05 ERA in 16 appearances, including 11 starts.
After playing winning 22 of their last 30 games in the regular season, the Penn State baseball team was thought to be a serious contender to battle top-seeded Purdue for a Big Ten Tournament title. This wasn't the case as the 2012 season came to a disappointing end on Thursday as the Lions were throttled by Nebraska 12-3 in a Big Ten Tournament elimination game.
For the first 7 innings of Penn State's Big Ten Conference Tournament opener against Ohio State, everything was going right. The Lions had collected 13 hits going into the eighth and led the Buckeyes 5-3 when all of a sudden, the momentum swung and the Penn State bullpen and defense fell apart. The bullpen allowed 9 runs in the final two innings as the Nittany Lions fell 12-5.
The Penn State Nittany Lions baseball team is headed to its second consecutive Big Ten Tournament berth, receiving the third overall seed, their highest position in the tournament bracket since 2008. The Nittany Lions have yet to take home a conference title and are hoping that they can survive in Columbus in order to receive their first after a strong finish to the regular season.
It is exciting times in the world of Penn State Hockey. The schedule for the 2012-2013 season, the program's first at the Division I level, has been revealed. Find out more details after the jump.