April 10, 2013
By Mike Esse, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Cody Lewis was warming up in the bullpen during the seventh inning before getting the nod from pitching coach Jason Bell to enter the game with a runner on second and nobody out. Quite the situation for someone with zero career saves.
Lewis knew he would be coming into a big situation, but had no idea that he would throw his first pitch with a 2-2 count. All he knew was the pitch that his pitching coach wanted and that his mission was to get three outs and not allow the runner on second to cross home plate.
"To be honest, I didn't even realize [the count was 2-2] until I got on the mound," said Lewis. "I went out there and [coach Bell] said `let's throw a curveball to this guy' and I said `alright let's do it'. That's pretty much it."
That mindset turned out to be beneficial for Lewis as he would then retire three straight batters to strand Kent State pinch runner Troy Summers on third and hold Penn State's one-run lead.
Lewis would then go on to retire six of the next seven Golden Flash hitters to notch his first career save and secure Penn State's second straight win, a 3-2 triumph.
The three inning performance from the redshirt senior is just a small sample of what head coach Robbie Wine is trying to get out of his players as they try to turn the page after a rough start to the season.
"That was exactly what we needed," said Wine. "These midweek games can be tough, but guys have to step up and Cody [Lewis] stepped up for us tonight."
After great outings from starter Nick Hedge and reliever Ian Parvin, Wine counted on his experienced senior to get the job done and he did exactly that.
The performances from all three Penn State pitchers, especially the three outs that Lewis got in the seventh, are something that motivate a Nittany Lion team that's in need of any momentum they can get. That momentum was big on Tuesday against a Kent State team that was in the College World Series just one year ago.
"It's just a huge boost for us," said freshman outfielder James Coates. "You have a runner on [base] and a 2-2 count and [Cody] comes in and gets a couple outs and no runs score, so you just want to do better for him after a performance like that."
Coates did exactly that in the ninth inning as Golden Flash catcher Jeff Revesz lined a Lewis fastball to deep left field and the freshman was there to make an acrobatic running catch that preserved the Nittany Lion lead.
Lewis thanked his outfielder in the postgame media availability, but admitted he thought there was no chance Coates would get to the ball.
"The kid absolutely smoked [the pitch] and by the time I turned back and looked the ball was already to Coates. I thought it was going over his head and he made a great play on it and it pumped me up," said Lewis.
"We just had one more out to get the win. It was huge"
Wine and his team are now seeing, via plays like the one by Coates, that things are starting to turn their way. They have been making some of the big plays that earlier in the season avoided them and they are turning into wins.
For Lewis, it is pretty simple, this team just has to do their jobs and the wins will come and Tuesday night proved that.
"I did my job," said Lewis. "I did what I was supposed to do: hang zeroes and get outs."
--NITTANY LIONS--