April 24, 2013
By Scott Traweek, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - When it comes to winning in baseball, the bullpen rarely receives the recognition it deserves. The starters may set the tone and the hitter may provide the run support, but nine times out of ten it's the bullpen that decides the victor.
Penn State (11-25, 2-10 Big Ten) has won four of its last five games, including a marquee conference series win against Iowa. The hitting has shown improvement, but what truly made the difference were the relievers who shut down the opposing offenses until the final out was recorded.
"The bullpen's everything," said head coach Robbie Wine. "You've got to have strong guys that can come in and get players out in tough situations."
The Nittany Lions have scored first in 19 games this season, but until recently have struggled to retain the lead to the 27th out. A lack of repetition was partially to blame early as a number of pitchers rarely saw time on the mound until midweek games began at the University of Houston.
Immediately following the Houston series, the coaches and players saw a marked improvement both offensively and defensively, but were sent back to square one when the next two midweek games were cancelled due to inclement weather. Repetition and rhythm were instrumental.
Now, the Penn State bullpen has found its midseason form. Five relievers have played in ten games or more and pitchers who struggled earlier in the year are falling into a rhythm.
"We all have a good amount of innings under our belts and we're figuring out how to compete," said senior pitcher Cody Lewis. "Each time we go out we get better, so the more reps we get and the more chances we get to play, the better we are going to get."
The bullpen threw a combined 15 and one-third innings over the previous four games, allowing just four runs on seven hits and recording nine strikeouts. Sophomore Geoff Boylston and senior Neal Herring pitched four hitless innings in game one of the series with Iowa, allowing the offense to rally from seven runs down to win, 8-7, on a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth.
Herring is a prime example of a pitcher who struggled early on, but has since settled into a groove and solidified his spot in the bullpen. The senior veteran out of West Chester, Pa. earned his first win against Iowa on Saturday and his first save against La Salle on Tuesday.
"I just go out there and try to get better every single day," said Herring. "I just hope I get a chance to prove myself. I feel like I've been able to do that recently."
Sophomore Ryan Harper took the mound in the sixth inning of game two against the Hawkeyes and proceeded to throw four scoreless innings, while giving up just one hit. Lewis assumed the reliever's role in game three on Sunday, recording three and one-third innings of work. He held Iowa to one run on two hits and notched five strikeouts.
The key to the bullpen's recent performance has been commanding the strike zone and working ahead in counts to keep batters on the defensive.
"These guys have been doing a good job of coming in, pounding the [strike] zone, and pitching in positive counts," said pitching coach Jason Bell. "When they do that they can expand the zone and hitters will chase [pitches out of the zone]. Then you can use the hitter's aggressiveness against them."
The bullpen's success has been a confidence booster for both the offense and the defense, allowing the entire team to believe it can win, even after being down by seven runs heading into the bottom of the fifth inning.
"We want our starters to go as far as they can go, but they all can't go nine innings," said Lewis. "When guys end up getting on base and we go in and end up shutting them out, then it gives [the rest of the team] that much more confidence to go out and win the game."
Coach Bell needs to have a lot of trust in his bullpen when deciding whether he should pull his starter or not. Often, relievers enter the game during pressure situations with runners on base and are expected to promptly extinguish the threat.
Keeping themselves focused on the task at hand is crucial for pitchers entering in a tight spot. During warm-ups, relievers mentally prepare themselves to simply get the job done regardless of the challenges ahead.
"We're warming up in the bullpen, so we're just thinking about pitching at that point," said Lewis. "We know what the situation is, but we try not to think about it too much and just go out and do our job."
Lewis chooses to face the pressure head on and embraces the competition between him and each batter that stands in his way.
"You just try to beat that guy at the plate," said Lewis, "for me that's what [pitching] is."
Coach Bell tells his staff to attack the strike zone and stay ahead in the count, which thrusts the anxiety towards the opposing player at the plate.
"We try to turn the pressure on the hitters instead of putting it on us," said Bell.
Penn State returns to action on Wednesday against Mount St. Mary's. Game time is slated for 6:05 p.m. The Nittany Lions then travel to Ohio State for a weekend Big Ten series.
--NITTANY LIONS--