March 23, 2015
By Matt Allibone, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Entering Sunday's doubleheader against Indiana, the members of the Penn State baseball team were as anxious to get on the field as they'd been in a long time.
Not just because their scheduled games on Friday and Saturday had been postponed because of snow. A year after being swept by the Hoosiers at home by scores of 10-0, 8-1 and 9-2, the Nittany Lions were determined to prove they could compete with the Big Ten's elite.
They knew they still wouldn't be expected to win. They knew Indiana was the No. 21 team in the country and arguably the best team in the conference.
None of that mattered to them. After battling Indiana for 12 innings in a 5-4 loss, the Nittany Lions used back-to-back thrilling innings in the seventh and eight to come back from down seven and beat the Hoosiers 13-7 in the afternoon's second game.
"I think last year at this time, our guys didn't think they were at the same level," head coach Rob Cooper said. "I think today, our guys feel like they're at the same level. I think that's the difference. They still have a lot of guys who've been to Omaha (the College World Series) so that's a good club."
After a draining first game, things started off rough for the Lions in the second contest. The Hoosiers scored twice in the first inning and tacked on five more runs to take a 7-0 lead in the fourth.
Still, the Lions never checked out of the game mentally. They scored once in the fourth and again in the sixth to cut the lead to 7-2 and set up the ensuing madness of the next two innings.
As if a switch had been flipped, the seventh inning started and the Lions couldn't make an out. Five batters would reach base on two hits and three errors as Penn State scored four runs to cut the lead to 7-6.
That was just the beginning of the excitement however. In the eighth, the Blue and White would load the bases on singles by Taylor Skerpon and Greg Guers and an intentional walk to Aaron Novak before sophomore shortstop Jim Haley cleared them with a blast to the left field fence for a triple despite having an 0-2 count against him.
"My mindset? Hit a ball like I did," Haley said with a smile. "I wasn't trying to do too much I was just trying to push a run across and he left a fastball over the pate and I took advantage of it."
By the time the dust had cleared, the Lions were entering the ninth inning with a six run lead. On an afternoon in which the Lions' bullpen was terrific in both games, Tom Mullin tossed his third scoreless inning to finish off the game and give Penn State their third win in four games.
Asked what he believed the turning point off the game was, Cooper said it was when the Lions answered a four-run Indiana fourth inning with a run of their own. While, it only made the score 7-1, the second year coach said it proved his club was still invested in winning.
"Man if I knew where that switch was I'd flip it a lot earlier," Cooper said. "It was 7-1 and our guys understood, we have to keep playing and they did. The game of baseball, man, it's a crazy game.
Penn State's first conference win of the year was played right after the first game, in which the Lions came up just short despite a terrific overall game from their pitching staff.
Starter Nick Hedge weathered a storm during a second inning in which two of the four runs he allowed were unearned, and still managed to go a total of 5 2/3 innings without giving up any more damage. Then, junior Jack Anderson and freshman Sal Biasi combined to throw 5 1/3 scoreless innings to keep the score knotted into extra innings.
Although the Hoosiers ended up tacking on a run in the 12th off of Nick Distastio, it was a very encouraging performance from a young pitching staff. In particular, Biaisi looked dominant in his seventh career appearance, striking out six batters (including five in a row) in 3 1/3 innings of work.
"Unbelievable," Cooper said. "Our guys in the first game pitched their tails off and gave us a chance to win. But if they don't pitch like that, we have no chance to win the second game because we blow our bullpen."
Now in his second year at Penn State, Cooper had already gotten the players to by into his program, but he was still looking for a signature win before Sunday. With the Lions beating a ranked opponent for the first time since April of 2012 however, he knows that his team is improving.
"I rank today up there, if not at the top because of their choice to compete," Cooper said. "I said after the first game, I said, `guys, that's the first time since I've been here that I felt like you guys felt you were as good as anybody.' I could feel it. So that's why it ranks up."