April 3, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
By Matt Allibone, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - There's something about the month of March and Medlar Field that just clicks for the Penn State baseball team.
After going 6-0 at home in the month last season, the Nittany Lions went on a similar roll this time around, going 6-2 in an eight game home stand that lasted from March. 18 to April 1.
Now, however, the Nittany Lions will need to prove they can sustain that success into April while playing on the road in the Big Ten. Their first opportunity comes this weekend, when they play a three game series against Ohio State starting on Saturday.
While Penn State looked good the past few weeks, they will need to regain some momentum after dropping a 9-7 decision to Kent State on Wednesday. With the conference schedule about to ramp up, the Lions are determined to show Wednesday night was just a small bump in the road.
"It was a hit or miss type game for us," senior third baseman Ryky Smith said. "It was a little frustrating but you've got to start making your own breaks at some point."
Yes, the Lions will have to make it happen on their own, but there is reason to believe they can. A year after they struggled in conference play, the Blue and White are more poised and experienced in year two under head coach Rob Cooper.
If you need evidence, look no further than the Lions double-header against Indiana on March 22, when they rallied from a seven-run deficit to beat the No. 21 team in the country 13-7 after just falling to them 5-4 in 12 innings the first game.
The Lions followed that victory with four more wins in a row in which their young pitching staff hit its stride, giving up three runs or less in every contest. Having allowed nine against the Flashes on Wednesday, Penn State's pitchers are eager to redeem themselves against the Buckeyes.
"That's what we have to do," junior reliever Jack Anderson said. "We battled back a few times. Started off shaky, but Dakota [Forsythe] has been looking really good recently. So we're definitely going to run with that stuff into this important weekend.
Although they used seven pitchers against the Flashes, the Lions still got strong outings from Forsythe, who gave up no runs, no walks and one hit in 3 1/3 innings, and Tom Mullin, who threw two scoreless, hitless innings. With Anderson (2.53 ERA) and freshman Sal Biasi (1.96 ERA) both throwing well lately, Penn State has a formidable bullpen.
Throw in the fact that starters Nick Hedge, Taylor Lehman and Nick Distasio combined to allow just one run in 18 2/3 innings last weekend and there's no reason not to have faith in the Lions pitchers right now. Combine that with an offense that has scored 20 runs over the last two games, and Penn State is clearly playing its best ball of the season.
They key now is putting it all together. The Buckeyes are 14-1 this season and look like the class of the conference, but after Indiana, the Lions feel confident against anyone.
"Sticking with what we've done the past couple weeks is going to be important," Anderson said. "We've brought a lot of energy, competed really hard throughout the entire game, lot of young guys have stepped up and I think that they're going to be confident going into it."