Sluggers hope hits flow against Temple

By BRAD YOUNG
Collegian Sports Writer

Through the first 14 games of the season -- 13 of which were losses -- the Penn State baseball team could never put it all together.

When the Lions would hit well and play good defense, their pitchers would give up a seemingly endless stream of walks and hits. If they got good pitching, the bats would go dormant. And at times, they would even struggle on defense, belying Coach Joe Hindelang's theory of defense first, everything else second.

That was until last weekend.

The Lions hit, threw and fielded better than they have all season in sweeping a three-game series at George Mason. With those wins, the Lions finished a 17-game, season-opening road trip with a smile.

"(The wins) boosted morale immensely," shortstop Shawn Reese said. "I think we're ready for the Big Ten."

With a 1 p.m. doubleheader today against Temple (1-14) at Beaver Field serving as a final tune-up, the Lions will open their conference slate Saturday when Ohio State visits for two weekend doubleheaders.

The Buckeyes are a perennial Big Ten powerhouse, having won the conference last year with a 49-9 record (25-2 Big Ten). Penn State Coach Joe Hindelang knows what the Ohio State games mean to his young team.

"Everything you do is in preparation for the Big Ten season," Hindelang said. "That starts on Saturday."

But prior to that, the Lions must handle Temple. If the two teams look and play alike today, it's because Owl veteran Coach Skip Wilson was Hindelang's college coach at Temple in the late 1960s.

"A lot of things I do as a coach are what he has taught me," Hindelang said. "I certainly would love to have my team play well against my mentor, and he certainly doesn't want to lose to one of his former players."

Wilson may just have to deal with such an occurrence if the Lions play like they did against George Mason. The Lions scored 21 runs and pounded out 37 hits in the series, committing just one error in the field. The pitchers began to limit the walks that had plagued them.

The Lions hope to continue their successes today against the Owls. They will try to extend their winning streak to five behind the starting pitching of righthander Tom Billek and lefty Bryon Herpel.