Sluggers keep eye on season upswing

By BRAD YOUNG
Collegian Sports Writer

The jubilant, blue-clad Penn State baseball team bounded from the steps of the Penn State dugout Sunday and onto the windswept field.

The Lions were elated over leftfielder Derek Bochna's 12th-inning, game-winning, two-run home run that beat Ohio State and earned not only a split of a four-game series with the defending Big Ten champion Buckeyes, but also marked a significant turn in what had been a dismal tide.

The win was Penn State's seventh in its last nine games. The Lions hope to continue their good fortunes when they host St. Bonaventure (8-10) in a 1 p.m. doubleheader today at Beaver Field.

"We're fired up, especially after this last win," Bochna said.

The way the Lions played in the Ohio State series was a far cry from their performance in a 17-game southern road trip that began their 1995 campaign.

Before winning the last three games of the trip against George Mason, Penn State had dropped 13 of their 14 contests. In those 14 games, the Lions could not hit, throw strikes or field with any regularity.

And despite the improvement against Ohio State, Penn State showed, at times, that it still has work to do, particularly in the field and on the mound.

In the field. Penn State could have taken game one of the Ohio State series -- which it lost 7-5 -- had third baseman Ray Werner not allowed two runs to score on a sixth-inning error.

"We threw away the first game of the series," Penn State Coach Joe Hindelang said.

Werner's error was one of six Penn State committed on the weekend. This season, the Lions have 41 boots through 23 games. Last season, they committed just 50 errors all season (49 games).

On the mound. Walks are still plaguing Penn State. The Lions issued 19 free passes to the Buckeyes over the weekend, pushing the season total to 120 -- an average of 5.2 per game.

"At this point, I'm not real happy with the walks," said Randy Ford, Lion pitching coach. "My thing is, we have to come out with a 'W' at the end of the game, and walks can certainly prevent us from doing that."

Hoping to improve on the number of walks today will be Tom Billek and Bryon Herpel. Billek (2-2, 5.09 ERA) will start game one of the doubleheader, as he hopes to build on the five-hit shutout he threw in his last outing, a 9-0 win over Temple on March 23.

Herpel (1-2, 7.82 ERA) will take the hill to start game two.