One of Penn State baseball coach Joe Hindelang's main points of emphasis at the beginning of this season was team defense. The Nittany Lions finished their highly successful 2000 campaign 45-19 largely because of the team's combined fielding percentage, a sparkling .970.
It has not been the same story in 2001, however, as Penn State (21-23) enters a three-game home series with Pace tomorrow with a fielding percentage that is down to .959 and falling fast. The Lions will entertain the Setters (13-21) in a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. Sunday's first pitch is slated for 1 p.m. as well.
Penn State will enter this weekend's series having committed only 10 fewer errors this season than last in 24 fewer games, including an unthinkable 11 miscues in the last two games, both losses at Ohio State.
"We just have to make the routine plays," center fielder Zach Smithlin said. "Believe it or not, that's where things have been getting to us. We're making some spectacular plays but the routine ones haven't been there."
One of the things the Lions have on their side this weekend is that Pace's pitching has been serving up gopher balls all season. The Setters have allowed 38 home runs thus far, and their top starter, John Swiecicki, has a 5.48 ERA.
Penn State hasn't had any trouble with offense lately, but the Lions will sorely feel the loss of senior first baseman and cleanup hitter Donnie Wright, who suffered a season-ending ankle injury last Saturday in Columbus. Wright is second on the team in homers, RBI and batting average, and leads the team in slugging percentage.
"We'll miss him big time," Smithlin said. "He's up there in almost every offensive category, and he's a clutch hitter. In the postseason, we'll miss that."
Senior Dan McCall will start game one of tomorrow's doubleheader, bringing a 4-1 record and a team-best 3.09 ERA against the Setters. Freshman Aaron Tressler (3-2) gets the nod in game two, while fellow rookie Clayton Hamilton (0-1) will take the hill Sunday.
Penn State will need to focus on shutting down the Setters' Mike Bohlander, a junior third baseman who is leading the team with a .347 average and 12 homers, and junior outfielder Steve Martino, who isn't far behind at .324.
The Lions know that their chances are good against anyone, though, provided their defense doesn't self-destruct.
"I think the biggest thing that we're seeing through all this is that there isn't a team in our conference that we can't beat, or a team we've played that we can't beat," said left fielder Rod Perry. "We've been in the majority of our games, it's just the little things that break down. The biggest thing is we just have to keep our focus throughout the game."
