Prior to this weekend, Mike DeRenzo's bat was colder than a January morning in State College, but now it is hotter than an August afternoon in hell.

Entering the games against Northwestern DeRenzo was hitting .194, but following a 4-for-6 performance yesterday against Bucknell, he has raised his average to .235.

Over the past six games his average has jumped 41 points.

DeRenzo was a triple away from hitting for the cycle, and he had a single, double and home run in his first three at bats. DeRenzo said he would be lying if he said he wasn't thinking about it.

"It was a good feeling," DeRenzo said, "watching the balls fall in."

In his first at bat, DeRenzo smoked a double inside the third base line. With Penn State trailing 3-2, DeRenzo stepped to plate in the bottom of the second inning with the bases loaded, and he reached out and drove the full count pitch over the left field fence. The grand slam gave the Nittany Lions a 6-3 lead, and Bucknell would never bounce back.

Over the weekend, DeRenzo went 5-for-15 with three runs scored and a run batted in. Penn State baseball coach Joe Hindelang said that DeRenzo's recent success is due to all of his hard work.

"He's really stinging the ball," Hindelang said.

"He's watched tape from last season against Indiana, and he's been contrasting his swing. He's tweaking his mechanics, and that's what good hitters do."

Last season against Indiana on May 4, he went 3-for-4 with 3 RBI's, and on May 6 he scored three runs, leading to a Penn State victory.

DeRenzo said that he has been looking at film to see what he did differently last season, and how he could improve this season.

"When I've been watching tape I saw that I was more aggressive and had my weight forward," DeRenzo said. "I've tried to do that the last couple of games, and it's worked."

For the first month of the season, DeRenzo's struggles at the plate are uncharacteristic of his career. He's a lifetime .356 hitter, with five home runs, including a 23-game hitting streak last season.

His struggles became so bad that Hindelang dropped DeRenzo from the No. 2 or No. 3 spot in the lineup, to the seventh hole, and he even hit eighth in the series opener against the Wildcats. Hindelang last week even pulled him for a pinch hitter in both the Maryland and George Washington games. When he was pulled against Maryland, it was the first time he was out of the lineup all season.

"It feels good to be a contributor again," DeRenzo said. "At the top of the order, you get more at bats and more opportunities." Wes Reohr said that it's been good to see DeRenzo returning to his form from the past.

"He looking like his old form," Reohr said. "Earlier in the season the balls weren't falling, but now they're starting to drop."