Penn State baseball coach Joe Hindelang was in a jam.

The Nittany Lions had seen their 8-0 lead over Virginia begin to evaporate as the Cavaliers rallied for three runs by the seventh inning. Starting pitcher Clayton Hamilton was on a pitch count and left in the fifth. Aaron Tressler lost his control with one run already across in the seventh, throwing a wild pitch that advanced a runner to third, then walking the batter.

Stepping to the plate was Virginia clean-up hitter Joe Koshansky, who had knocked in two runs the day before and hit nine home runs last season.

And when Hindelang went to his bullpen, he called for a southpaw to face the Cavaliers' big lefty. It just happened that the pitcher was a freshman.

Craig Clark, a 6-foot-3 rookie from Phoenixville, was being called for his first collegiate appearance with runners at the corners and just one out.

"That wasn't an easy decision," Hindelang said. "It was his first time out and you really want his first time to start with some breathing room."

Hindelang brought Clark in with the intention of pitching to Koshansky though, as they had a good scouting report on him -- pitch him outside. It had worked to perfection earlier in the game as Koshansky was 0-for-3, striking out every time. Not that that made things any easier.

"Warming up in the bullpen, I was nervous as anything for my first time out there," Clark said. "But I had to go out there and perform the way you need to ... to get the job done. Everyone on the team was helping me out."

After working the count to 2-2, Clark went for the kill. A fastball on the high outside corner -- the pitch that Koshansky couldn't stay away from.

Swing and a miss for strike three.

An impressive first appearance, but Clark was modest about it.

"He's a real good hitter to be sure," Clark said. "But I just had to go in there and get the out."

The freshman wasn't completely out of it yet, though. Matt Dunn, another lefty, was up for the Cavaliers and was a threat to bring home another run.

On a 2-1 pitch, Clark got Dunn to hit a fly ball to left field. The inning and the threat were over.

Clark would stay in for the rest of the way largely because he gave his coaches no reason to take him out. He would allow only one hit -- a single -- in the 2.2 innings of work he gave them, striking out three and walking none.

Though Clark himself was humble about the strong initial performance, Hamilton didn't spare the superlatives.

"Phenomenal" was the word the starter used to describe the bullpen's performance, particularly Clark.

"Coming in and facing Koshansky like that was great," Hamilton said. "We needed a strong performance from him and he delivered."