It was Stidfole's only mistake in an otherwise brilliant start, but it put Northwestern ahead and sent shudders of déjà vu up and down the Penn State dugout. Almost the very same thing happened the day before when Penn State's Jim Farrell spoiled an otherwise excellent start by giving up a two-run homer in the top of the eighth that put Northwestern up for good.
Penn State baseball coach Joe Hindelang had been kicking himself for not replacing Farrell with ace closer Clint Eury sooner.
"I told the players I take full responsibility," Hindelang said after the loss. "I feel sick, nauseous."
Facing a similar situation on Saturday, Hindelang left Stidfole in the game and it turned out to be the right choice. Stidfole got out of the sixth and then held the Wildcats in the seventh. The Lions still needed a run, though.
They got it when Derek Barr, who led off the inning with a double, scored from third on a wild pitch. That was it -- the turning point. The Lions finally stood up to the adversity Northwestern had so rudely laid before them and everything was different after that. Because it was a doubleheader, the game moved into extra innings after the seventh. Twice in extra frames Northwestern took a one-run lead, but the Lions were always ready with a riposte in their half. Finally in the bottom of the 11th, with the game tied at five, shortstop Mike Milliron singled home Jim Leitgeb to give the Lions a 6-5 win. After that, the second game was simple. Northwestern held a 4-2 lead going into the bottom of the seventh, the last half-inning of a very long day. Penn State got to within one, at 4-3, when Lance Thompson doubled in Clint Eury. Then with two outs and two strikes on catcher Matt Harter, Wildcat pitcher Jon Mikrut delivered and Harter hit the first Lions walk-off homer since May 17, 2000.
Simply amazing.
"I've never seen anything like that in my life," Hindelang said. "When I saw Harter's ball go over I thought I was in a movie. I've never been a part of a day like this. To win these two games says volumes about the players. They never quit."
Until he hit that home run, Harter had been struggling mightily at the plate, seeing nothing but breaking balls. In fact, Hindelang had almost pinch hit for him earlier in the game. But before his fateful final at bat, Harter switched to a smaller, lighter bat and it seemed to work.
"If I hadn't gotten a hit, I probably would've hung myself," Harter said. "I guess the pitcher made a mistake and threw the ball at my bat."
All joking aside, it was a good way to end a grueling day in which Harter spent 18 innings behind the plate.
"It was pretty draining," he said. "I'm just glad we won."
With the momentum on their side, the Lions came out yesterday and finally controlled a game from start to finish. Senior Clayton Hamilton pitched his strongest game of the season, perhaps once again establishing himself as a force in the Lions staring rotation, and Eury chipped in two RBI, as Penn State won 4-1.
"Now he's on his way," Hindelang said of Hamilton. "He showed what he can do, he has so much talent and he mean's a lot to us. I don't look at the standings, it was just great to win three of the four and play some good baseball in the process."
