The Penn State club baseball team (9-4, 4-0 New Penn West conference) begins a stretch of away games this weekend, as it travels to Robert Morris University (1-5, 1-5) this weekend for a three-game series.
One weekend ago, Penn State swept a doubleheader with the Colonials, winning both games in mercy rule fashion, 11-1. That doubleheader was part of a four-game weekend that was both the first conference play and the only home weekend on the season for Penn State.
Penn State pitchers limited the Colonials to a .167 batting average, striking out 13 and walking five. Both pitchers and hitters, who batted .460 versus Robert Morris, will look to continue their dominance.
The team's nearest competitor in conference standings - Kent State - owns a conference record of 3-3, with two of those losses coming at the hands of Penn State. However, it is hardly the time for the team to activate cruise control, as it has only three weekends of baseball left in the season before NCBA playoffs begin.
With late-April as the time that head coach Buck Kicinski would like to see the team hit its stride, Penn State will work on becoming its sharpest in practices and games.
"We're definitely in the mode of getting going," Penn State coach Buck Kicinski said.
Kicinski also said that it's nearly impossible for a team to hit its stride from a hitting and pitching standpoint simultaneously. Should a team accomplish this, he said that it would be a "monster."
From now until the last weekend before NCBA playoffs begin, the Lions will play this weekend's games at Robert Morris, a three-game series at Kent State the following weekend and a doubleheader on May 1 versus Bucknell.
Notes
-Freshman pitcher Pete Chalfin was named the New Penn West conference pitcher of the week for his five-inning performance in which he allowed no earned runs and struck out seven versus Robert Morris.
-A trend that Penn State would be fortunate to continue is Junior Jon Felix's luck at the plate. In the first game against Robert Morris last weekend, he came up to bat with the bases loaded every time. Each time, he drove in an RBI in an usual way: the center fielder committed an error on his single in the 2nd, allowing a second run to score; in the 3rd, he hit a sacrifice fly; in the 4th, he was hit by a pitch. Penn State coach Buck Kicinski likes him in that situation because he's a good contact hitter.
-Sophomore catcher Joe Kozlowski might not want to continue his trend, as he was a magnet for the baseball. Last weekend, he was beaned twice in the second game versus Robert Morris, and once in the first game versus Kent State. "He looks like a heavy bag," Kicinski said. "But he's not."
-Sophomore reliever Marty Leslie was pulled after one inning of shutout work in the second game versus Robert Morris. He felt some tightness in his back, and the move was a preventative measure.
-In last weekend's games versus Kent State, Penn State (who had good defense overall) was not able to come up with several catches on pop-ups in foul territory, despite being in position to make the grab. Penn State coach Buck Kicinski said that with no clouds in the sky, it becomes hard to judge depth because there is no background. However, he is committed to working on this, going so far as to develop the talent to hit "inbetweeners" with a fungo bat.
