Carrying its momentum as surely as the hungry man carries his loaf of bread, the Penn State club baseball team (12-4, 7-0 New Penn West conference) swept another weekend against a conference foe, taking three games from Robert Morris University this weekend.
Penn State's last five wins have come against Robert Morris, with runs not at a premium in any one of the five games; hitters crossed the plate 46 times on the weekend. In addition to hitting, Penn State was buoyed by starting pitchers Jimmy Donovan and Pete Chalfin in the first and third games.
Chalfin, who struck out seven and allowed no runs in five innings in a start last weekend versus Robert Morris, continued his mastery of the Colonials. He pitched a complete-game shutout in the weekend's third game, striking out 15 in seven innings to lead the Lions to a 9-0 win. He also struck out the side in the first, fourth and fifth innings.
"It was pretty awesome," Penn State pitching coach Bill Lippert said. "He's really emerged. This game made it official, he has arrived."
Donovan pitched seven innings in a nine-inning game on Saturday, giving up four runs (three earned), striking out 12 and walking one. After battling through the first few innings, he settled down from the fifth inning. Freshman Seth Whitehill came in for two innings of shutout relief work to ice the score at 17-4.
"He knows how to pitch," Lippert said of Donovan. "Whenever he's throwing strikes, he can get anybody out."
Where starting pitching ruled in the first and third game, it turned the second game into free for all. Penn State starter Steve Eberbach threw just 57 pitches before being pulled for injury concerns, which the team has been monitoring.
"He just wasn't himself," Lippert said. "We need him for later."
Junior Brian Hottel came in for relief and struggled, perhaps due to his not pitching in more than a month. The team found itself down four runs in the middle of the game, but rebounded as freshman pitcher Ryan Frankeny entered in the fourth and struck out five. The game ended by a score of 20-10.
"We were able to pull through it," Lippert said. "[It was a] good test for us."
In addition to Eberbach, sophomore pitchers Greg Lisa (lower back) and Marty Leslie (upper back) are being monitored for nagging injuries. They all need to be fresh once the playoffs commence in early May.
On a weekend when "everybody hits" could have been an official motto, strong hitting performances came from senior shortstop Chris Connors, junior third baseman Nate Decker and junior outfielder Sam Mack.
Connors collected six hits in the three games, including two triples, a double and a home run. Decker went 5-for-5 in the first game on his way to a six-hit weekend, while Mack had a double and a two RBI triple in two games.
Penn State will next travel to Kent State for what should be a dogfight series after five straight games with a first-year team that does not match up well, talent-wise. The Golden Flashes sit at 6-3 in the conference and played Penn State well two weekends ago, despite getting swept in a doubleheader.
"We'd like to see better competition more often," Lippert said. "We'll play whoever when it comes time."
