Each time he strolled to the plate, with "Big Poppa" by Notorious B.I.G. playing over the speakers at Beaver Field, the cleanup hitter did what he could to deliver in whatever capacity he could. And he did in different ways on Sunday.

In the midst of a slump, in the third inning he bunted to move the runners over so the hitters lower in the lineup could drive in the run. Senior left fielder Lance Thompson's selflessness did not go unnoticed by his coach.

"It really meant a lot to me that he did that. I just want to put it in some of the older guys' hands. If he felt good and could put the ball in the gap, I want him to do that," Penn State baseball coach Robbie Wine said. "Well, he didn't feel comfortable, and he took the bunt and sacrificed himself for the team."

As the music again played, Iowa pulled its starting pitcher in favor of southpaw Chris Zinn specifically to get Thompson, a lefty, out. With the bases loaded and two men down, he took the first pitch and drove the next one over the wall for a no-doubt grand slam.

The situation called for a balance of patience and aggressiveness only veterans possess.

"I hadn't seen him yet, so I figured I'd see the first pitch," Penn State's 5-foot-8, 180-pound version of Big Poppa said. "I could really see the ball well out of his hand. His arm slot was at a great sight for me to see in. I was like, 'All right, if he throws me another fastball, I'm just going to sit on it ... and try to drive it.' He threw it up, about waist high, and I just hit it out."

The second grand slam of his career marked the first since his freshman year. It also ended slumps that must've felt nearly as long as the drought between his four-run dingers. The Nittany Lions trailed 9-4 after allowing an eight-run fourth inning, on pace to lose a sixth straight Big Ten game, coinciding with his week-long slump at the plate.

Thompson admitted that, like the rest of the team, his confidence was shaken in the last couple of ball games. Since Penn State's 12-2 win over Minnesota on April 1, he hit well below the Mendoza line in Big Ten play (he went 3-for-5 last Wednesday against Pittsburgh). Going 1-for-16 against conference pitching, he needed to break through.

"Just to get that hit, it felt great," Thompson said.

As the ball sailed over the right field wall, over the gap Wine knew his slugger could find, talk of his slump went with it. In his next at bat, he hit a solid smash to second. A wicked hop ricocheted of the face of Iowa second baseman Ryan Gryzwa and trickled into left field for a double.

Although he's not on a tear just yet, what Wine called the first big clutch hit of the year may go a long way in improving Penn State's and Thompson's mindsets.

"Sometimes you go that 50-50 where if a guy feels 50 percent, I want him to hit -- especially a Lance Thompson who's been through it," he said. "It's just good for him, he deserves it."