Momentum is a strange thing. It's with you one minute, then all of a sudden the other team has scored 10 runs and you're down seven.
The Penn State baseball team will look for the momentum to stay with it as the Nittany Lions battle Duquesne at 3 p.m. today at Beaver Field.
The mid-week game will allow for the Lions to not have to sit around and slowly lose whatever positives they gained from the 11-10 win on Sunday against Iowa.
"It seems like always that when you win that last game of a series, it always carries over. Even on bus trips," Penn State coach Robbie Wine said. "Getaway days are so important."
Wine also mentioned that he most likely would not change the batting lineup from Sunday's win, after shaking things up prior to the last game of the weekend set.
If the lineup keeps having the success that it showed against Iowa, it will go a long way to giving Wine that consistently producing stable lineup he's been searching for all season.
The first two pieces to that puzzle are already seemingly in place. Sophomore outfielder Brian Ernst and junior infielder Matt Cavagnaro are the table setters for the new look lineup. Both have tremendous bat control and the ability to get on base,
which is shown with their on-base percentages of around .400 -- a key component for the 1-2 hitters.
"It was nothing against Cavagnaro in the one-hole and [Scott] Gaffney in the two-hole, but it was time to shake things up a little," Wine said. "Whether it takes some pressure off some guys in certain situations ... I don't know. "
Looking to keep his own personal momentum going is sophomore Seth Whitehill. Whitehill threw six solid innings against Pittsburgh last Wednesday, but he will probably see limited action so that Wine could get other pitchers into the game.
But, momentum might not matter that much against the Dukes. Duquesne has a team ERA of 7.36, and it doesn't seem to get any tougher with starter Brian Schwartzbauer (0-2, 11.17) on the hill. But, Cavagnaro has some qualms about taking a pitcher for granted based on his stats.
"Every pitcher can shut out any one on a given day," he said. "Basically we have to go out there with the mindset that we have to have quality at-bats and do the little things to win."
Movin' on up?
After spending Sunday's victory in the six-hole, Wine hinted that Gaffney could soon occupy the third spot in the lineup, which is currently occupied by Scott Gummo. His reasoning for moving Gaffney to that slot is because he doesn't want him to worry about moving runners and taking pitches.
Call to the bullpen ... or not?
Right-handed workhorse Matt Ogrodnik might get a chance to sit down and rest his arm after pitching a team-high 15 appearances out of the pen. Pitching coach Jason Bell would like to rest Ogrodnik but didn't rule out using him to face one hitter today.
