With an 8-7 eighth inning lead in last night's game at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, Temple head coach Rob Valli headed to the pitcher's mound multiple times, perhaps talking strategy, but more likely stalling.
Valli may have been counting on the rain clouds dropping a steady drizzle over State College to finally open up, stopping gameplay and preserving the slim lead his pitching staff had struggled to keep intact.
Instead, Penn State hitters had their own plans to extend the game -- they sent 13 batters to the plate in the eighth, scoring seven runs and putting the game securely in their hands.
The Nittany Lions (9-17, 2-4 Big Ten) had been getting on base via walks, hits and errors in previous innings, but finally were able to put it all together to get the one big frame they were looking for. They shelled Temple relievers Rob Chamra and Matt Blackburn for three runs before they could record any outs, and posted four more unearned tallies after a Mike Kelch error at third base.
"In the innings prior to that, we had put up runs and started to claw our way back, and it was an extension of that, really," junior catcher Joe Blackburn said. "I wouldn't say it was just the eighth inning. It was all of those innings combined."
Blackburn's triple drove in Brian Ernst to give Penn State a 9-8 lead it would not relinquish, and shifted an offense desperately searching for a spark into overdrive. Every Lion starter except catcher Rob Yodice drove in at least one run, but Yodice scored three of his own.
The Lions got much-needed production from the bottom of the order, as the six- through nine-hole hitters garnered eight RBI. Senior infielder Jim Leitgeb, batting sixth, put the initial two runs of the contest across the plate with a first-inning double, a hit that would prove to be the last Penn State ball to leave the infield until the fifth inning.
"Everyone was patient. Temple was throwing a lot of balls, people were walking," Leitgeb said. "They did their jobs."
The Penn State bullpen came through when it mattered as well, allowing just one run on three hits after the fifth inning. Paul Hawkins, Matt Ogrodnik, and Drew O'Neil worked quickly, throwing just 50 pitches in 15 at-bats over the last four frames.
The rest of the time was relegated to sitting in the warm dugout, hoping that Mother Nature would spare the offense some time to mount a comeback.
"You just gotta clean your spikes off, have a plan out there. You know what you gotta do," Hawkins said. "What was it, three and a half hours? That's long. But that's why we're here. We're here to play baseball."
