Very few items depict looseness in a baseball clubhouse more accurately than a shaving cream pie.
After Saturday night, few players know this better than Penn State infielder Landon Nakata.
After entering the nightcap of a doubleheader against Northwestern when regular third baseman Mike Deese was ejected, Nakata made the most of his rare opportunity. He went 2-2 with a double, a triple and two RBI in the Nittany Lions' 11-5 victory at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. The big night earned Nakata -- as reliever Gary Amato called it -- his "first-interview pie" to the face.
"Did I see that coming? Nah, I didn't," Nakata said, wiping shaving cream from his eyes. "But it's OK. Gary's my boy."
Amato proudly exclaimed his prank with what has the makings of an uncensored autobiography title in the future.
"Gary Amato: Yeah, I Pied Him," he said. "That's it."
Amato's antics are a summation of the entire Lion locker room, now full of life and smiles on the heels of a torrid 7-1 stretch in the Big Ten that has vaulted them into third place in the conference and into the thick of the championship hunt.
But Penn State refused to allow the Blue-White weekend distractions of record crowds, fireworks and laughter to take a toll. It returned to the ballpark Sunday and gutted out a come-from-behind 8-4 win, capping its first Big Ten four-game sweep since 2004.
The atmosphere is precisely what head coach Robbie Wine pictured when the new stadium opened for collegiate play last month.
"I wished it would have come together a little sooner," Wine said. "You're a student athlete here, this is part of the fun of it and this is what you envision, stuff like this. You want guys to have fun."
The Lions have had success at the plate, and many hitters are quick to attribute the big numbers to an increased confidence and contentment. Wine said that most errors can be fixed with a simple mental adjustment at this point in the season.
Whatever mentality the Lions have, it's working. They're averaging six runs per game in April, almost double their 3.3 average in March.
But wins remain the most important stat, and the Lions have vastly improved in that category as well. Their record this month is 11-4 after winning just four of 16 contests the month previous.
"You can hear it in there. It's crazy in there," Amato said, pointing to the locker room. "But it's not about just winning the series as it is about winning all the games."
The ever-increasing numeral in the "W" column has Penn State expecting to emerge victorious in every game. It's beginning to enjoy its new spot amongst the Big Ten's elite, and it is relishing being feared as opposed to assumed underdog.
"We're a pretty mellow bunch of guys, we like to have fun," Nakata said. "We've been up-and-down. It's nice to level out, find a good spot and get comfortable."
