Catcher Rob Yodice drove in three runs yesterday in a 2-for-4 effort, but it wasn't enough to overcome what he described as a "flat start" for Penn State. After the third inning, the Lions were down 5-1, and despite knotting the score at five, relief pitching later dropped another three runs to Indiana in the seventh.
"We'll learn from this and realize we have to get up early. In the future, when you are going against better teams, you can't get down three runs in the eighth inning," catcher Rob Yodice said. "The comebacks are nice, but you can't make it a habit."
If Penn State won once more this weekend, it would have marked the first time since 2000 that the Lions won three consecutive Big Ten series. They also hadn't committed an error in six consecutive games.
On Friday and Saturday, errorless baseball continued. And unlike in prior starts, pitcher Craig Clark got six runs of support to pull his record to 3-4 despite a 2.55 earned run average. Shortstop Scott Gaffney's three-run homer was a breath of fresh air in a 6-2 win.
But the play in the field yesterday was unusually volatile. Indiana (16-25, 6-14 Big Ten) had two errors in the field, one of which scored outfielder Brian Ernst after shortstop Keith Haas misplayed a ball hit to him by Penn State infielder Landon Nakata.
Catcher Joe Blackburn advanced from first to home on three of Indiana starting pitcher Eric Arnett's four wild pitches in the fifth inning. Then, of the three runs Penn State relief pitcher Matt Ogrodnik relinquished in the seventh, two of them were unearned.
An out-of-control game wasn't enough to keep the Lions afloat this time, as they had two of their own.
Gaffney, who did not pitch yesterday as he is normally scheduled in the fourth game of a series, realized that no one could fret because of a couple rare mistakes.
"Unfortunately it happens," Gaffney said. "It's how you bounce back from them that's important. Forget about it and go to the next play."
This loss now pulls Ohio State even with Penn State with 11-7 in-conference records, although Ohio State (26-12) holds the tiebreaker with a better overall record. Both teams are still multiple games behind Big Ten frontrunners Michigan and Minnesota.
With the Minnesota series already out of the way, the Buckeyes and Wolverines are teams that the Lions still have yet to play. An effort like yesterday's won't cut it, Yodice said.
"We became a little complacent," Yodice said. "We have to get back to the go-getter attitude. You can't do this. You have to keep pounding."
