Heading into the seventh inning of yesterday's game, Nittany Lion pitcher Seth Whitehill sat in the visiting team dugout. After six innings of solid pitching and 25 batters faced leaving his arm feeling like a rubber pencil, Whitehill could only watch and hope his performance would translate into his first win of the season.
With just five outs left for the victory, Lions relief pitcher Paul Hawkins, facing a bases-loaded eighth, plucked the first High Point (2-1) batter he faced, forcing in the tying run.
Four batters later, High Point's Pablo Rosario blasted in the go-ahead run. That hit completed the uplifting comeback 7-4 win for the Panthers, and in a series starting pitcher Mike Wanamaker said the team was "shaking off the cobwebs," the Penn State baseball team (1-2) dropped two of three games to host High Point.
"This was not up to our expectations," Penn State coach Robbie Wine said. "It's fundamentals. Making the routine plays, making smart decisions and clutch hitting. You certainly don't expect it, but it's understandable. It's just early season baseball."
While the fundamentals acted as the dagger for the Lions over the weekend, Penn State's starting pitchers did their best to stop the bleeding. Making his first start for the Lions, Wanamaker took the mound on Friday and led the Lions to their first opening day win since 2002.
Wanamaker went six innings, giving up five hits and striking out as many batters. The junior college transfer found himself in a couple of jams early, but used a series of off-speed pitches to leave the Panther batters off balance to limit any damage.
"Actually I think I got lucky a couple of times," Wanamaker said. "But I made the pitches when I had to, and Hawk came in to get the job done. He's a veteran, and based on the fact I didn't walk anybody either, it definitely helps this early in the season."
Although Wanamaker and Whitehill combined to allow just three runs over the weekend, Penn State's Mike Lorentson struggled during Saturday's match. High Point used a five-run second inning to jump out to an early lead, before adding nine more in a 13-run blowout win. Lorentson lasted just three innings, while Penn State's relievers allowed eight hits over the final five innings.
And while the Panthers' bats averaged more than seven runs a game over the weekend series, Penn State's offense was plagued with inconsistency. The Lions used a "small ball" offensive technique, hoping to chip away singles and doubles to advance runners. That strategy backfired on Wine and the Lions, as Penn State left nine runners stranded in scoring position in yesterday's loss.
"Well in RBI situations, there are two things going on," Wine said. "The pitchers will throw out their best pitches, and the batter must adjust to them. We didn't make the adjustments. They kept throwing sliders, and we just kept missing them."
