During Monday afternoon's practice at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, Penn State pitcher Scott Kelley leaned against the green-mesh wire fence of the home bullpen and watched as starting pitcher T.J. Macy threw from its mound.
A day after Kelley gave up two earned runs without recording an out against the Boilermakers, the hurler said he hoped he could bust out of his slump on the mound by watching other pitchers' mechanics and studying film of himself.
Head coach Robbie Wine is looking forward to having a reliable Kelley on the mound again, and said the former ace-turned-closer would again take the diamond as a starter Wednesday against the Pittsburgh Panthers.
"I'm happy they're giving me the start," Kelley said. "The last couple of appearances have been a little rough, so it's good to build confidence in me getting to start."
Kelley and Wine added that starting a game on the mound will give the pitcher a chance to again find a rhythm and will eliminate the pressure relievers face of being pulled immediately after a poor series of pitches.
"He needs to get his head back on straight. Getting his feet wet and finding the zone again -- it's an obvious choice," Wine said of his decision to start Kelley against Pitt.
And like each midweek series that has preceded, Wine said he again will shake up the lineup to attempt to find consistency among his team.
Earlier in the season, the Nittany Lions' coach said he used midweek games to give his young bullpen an opportunity to rack up innings of work it otherwise may not see.
Similarly, Wine said he shakes up his batting order to give everybody on the team a chance to earn a job -- but not at the price of output.
"You put guys out there because you have confidence in them, not because they need the work," Wine said. "We're trying to win every game along with developing, along with working on things, along with gaining confidence.
"I hope and wish we could come up with [stable lineups], but it seems every week some guy is stepping up and some guy is slowing down. You have to go with your gut."
One player who has earned a starting job for weekend conference games is Ryan Boonie.
Boonie has only stepped to the plate as a batter 43 times this season -- fourth least among the Lion batters.
But after going 3-4 at the plate Saturday against Purdue and recording a double and a triple Sunday again against the Boilermakers, Boonie looks to have solidified his spot in the batting order.
"Other guys you project to be ahead of him," Wine said. "And what does he do? He just keeps being the same guy and wins jobs."
The situation is similar to last year for the outfielder, Wine said, while Boonie added playing sporadically has had little effect on his approach to the game.
"As long as your head's in it and you're ready to go whenever you're called on, it's not that big of a deal," Boonie said. "You do whatever you can to help the team."
