Through 12 games, no team in the New York-Penn League had struck out more than the State College Spikes.

By the time post-game rain showers sent the crowd scurrying to the concourse at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, the Spikes had struck out seven more times, all against Auburn Doubleday starter Scott Gracey en route to Auburn's 6-1 win over the Spikes Wednesday night.

"He had good command of his fastball, he jumped ahead of us, every time we started to cheat, he was able to throw a changeup or a breaking ball for a strike to slow us down," Spikes manager Gary Robinson said.

The Spikes' second straight loss had a different feel to it than Tuesday night, when State College (5-8) blew a 4-0 lead to Mahoning Valley.

Wednesday, the Spikes couldn't get anything going against Gracey (1-2), who scattered one run and four hits over six innings for his first win.

It was a world of difference for Gracey from when he was touched up for five runs in 4.2 innings against the Spikes last week.

"From watching him throw the first couple of innings, I knew he had good stuff," Robinson said. "He's a different guy than he was last week. He introduced a slider that we didn't know he had. I'm not making excuses for our hitters, but you have to tip your hat to Gracey. Gracey set the tone of the baseball game."

Gracey never let the Spikes get in rhythm, especially after the top of the second inning when Auburn (5-7) scored two runs on an Andy Vasquez error and a bases-loaded walk to left fielder Chris Hopkins off of Spikes starter Nelson Pereira (1-2). The Spikes scored in the second inning to cut the deficit to one but never got closer against Gracey.

"We were taking too many fastballs in the zone and chasing too many off-speed pitches out of the zone," Spikes second baseman Brock Holt said. "His stuff isn't good enough to beat you. He was making pitches and we were chasing some bad pitches."

But what worried Robinson the most was more the lack of enthusiasm from his club.

"The only negative for me about tonight's game was I just don't think we played hard enough," Robinson said. "I've been very satisfied until tonight with at least the enthusiasm and the intensity and the urgency our guys have played with. I wasn't overly impressed with tonight."