State College Spikes outfielder David Rubinstein barely had time to round first base.

That's when he was mobbed by his teammates, running out of the dugout and jumping up and down in complete unison.

The reason for celebration was Rubinstein's walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning that gave the Spikes (6-8) a 4-3 win over the Auburn Doubledays (5-8) Thursday night at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.

"Rubey did a great job," Spikes infielder Brock Holt said. "It was good to get that last hit, two-out knock, to get that winning run in. It was big."

Rubinstein was 3-for-5 at the plate Thursday, extending his hitting streak to nine games and raising his average to .307

But what the 2,384 in attendance at Medlar will remember is his third and final hit, a slow dribbler that sneaked underneath the glove of Doubleday shortstop Kevin Nolan and into left field to bring in the game-winning run.

"He's more aggressive," Spikes manager Gary Robinson said of Rubinstein. "I kept telling him 'Good swings need to swing. Good swings need to play. So let it go.' And he's doing that. He's been much more aggressive, I'm as happy as I can be for him."

What Spikes fans might also remember is a night of firsts for State College. It was the first professional game for center fielder Evan Chambers, who scored the winning run on Rubinstein's hit.

It was also the first professional win for pitcher Marc Baca (1-1), who needed only one pitch to get the third out of the ninth inning.

Holt made his first professional start at shortstop after Andy Vasquez missed the game with what Robinson called a foot problem.

However, the game also wouldn't have gone to the bottom of the ninth if the Spikes had built on an early 3-1 lead they gave to starter Kyle McPherson. Instead, State College's bats were stymied again for most of the night and Auburn eventually tied the game in the sixth inning with two runs off of McPherson.

In fact, it looked like the Spikes were heading to their third straight loss until there were two outs in the bottom of the ninth.

Chambers started it with his third walk of the game off of Austin Armstrong (0-2; then first baseman Aaron Baker walked off Casey Beck, which led to Rubinstein.

With one swing of the bat, he seemed to erase the Spikes disappointing last two outings.

"I think you saw the excitement," Robinson said. "They were a different club than they were [Wednesday] night. I was not happy at all with their energy and their focus [Wednesday] night. [Thursday], they were a different club. Never gave in, never thought they were going to get beat, that's the way we normally play.

"And I'm gonna say it again, this club is going to get on a roll," Robinson said. "It's just a matter of time."