Sometime before dusk came over Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, a rainbow appeared in front of Mount Nittany, a peaceful respite between the gray skies and the peeks of sunshine on the valley.

It was even enough to make State College Spikes manager Gary Robinson notice.

Maybe because it became an omen for what the night would entail, ugly at first and beautiful at last, as the Spikes' bats finally woke up with a resounding crack and an 11-3 win Friday night over the Auburn Doubledays (5-9).

"We got on a roll, we got some big hits, but I think the tone was set by our pitching," Robinson said. "I think the tone is always set by your pitching. Now I'm not going to take anything away from our

hitters, because they worked their ends off. But, hitting's contagious. And I I'm happy for our players."

It was hard for the Spikes (7-8) not to be in a good mood after the game, because some of the frustration from the past week, especially from Tuesday and Wednesday, seemed to melt away.

Whether it was getting five solid innings from starter Maurice Bankston (1-0), and four innings of no-hit relief from Michael Felix or the offense coming through with its highest run total of the season, everything seemed to click Friday night.

"That's just a glimpse of what our offensive potential," Spikes first baseman Kyle Morgan said. "We're a pretty heavy lineup one through nine, and we're able to put up some numbers when everybody's doing their part like that, so it was a good win all the way around. Our pitching, our defense, hitting, everything."

It almost didn't happen that way after Auburn scored twice, one unearned, in the first inning off of Bankston to take a 2-0 lead. But in the bottom of the inning, Morgan stepped up against Auburn starter Brian Justice with a good wind carrying to right field, and moments later Morgan was rounding the bases with a two-run wind-aided homer to right.

The Spikes had tied the game.

"I thought I missed it," Morgan said. "I thought it went too high and was kind of [upset] that I thought it maybe was a popout. Then I get halfway through the line and I checked it out again and I kind of knew."

An inning later, the Spikes would take the lead for good and force Justice from the game after only 1.2 innings. But it wasn't until the later innings that the Spikes really flexed their offensive muscle.

It started with a three-run double by Pat Irvine to stretch the lead to 7-2, followed by what would become a team record four-straight extra-base hits in the eighth that would give the Spikes a four run

frame and seven runs in the last two innings.

It took all the pressure off of Felix, who ended up throwing four innings of no-hit relief, allowing just one run on two walks.

"It does take the pressure off," Felix said. "It makes it easy to relax, even though we're not trying to relax. It gives us some space to build and work and it's great, makes me feel better about myself

when these guys are hitting, that they're with us and doing what they gotta do."

Now State College can start to see its own rainbow in terms of its season. Saturday afternoon, on Independence Day, the Spikes will get their second try this week at reaching the .500 mark. It's also an opportunity for a three-game winning streak against Williamsport. While Robinson would like to see it happen, he still has a bigger goal in mind.

"Getting to .500 would be great for our players, but we're not selling the farm if we don't, we'll just do it later," Robinson said. "I just have this sneaking suspicion that we're on the right track. Not toward anything, but for these kids developing into the kinds of players they ought to be."