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'U' immortalizes former coach, player

Baseball finishes season in home loss to Penn State

May 19, 2003

On Sunday, the MSU baseball team retired its first two numbers in school history.

Former MSU greats Danny Litwhiler and Robin Roberts were on hand for the ceremony, in which the fence in left center field was adorned with banners brandishing the numbers one and 36, respectively.

"It was a great day for Spartan baseball," MSU manager Ted Mahan said. "I've gotten to spend a lot of time with them over the years. They're both just great people."

Litwhiler managed MSU for 19 seasons, and retired as the winningest coach in Spartan history with a 488-382 record. Prior to joining the Spartans, Litwhiler played in the major leagues for 12 years, registering the first errorless season in baseball by successfully handling 317 chances in the outfield in 1942.

Roberts spent two years as a Spartan, playing both basketball and baseball during his tenure. After leaving MSU in 1947, Roberts pitched for 19 years and four teams in the majors.

The hurler's most impressive statistic was collecting 20-win seasons for six consecutive years while with the Philadelphia Phillies. Roberts was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976.

In the regular season finale, the MSU baseball team (21-34 overall, 10-19 Big Ten) gathered inspiration from Litwhiler, Roberts and the slew of former players on hand to jump out to a 2-0, first-inning lead on Penn State before dropping the season's final game, 4-3.

Leadoff hitter and Spartan shortstop Alan Cattrysse reached first base on an error, setting the stage for right fielder Travis Gulick's team-leading 13th homerun over the left field fence.

"I think we got in (Penn State starting pitcher Jared Hopewell's) head a little bit for a while," Gulick said. "But he got over it and pitched really well the rest of the game."

The Nittany Lions closed the gap in the top of the fourth when third baseman Adam Warchal knocked a leadoff home run of his own.

MSU maintained its slim lead until the sixth inning when an RBI single off the bat of center fielder Zack Smithilin scored two to give Penn State a 3-2 advantage.

In his last game as a Spartan, center fielder Brett Wattles was determined to factor into Sunday's game. Wattles brought MSU back in the game by driving a solo shot to right center to tie the game at three-all in the bottom of the sixth. It was his fifth home run in just two weekends.

But the Nittany Lions answered with a one-out sacrifice fly from first baseman Clint Eury to score right fielder Derrick Barr and clinch the victory.

Wattles said he's sorry his career couldn't end on a high note, but couldn't be happier with his time spent at MSU.

"It was hard (season) after what we accomplished last year, but we played well toward the end of the season," he said. "I had fun though. I had a good last year, and a great time here."

Right-hander Darren Nasatir (0-1) took the loss for MSU. Nasatir surrendered one earned run and two hits in 2/3 innings on the mound.

Hopewell picked up his fourth win of the season for Penn State, going 6 1/3 innings while scattering eight hits and three earned runs.

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