David Grewe sat at the end of the MSU bench, alone. The dugout was empty, except for a few pieces of equipment and some discarded sunflower seeds on the ground. His knees were folded, his face expressionless.
He watched silently as his players went through their standard post-game field maintenance routine, their robotic motions carrying all the revelry of a funeral procession.
The same question was probably scrolling through all of their heads.
How did that just happen?
Three outs away from a sweep of Penn State in Sunday's doubleheader, the Spartans surrendered four runs in the final inning and fell in stunning fashion, 6-5, at Kobs Field.
"That one is really hard to deal with," Grewe said.
The Spartans (15-12 overall, 6-4 Big Ten) had a three-run cushion entering the final frame after scoring runs in each of the first five innings. As expected, Grewe called for junior closer Mike Monterey, who had converted all five of his save opportunities on the season.
"When he goes out there," Grewe said, "it's usually a done deal."
No. 9 hitter Landon Nakata led off for Penn State (11-18, 4-5), and Monterey quickly got ahead in the count. But then he missed low and away with a fastball, causing Grewe's eyebrow to raise in concern.
"He usually misses in on the hands," Grewe said.
Monterey walked Nakata on a full count, and then things started spiraling out of control in a hurry.
The Nittany Lions rattled off four straight hits, the last of them a double to right by cleanup hitter Joe Blackburn that plated the go-ahead run. An error on the previous play by freshman right fielder Chris Roberts allowed the tying run to score.
"That's something you've got to be able to stop," Grewe said. "Somebody's got to make a big play. Somebody's got to make a big pitch."
That somebody usually is Monterey, but with nobody else to turn to in the bullpen, Grewe could only watch as his closer lost his first lead of the season.
"He was just overthrowing from the get-go," Grewe said. "His mechanics were all out of sync, his body was working too fast and we couldn't get him to slow down."
MSU put runners on second and third in its half of the inning, but couldn't convert as Roberts tapped weakly back to the pitcher to end the game.
It was eerily similar to last year's series between the teams, when Penn State twice rallied in its final at-bat to steal victory.
"They're a frustrating team for us," Grewe said.
The collapse spoiled freshman Kyle Corcoran's bid for his first career win. The left-hander allowed one earned run in 5 1/3 innings in his second start of the season.
Senior ace Craig Brookes also was a tough-luck loser in Saturday's opener, allowing three runs in seven innings but falling, 3-1.
Junior Jon Kibler helped the Spartans rebound in Sunday's first game, tossing a complete-game three-hitter as MSU won, 4-1. Junior second baseman Steve Gerstenberger went 3-for-4 with two RBIs in the victory.
But any momentum from that win was lost in the back end after Penn State knocked the Spartans' collective wind out. Now, today's 3:05 p.m. finale is not only MSU's last chance to salvage a series split, but also a gauge of its resiliency.
"It hurts right now," sophomore catcher Kyle Day said, "but at the same time, we're going to take as much learning experience as we can from it. You take a punch, you take a hit, but we've got tough guys on the team, so we're going to get right back up and knock you in the face."
