This was going to be the turning point, the rally that made all the pain from Sunday's heart-wrenching, final-inning loss disappear. The MSU baseball team trailed Penn State by one in the fifth Monday at Kobs Field, but it had put runners at first and second with only one out. Junior center fielder Dennis Jones, one of the team's best contact hitters, stepped in, and if nothing else, you expected him to move the runners over for someone else to bring them in.
But Jones struck out swinging, and junior first baseman Evan Friedland tapped weakly to first to end the threat, and MSU faded quickly after that, dropping the series finale to the Nittany Lions, 10-4.
"Huge missed opportunity," MSU head coach David Grewe said of the failed rally. "The whole weekend was really a missed opportunity."
The Spartans, who entered the weekend in possession of a top-three spot in the Big Ten, managed just one win in four games against the Nittany Lions, who entered the weekend with a 9-17 record overall.
"All of us want to go back to Saturday and start the series over with," Grewe said.
Despite needing a win Monday to split the series, the Spartans didn't appear to be feeling any added pressure. The dugout was loose, the chatter incessant. But as missed opportunities like the one in the fifth inning piled up, it became clear how much the implications of the game were weighing on them.
"I think guys really wanted to win — they were maybe trying a little too hard at times," senior catcher Sean Walker said. "We were loose, but there are certain times during the game when you've got to come make a play."
The Nittany Lions (12-18 overall, 5-5 Big Ten) never trailed after touching senior starter John Dwan for four runs in the first three innings. Dwan lasted only through the fifth — his shortest outing of the conference season.
"John just didn't throw enough strikes early on," Grewe said.
MSU's bullpen, one of its biggest strengths all season, was shaky for a second straight game, allowing six runs in the seventh and eighth innings to let Penn State pull away. A three-run triple by Rick Marlin in the eighth was the final nail in the coffin.
Sophomore designated hitter Kyle Day went 3-for-5 for MSU, and freshman right fielder Eli Boike went 2-for-3 and scored twice.
Now, MSU (15-13, 6-5) finds itself back in the middle of the conference race, with Minnesota, Michigan and Ohio State — arguably the top three teams in the conference — looming the next three weekends.
That leaves little time for the Spartans to shake out of their collective funk.
"I hope that after this one," Grewe said, "they would be frustrated with where we are."
