UNIVERSITY PARK — It’s a place the State College Spikes have been 14 times. It’s a place they just might end this season unless all three phases begin clicking at once.

The Spikes will arrive at work today as a .500 team, a middling sensation they haven’t shaken 50 games into the New York-Penn League season. A 4-1 loss to Tri-City on Sunday evened their record at 25-25.

Sure, things can be worse. On Aug. 9, 2008, the Spikes were 11-37.

These Spikes won 14 games in July, so life around Medlar Field at Lubrano Park isn’t too bad

via Spikes remain stranded at .500 – Sports | Centre Daily Times – State College, PA | Penn State, Nittany Lions, weather, news, jobs, homes, apartments, real estate.

Guy Cipriano

UNIVERSITY PARK — Get two teams together with National League ties and there’s a chance a game can turn small.

That’s fine with the State College Spikes. Some clever shifting of runners and crisp execution helped the Spikes move past .500 with a 2-1 victory over Tri-City on Saturday.

The Spikes (25-24) played a style that made the Pittsburgh Pirates proud. Pitchers Colton Cain, Kevin Decker and Justin Ennis combined for a four-hitter, the defense committed no errors and the offense drove in both runs with the ValleyCat infield in.

“We have just been manufacturing runs real well,” Walker Gourley said. “Our situational hitting has been very good. We have gotten bunts down when we needed to and our baserunning has been good. But, really, our pitching is what’s keeping us in spots to take advantage of what we can get.”

via A small world – Sports | Centre Daily Times – State College, PA | Penn State, Nittany Lions, weather, news, jobs, homes, apartments, real estate.

STATE COLLEGE – Zack Dodson fired five innings of shutout ball, allowing just one walk and no hits to pick up the win as the State College Spikes clinched their first-ever series victory over the Staten Island Yankees with a 4-2 win at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park on Friday night.

Dodson (2-2) faced just one batter over the minimum, with Staten Island (21-23) third baseman Garrison Lassiter the only batter to reach base with a third-inning walk. The left-hander from Natalia, Texas also struck out five in the effort to earn his second professional victory.

via Dodson holds Yankees at bay in win | State College Spikes News.

Guy Cipriano

UNIVERSITY PARK — Introduce older competition to young pitchers. Watch them struggle, learn, adjust and eventually help a team win.

Perhaps this was part of what the men who invest serious money into young arms want.

One night after Zack Von Rosenberg propelled the State College Spikes to a needed victory, Zack Dodson accomplished the same feat, pitching five no-hit innings during Friday’s 4-2 win over Staten Island.

Because of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ rigid handling of young pitchers, the 20-year-old Dodson knew he had no chance of starting the sixth. So Dodson savored every moment of his best start as a professional, which followed a seven-hit, six-run outing at Auburn.

via Pitching in – Sports | Centre Daily Times – State College, PA | Penn State, Nittany Lions, weather, news, jobs, homes, apartments, real estate.

Collegian Staff Writers

Zack Dodson did something Friday night he hadn’t in any of his seven prior starts of the season, and was relieved to have finally done it.

Dodson pitched into the fifth inning for the first time in his young professional career. The 20-year-old allowed no-hits in his outing, and helped the State College Spikes beat the Staten Island Yankees 4-2 Friday night Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.

via Dodson shines in Spikes win – The Daily Collegian Online.

UNIVERSITY PARK — Walker Gourley stuck his bat out and pushed toward first base. Everybody else waited as Gourley sprinted.

Would his bunt stay fair? Would it go foul?

Some might have been pondering deeper questions.

Would the State College Spikes eliminate memories of recent sloppy play? Would their season continue slipping away?

Staten Island pitcher Preston Claiborne and first baseman Kyle Roller glided down the line, waiting for the ball to creep off the chalk and trickle safely into foul territory.

The ball did what the Spikes are hoping to accomplish the next 29 games, never wavering as it stopped on the line. The Spikes can only hope the rest of their season travels a similar pat

via Spikes’ fortunes reverse against Yankees – Sports | Centre Daily Times – State College, PA | Penn State, Nittany Lions, weather, news, jobs, homes, apartments, real estate.

Collegian Staff Writer

Gerlis Rodriguez laid down a sacrifice bunt, attempting to put two runners in scoring position in the bottom of the ninth.

But the bunt by the State College Spikes designated hitter ended up doing more than that.

Staten Island Yankees catcher Nick McCoy overthrew first base, and Spikes left fielder Pat Irvine walked home to score, as State College walked off with a 3-2 win Thursday night at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. With the victory, the Spikes (23-24) snapped an eight-game losing streak against the Yankees (21-22).

via Spikes benefit from error – The Daily Collegian Online.

A day after snapping a five-game losing streak, the Staten Island Yankees suffered another setback as an error in the bottom of the ninth inning gave the State College Spikes a 3-2 New York-Penn League victory Thursday night at Medlar Field.

The loss dropped the Baby Bombers (21-22) back under the .500 mark, while remaining in a three-way tie for second place in the McNamara Division with Aberdeen and Hudson Valley (both 22-23 after losses Thursday night).

via Another setback for Staten Island Yankees | SILive.com.

JAMESTOWN, N.Y. — The State College Spikes will be happy to leave Diethrick Park.

Especially the pitchers. The Jamestown Jammers put double- digit runs on the board for the second straight night, defeating the Spikes 10-6 on Tuesday to sweep the twogame series.

Marcell Ozuna hit two home runs — a solo shot off Mitchell Fienemann in the sixth and a three-run blast off Ryan Beckman (0-2) in the eighth — and drove in five runs, giving him three homers and eight RBIs in the twogame series.

Aaron Dudley and Dallas Hord had two hits and two runs scored apiece for the Jammers (26-18), who won Monday night’s game 11-3.

via Jammers’ offense stays hot – Sports | Centre Daily Times – State College, PA | Penn State, Nittany Lions, weather, news, jobs, homes, apartments, real estate.

State College (22-21) started its rally with a five-run eighth inning, followed by single runs in the ninth and tenth innings to cap off the come-from-behind victory. Pat Irvine’s RBI single put the Spikes on the board in the eighth, and Chase Lyles then followed with a two-run triple to bring the margin to 6-3. Matt Skirving doubled home Lyles to make it a two-run game, and Andy Vasquez completed the Spikes’ run in the inning with a sacrifice fly.

In the ninth, Walker Gourley led off with a bunt single, but was ruled out for not touching second on Adalberto Santos’s groundball up the middle. After Santos advanced to second on a balk, Irvine’s two-out RBI double scored him to keep the Spikes alive, leading to Curry’s heroics in the tenth.

Irvine and Gourley each put together three-hit perform

via Spikes’ Record Comeback Produces 7-6 Win Over Doubledays – OurSports Central – Independent and Minor League Sports News.