Blue White Illustrated

hey would rather have had the win. But earning a spot in baseball history? They'll certainly take that as a con- solation. In the first game of a doubleheader against visiting Michigan State on May 16, the Nittany Lions became only the third college or professional team in history to turn two triple plays in the same game. Gonzaga in 2006 is the only other Di- vision I team to accomplish the feat, while the Min- nesota Twins in 1990 are the only major league club to do it. "I wish I could tell you we practiced it or it's something that we have in our back pocket," first-year head coach Rob Cooper said. "But really, it's just pretty cool." For those who didn't see them live or catch them on one of the dozen or so times they aired on ESPN, the plays went like this: In the top of the fourth inning, Michigan State had runners on first and second base with no outs. With designated hitter Blaise Salter batting, Michigan State called a hit-and-run. Both runners were stealing when Salter roped a line drive to freshman shortstop Jim Haley, who caught it, stepped on second base and threw to first to finish the 6-3 triple play. In the eighth inning, lightning struck again. Michigan State was in a similar of- fensive situation. With runners on first and second and a hit-and-run called, Jim- my Pickens smashed a 2-0 fastball to junior second baseman Taylor Skerpon. Skerpon took one step to his right and caught the line drive. He flipped the ball to Haley, who was covering the bag, for the force out at second. The shortstop fired to first to complete the history-mak- ing triple play. As Skerpon recalled, "It was pretty crazy. It was almost to the point where we didn't celebrate that much. We were just kinda laughing." In all of his years playing baseball, Sker- pon had only been part of one triple play. It was when he was a sophomore at Sayre (Pa.) High School, so he was unsure of what to expect after his college squad produced two in one game. At first, Skerpon said, "we were frus- trated because we lost [4-2], but after we got over that, it was like, what's going to happen with this? Is this going to draw a lot of attention? Then the following day, I woke up to about 50 new friend requests [on Facebook], 100 notifications on Twit- ter, 100 text messages. … I'm still getting congratulations for what we did." The Nittany Lions dropped all three games in the season-ending series against the Spartans. In Cooper's first year with the program, the Lions finished 18-32. They started strong, but struggled in the Big Ten season, winning only one of their final 19 games. But Skerpon said Cooper has helped in- still mental toughness and has raised the team's baseball IQ. And although the Lions fell short of a winning record, bright spots like those six outs against Michigan State have helped reinforce the notion that things are moving in the right direction. "Baseball is a game of failure, and if you're not strong mentally, then you're not going to be able to succeed," Skerpon said. "So that's definitely a positive going forward." ■ SKERPON TRACK & FIELD PSU women claim Big Ten outdoor title Penn State closed out the Big Ten season with a roar. The women's team captured its fifth outdoor championship on May 18 and coach Beth Alford-Sullivan was named Women's Coach of the Year. On the men's side, Darrell Hill was named Big Ten Field Athlete of the Year and Field Athlete of the Championships after his performance in the shot put. As a team, the men finished sixth, just two points shy of fourth place. "We fought well all weekend. The senior class of ladies was outstand- ing. They fueled our passion with great performances," Alford-Sullivan said. "I am proud of the win, my staff and our total program. Our men came together well and came so very close to a top-five finish… three Big Ten champions and many, many amazing results for them." Sophomore Kiah Seymour won the 400-meter hurdles in 56.40 seconds, while senior Mahagony Jones cap- tured the 200-meter dash to help pace Penn State's championship ef- forts. Jones was also runner-up in the 100 meters. Jones and Seymour teamed-up with junior Dynasty McGee and freshman Tichina Rhodes for the victory in the 4x400 relay. Prior to the final day of competi- tion, seniors Melissa Kurzdorfer and Brittney Howell won titles in the hammer throw and heptathlon. Hill won the 2014 Big Ten shot put title after a throw of 20.57 meters (67 feet, 6 inches), which is second all- time at Penn State. He became only the second Nittany Lion to be tabbed Athlete of the Year, joining Joe Ko- vacs in 2012. He was the first Penn Stater to be honored as Athlete of the Championships. Alford-Sullivan's Coach of the Year award was her second in as many sea- sons. The Nittany Lion women also won the outdoor title in 2013. ■ V A R S I T Y V I E W S TRIPLE DOUBLE Baseball team makes history, but focus is on future | T

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