THE DAILY COLLEGIAN Heath having potentially historic season This past weekend's series gave Ben Heath a chance to match up against Ohio State's Dan Burkhart one of the top catchers in the BASEBALL nation and Heath shined. The Buckeyes' backstop is the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year and was voted by PING! Baseball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association as a second team preseason All-American. After Heath's performance dur ing the Penn State baseball team's (17-22, 4-8 Big Ten) series win against Ohio State where Penn State took two-of-three, the Nittany Lion catcher has a case for consideration as the best catcher in the conference. Heath batted a combined 7-for -14 in the three games and had three home runs, seven RBI and six runs scored. His performance earned him Big Ten Baseball Co-Player of the Week honors. Despite seeing Heath play in just three games, Ohio State pitch ing coach Eric Parker could see the junior's ability "Looking at his numbers and Junior catcher Ben Heath swings at a pitch against Kent State on March getting to see him play for one 31. Heath, a Huntersville, N.C., native, is on pace to have a historic power weekend, he's obviously having a hitting year. Earlier this season, he put together a 19-game hit streak. great year and doing a great job Consistent reliever keeps steady approach By Alex Angert COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER On Sunday against Ohio State, senior David Lutz made history and he had no idea it happened. Pitching in his third game in as many days, Lutz unknowingly recorded the 76th appearance of his collegiate career to move into a first-place tie in the Penn State record books. But when asked about the mile stone, Lutz's first response was a surprised, "Oh, really?" With the team hosting La Salle at 6:35 p.m. on Tuesday, Lutz will have a shot at passing former record holder Jeff Emerich and move into sole possession for all time appearances. Yve all the respect for every body who came before me," Lutz said. "There's a lot of history in the program with a lot of great guys and great pitchers. But it's about the guys around me and having the opportunities for the coaches to be able to put me out there." Lutz, a West Chester native, • .7 1 )74045 . 111. ME Owe Ave. 2•166 Tuesday, 1/27 VELVEETA /2.50 Guinness Drafts All day til ertidaire Half Price everything F>:7- • dO 4l Tuesday isiountry Night 'TIP ROOM s 9pm $2 Blue Moon 11l midnight Happy Hour 10-midnight "He's a sidearm guy who is not going to overpower people, but he understands his game. He's a workhorse out of the pen." played an instrumental role dur ing this past weekend's series vic tory at Ohio State. On Saturday in a game with a combined 28 runs scored -- he pitched more than half the game to pick up the win without allowing a single run to cross the board. Then Sunday, after pitching 4.2 innings of relief the day before, Lutz came out of the bullpen for the fourth consecutive game to get the first batter he faced to hit into an inning-ending double play "He was big for us all weekend," catcher Ben Heath said. "He's a sidearm guy who is not going to overpower people, but he understands his game. "He comes out and he throws strikes. He's a workhorse out of the pen." Heath, who often times catches SPORTS By Ryan Loy COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Ben Heath junior catcher for Lutz, added that many out siders don't realize how difficult it is to pitch so many games in a row and that the pitcher has a certain toughness that allows him to be so successful. Coach Robbie Wine attributed the senior's toughness and dependability to how he takes care of himself. Lutz's conditioning and the way he handles himself are what allows Wme to confidently throw Lutz into close games with regu larity. For instance, the coach admit ted he didn't want the reliever to pitch Sunday. But he knew Lutz would be able to face a hitter or two while stay ing around only 10 pitches. And that is exactly what hap pened. "Not only is he hitting the ball out of the ballpark and driving in some runs, but he's getting base hits." back there [at catcher]," Parker said. "I cant really speak for all the other coaches, but he's defi nitely going to be up for considera tion [for an All-Big Ten team]." While Heath excelled offensive ly in the series, Burkhart's pres ence in Ohio State's lineup was also noticeable. The Buckeye catcher was held hitless but walked seven times. scored twice and had two RBIs. Parker said it's difficult to com pare the two catchers since, he's only seen Heath play in three games. However, the Lions catcher has a significant advantage in batting statistics this season. Heath's .379 batting average is .51 points higher, and he has 15 home runs while Burkhart has none. Penn State coach Robbie Wine pointed to Heath'a consistent pro duction throughout the entire season. "It's not like he's going on tears," Wine said. - He's just being consistent. Not only is he hitting the ball out of the ballpark and driving in some runs, Redshirt senior David Lutz throws a pitch last Tuesday at Medlar Field - Being able to go back-to-back- To e-mail reporter: adal47@psu.edu to-back days and the four innings sounds like a lot but he didn't throw a lot of pitches," Wine said. Keep up to date on the lat -That's just the way he is. It's est Nittany Lion baseball quick They either get ahead quick news: or they are out quick." TWITTER twltter.com/TDC_Baseball TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2010 111 Robbie Wine Penn State baseball coach but he's getting base hits and get ting on base." Heath said he saw the ball well in the weekend series against Ohio State. The junior said he's trying to stay relaxed at the plate while focusing on the mechanics he's been working on. His approach at the plate has him in position to break the school record for home runs in a season. Heath needs just three more long balls to break the record set by Dave Simononis in 1978. The catcher's 19-game hitting streak earlier in the season was also good enough for the fourth-longest in Penn State histo ry. With all of his success this sea son, Heath has opposing pitchers aware of his spot in the lineup. "He's a guy going in to the weekend that you're going to have make quality pitches to in order to get outs," Parker said. "Knowing that, if you're going to make a mistake, with the season he's having, he'll have the chance to hurt you." To e-mail reporter: rmlsl3B@psu.edu
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers