If you haven’t noticed, Medlar Field at Lubrano Park is the place to be on Tuesday nights.

Even without the 2,700+ people in the stands and 5,200 hot dogs sold, Penn State baseball was the highlight of Tuesday night in Happy Valley.

The Nittany Lions overcame a five-run deficit against West Virginia for their fourth straight win, propelled by an inside-the-park grand slam from second baseman Kyle Hannon in the sixth inning.

LITTLE LEAGUE GRAND SLAM! @PennStateBASE has the lead
pic.twitter.com/XeO1KKCBjX

— Onward State (@OnwardState) April 12, 2023

As show-stopping as Hannon’s effort was, it was part of a larger comeback that got head coach Rob Cooper excited.

“You talk all the time that you can’t let the score dictate how you go about it,” Cooper said after the game. “And I thought that they didn’t. I thought they kept battling.”

Seven different players scored in that sixth-inning comeback, and each of them played their role. It was what Cooper had been looking for in his players all year; what he refers to as selfless and mature at-bats.

Penn State has its stars, but there isn’t any singular player to stand on a true pedestal. With that in mind, the group has to rely on everyone playing their role, even when it’s just a player taking a walk instead of swinging.

Ben Kailher isn’t a star, but he embodied Penn State’s ideals of maturity on Tuesday night. While Kailher was called up to pinch hit for CJ Pittaro, he took a walk on five pitches instead of trying to make a game-changing play. Two batters later, Kailher crossed home plate as the run that gave Penn State the lead.

“That’s just selfless,” Jay Harry said. “[Kailher] did a great job when we needed it.”

Kailher’s efforts, and those of his teammates in the sixth inning, didn’t end the game. Cooper understood that while Penn State had some momentum, the pitching and defense still had to do its job.

Luckily for Cooper, that happened. After allowing runs in five of the game’s first six innings, Penn State didn’t allow another run in the final three innings. The Nittany Lions started making West Virginia chase and kept themselves from doing the same. It was a cohesive team effort, one that pitcher Tommy Molsky was proud of.

Molsky was one of six pitchers to take the mound for Penn State on Tuesday. Molsky only pitched 2.1 innings, but he felt that he was part of a greater team effort to hold down the defensive fort.

“It’s really just [putting your] head down, and [you] might have a few bad outings or a few rough days but it’s…just believing in yourself and knowing that you got the guy next to you and he’s got your back as well,” Molsky said.

With the win over West Virginia, Penn State has a chance to take its momentum on the road as it faces Purdue for a three-game series. Cooper hopes that Tuesday’s win was a lesson to his team on how to play and how to win as they stare down the back half of the season.

“I think momentum is only as good as your mindset. If you realize what it took tonight to win — not one guy trying to do it by themselves, playing as a team… That’s something you can carry forward. And if you do that, then you have a chance to really get something going,” Cooper said.