The Michigan dugout looked stunned. Wolverine coach Rich Maloney stared at the scoreboard in disbelief. The young fans stood passively, wondering whether to ask for autographs.

The Wolverines had just allowed the Nittany Lions to score 12 unanswered runs en route to a 16-5 loss at Ray Fisher Stadium, which sealed a 2-1 series loss on the weekend.

The loss yesterday wasn’t on the tail of a major catastrophe or breakdown, and the team hadn’t fallen apart.

On Saturday, the Wolverines and Nittany Lions (3-3 Big Ten, 17-12 overall) had split their doubleheader, with Penn State taking the first game 6-4 in the 10th inning. But the Wolverines fought back from a 5-2 deficit in the second game to win 9-4 with the help of five home runs.

But on Sunday, the Wolverines just failed to do the little things.

“It all added up over time, one mistake after another,” sophomore Ryan LaMarre said. “A few plays, a few inches, a few bounces, then it’s a whole different game. But today, it just all added up.”

Unlike other games where the Wolverines (3-3, 18-10) have found a way to fight back, the hole they dug themselves into was too deep to escape. As the game went on, the little miscues became more glaring.

Maloney worked his way through the bullpen, using six different pitchers, but all failed to slow the Nittany Lions' offensive surge.

And when the Wolverines looked for a game-changing performance, no one answered the call.

“It takes one or two guys to step up and make a play,” Kalczynski said. “Those small successes are contagious just like the small failures have been contagious.”

LaMarre provided one of the lone bright spots for the Wolverines. While his teammates allowed errors to snowball, he managed to pull himself out of a slump.

After suffering an eight-game stretch where he batted 4-for-28 with seven strikeouts and just two RBI at the end of March, the center fielder made a strong turnaround this weekend, batting 7-for-12 with nine RBI and three home runs.

“It’s nice to see him get going, because you need your star to play like a star,” Maloney said. “And he certainly did this weekend.”

As the Wolverines drop to .500 in the Big Ten, they look forward to two non-conference games this week before gearing up to play Illinois in a three-game series this weekend at The Fish.

“This could be a turning point,” Kalczynski said. “It could go one of two ways. It could go uphill really fast or downhill really fast. It’s just a matter of how mentally tough we are and how we respond.”