Some people might look at the results of the softball team's spring break trip and snicker. To some, a team's merit begins and ends in the win column: if a team doesn't win, it isn't worthy of consideration.

But ask Coach Sue Rankin about her team's future after its spring fling in Florida this past week and you're likely to hear a soliloquy about the subjective intangibles that, she hopes, will make the Lady Lions contenders in their inaugural Big Ten season.

"This was the best Spring Break trip we've had in about four years," she said. "We played really, really well against some really good teams, and we now know that we can compete with any team. The spring trip is where you make or break your season, and although our record is a losing record at this point, we're in a good position for the rest of the season."

The Lady Lions went 4-7 on the trip, but played better than their record may imply. They dropped only one game by more than three runs, a 7-0 loss at the hands of No. 15 Florida State, and scored an average of over three runs in each of the 11 games.

"This is the best spring trip I've been on," co-captain Joyce Tinner said. "Everybody was putting hits together, the pitchers pitched really well and the defense looked good. Overall, we really played good and it should give us a big boost for the rest of the season."

Penn State opened with a 1-0 loss to Connecticut on March 9, followed by a 4-1 win against Temple before playing in doubleheaders the next two days. The Lady Lions dropped the first game of its March 10 doubleheader against South Florida, 2-0, before rebounding to take the second game, 5-2. Hofstra took two games from the Lady Lions two days later, a 3-2, 10-inning nailbiter in the opener and a 5-2 win in the nightcap.

The Lady Lions also played in the 20-team South Florida Classic. In the opening round, in which each team played the four other teams in its pool, the Lady Lions opened with a 10-1 thrashing of Samford (Ala.) before the loss to Florida State and a 4-2 loss to Virginia. The Lady Lions closed the round-robin pool play with a 9-1 dumping of Adelphi, but were eliminated in the first game of the next round by Michigan, 4-2.

Junior third baseman Ellie Traino was awarded the Golden Glove award in the USF Classic as the tournament's top infielder. She currently has a .942 fielding percentage with only three errors.

"This was just a great trip," Leigh Bakun said. "We went down there and showed people that we could play with everybody and that's a really good feeling."

Bakun was the team's most effective pitcher, starting six games and compiling a 4-2 record with a team-best 1.38 ERA in 40.2 innings. She struck out 12 batters and walked only five. Debbie Williams also threw well in her two relief appearances, as she notched a 2.17 ERA and picked up three strikeouts and three walks. Dawn Hoover, stung by inopportune hitting and some defensive miscues, went 0-5 in her five starts, with 2 strikeouts, six walks and a 3.69 ERA over 24.2 innings.

As a team, the Lady Lions have a respectable 2.24 ERA and have only allowed seven unearned runs. Defensively, Penn State has a .954 fielding percentage.

"I really think I'm throwing well, but when things just don't click, it starts to hurt your confidence," Hoover said. "My balls were moving and breaking well, but when teams can hit they just hit you."

Tinner is leading the team with her .424 batting average. She picked up 14 hits, including two doubles and triples, and knocked in two runs in the 11 games. Traino is batting .355 with a team-high six RBIs and had two doubles, a triple and two home runs. Rebecca Wisnoff is hitting .261 with three RBIs and Bakun is leading the team with three stolen bases.

"Besides the Florida State game, we hit the ball well against every team we played and were right in every game," Traino said. "I think we still need a lot of work on our hitting but the offense did real well on this trip."

The team is batting a collective .241 after the trip, but the Lady Lions have struck out in 37 of their 282 at bats.

"Four and seven might not sound good, but it's good for us," Amy Tortorella said. "We know where our strengths are, we know what people can do what, and what we have to work on, and hopefully we can improve on that."