Not many players on the baseball team are expecting to see any welcome mats in the next few days. Or any red carpets.

Penn State (9-5) certainly knows what it's up against this weekend, as the team begins its first series in the Big Ten. The Lions go on the road to face Illinois (10-6) in a four-game series, starting this afternoon, with one game today, a doubleheader tomorrow and another single game Sunday.

And the Big Ten campaign won't be too easy. Seven four-game series make up each team's schedule, with Penn State playing four series on the road, three at home. Two of those road series will be played against Ohio State and Minnesota, who last year finished first and second in the conference, respectively. The top four teams in the standings at the end of the regular season play in a double-elimination tournament May 14-17 at the home field of the regular-season champion.

"It's exciting," designated hitter Eric Gates said. "You have to really want to play in the Big Ten. They have some pretty good baseball."

Illinois is a team on its way back. After winning two consecutive conference titles in 1989 and 1990, the team spent most of the season in transition. They brought in a new coach, Rich Jones, formerly of Southern Illinois, and finished the season 26-30, 13-15 in the Big Ten. But the Illini have been on a tear as of late. They have won nine out of their last 10 games, and managed a split with No. 2 Miami (Fla.) in Florida two weeks ago.

The Illini also have quite a fan following. They plan to have a batting helmet giveaway for the youngsters for today's game, and they expect to have up to 2,000 people in the stands. The first weekend of the Big Ten seems to be a little important to them.

"They have a highly visible program," Penn State Coach Joe Hindelang said. "That's probably why there's so much excitement. They've been a good team the last four or five years, and they'll be a good team this year."

But this first weekend of the Big Ten is just as important to Penn State, for a few reasons.

"Last year we kind of got to a bad start in the Atlantic 10 (Western Division)," outfielder Kelby Waltman said. "We don't really want to get off on the wrong foot this weekend."

"You have to make an impact in the first series," Gates said. "If you lose three out of four, it's going to be real tough to fight back.

"The goal is to get to the Big Ten playoffs, then get to the regionals. But you definitely have to win three out of four, to really get things going."