The rain may have fouled up .38 Special's performance yesterday, but think about what it did to the softball team -- the airport-weary softball team that has slept maybe 20 hours in State College this week.

The players are just plain worn out.

After traveling to Ohio State Tuesday, the Lady Lions have been camping in East Lansing, Mich., since Thursday trying to play some softball --with emphasis on trying.

The rain kept piddling down and the softball team had nothing to do except stare at each other in a foreign hotel room and wonder when and if they're ever going to play.

Need I say more?

Well, there is more. The Lady Lions eventually did get to play --only after a couple days of waiting through rain delays. They were scheduled to play two doubleheaders, one on Friday and the other Saturday but rain moved the show to Sunday.

And the teams played two of the four games. In what's been the norm for the Lady Lions, they lost twice to the Spartans, 5-4 and 5-2. Penn State is now 9-26, 3-19 in the Big Ten, and Michigan State is 4-26.

"We were locked in our hotel room. We couldn't do anything," said outfielder Julie Shalom. "We weren't sure if we were going to play. But we looked at their record and we thought we would come out of it with a win." Shalom has taken everything that has happened to the softball team this season in stride although she conceded that it's been a "frustrating season for everyone."

Frustrating for senior pitcher Dawn Hoover who took the loss in game one. Errors obviously didn't help her cause -- only two of the Spartan's runs were earned.

Penn State scored two runs in the fourth inning thanks to Amy Tortorella who singled in two runs. It tied the game at three in the fifth inning when Ellen Traino singled home another run.

Penn State actually had a lead in the sixth when Marie Hawkins scored on a wild pitch to go ahead 4-3. Michigan State tied it up at four in the sixth. The Spartans held Penn State scoreless in the top of the seventh and won the game on a single with one out in the bottom of the inning.

The Spartans' Martha Wendt came up big on the mound striking out nine Lady Lion batters.

"They could really hit the ball hard," said first baseman Heidi Gigherelli. Their pitching is different than what we're used to. They throw a lot of junk. The Atlantic Ten had more speed. It's the rise (of the pitch) that gets us on our team. That's why we have a lot of strikeouts."

Michigan State jumped out to a 3-0 lead in game two and that's all the Spartans would need as they cruised to their 5-2 victory.

But to make matters worse for the softball team, after camping out in Lansing, they had to hold fort in Detroit's International Airport for several hours before they could fly back to State College.

Why? You guessed it, another rain delay.

What else could go wrong for the softball team this season -- both on and off the field?

" Yeah, it's been a real transition year," Shalom said optimistically. "We are playing hard and playing good ball against some of the top teams in the country."

She isn't kidding.

Up next is Northwestern on Friday.