Baseball

The Nittany Lions (0-6) will start a spring break tour of Alabama tomorrow when they take on the Crimson Tide (6-1) in a three-game series. They will then travel to Birmingham for two games against Samford (6-2) and one against Alabama-Birmingham (4-1), before closing the week-long trip with three contests at Auburn (5-2).

Key stats: The Lions are hitting .232 as a team heading into the road trip, compared to the .305 mark their opponents have posted. Penn State is led offensively by senior shortstop Shawn Reese, who is hitting at a .467 clip.

Injuries: There are no major injuries for the Lions.

Preview: Penn State Coach Joe Hindelang said he is looking for four things from his youthful Lions over the next week. Those four things are: making the routine defensive plays, limiting the number of walks allowed, limiting the aggressive base running that opponents have used to hurt them and getting more timely hits.

Coach Hindelang says: "Every player on this team now knows his role. That's the one major positive we've gotten from the first six games."

-- by Brad Young

Men's Basketball

The Nittany Lions (16-9, 8-8 Big Ten) have a week off before visiting Michigan (16-11, 10-6) at 8 p.m., March 8 in Ann Arbor and then hosting Minnesota (18-9, 9-6) at 8 p.m., March 11 in Rec Hall in their regular season finale.

Key stats: Penn State upset Michigan, 73-63, the last time the Wolverines were in State College on Jan. 8. The Golden Gophers, who dropped from a No. 22 ranking in the Associated Press poll after a 73-65 loss to Ohio State, edged the Lions, 69-67, Jan. 4 in Minneapolis.

Injuries: No major injuries to report.

Preview: The Lions are coming off a 75-68 victory over Ohio State Wednesday. By winning their last two games, they could finish with 18 wins and a 10-8 conference record. Since the NCAA tournament field expanded in 1985, a 10-8 mark in the Big Ten has ensured an at-large bid. But given the Big Ten's parity, it will be difficult for the Lions to receive an invite.

Junior forward Glenn Sekunda says: "We have a week off now and then play Michigan and Minnesota. If we win those two games, we have a legitimate chance for the NCAA tournament. And that's all we can ask for."

Men's Diving

The men's diving team will travel without the men's swim team March 9-11 to compete in the NCAA Diving Prequalification meet at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. This is a regional competition which includes schools as far north as Maine, as far south as Maryland and as far west as Ohio.

Key stats: All four Lion divers placed at the Big Ten championships last week at Minnesota. Senior Chris Devine finished second in both the 1- and 3-meter dive. Freshman Drew Jackson took 10th in the 1 meter and seventh in the 3 meter. Sophomore Seth Kane placed 13th in the 1 meter, and senior Ryan Smith took 15th in both events.

In order to qualify for this meet, each diver scored at least 290 points in the 1-meter and 310 points in the 3-meter event in any dual meet of the season.

Injuries: There are no injuries for Penn State.

Preview: In order to qualify for NCAAs, each diver chooses to dive in two of three events, either the 1 meter, 3 meter or platform. At the end of the competition, all points are tallied and the top six divers go to nationals.

All four Lion divers will be diving in the 1- and 3-meter events. On March 9, they will be diving in the 1-meter, while the Lady Lion divers dive in the 3-meter. On March 10 they switch events. The platform diving will take place that afternoon.

Diving Coach Craig Brown said the toughest competition will come from Navy and Pittsburgh. Navy's Nate Smith, a national competitor, and Pitt's John Soulakis are expected go head to head with Devine. Brown added both divers may elect not to dive in the springboard events because of Penn State's strength in the 1 and 3 meter.

Coach Brown says: "Based on our performance at Big Tens and in practices this week, I think that we are really going to stun some people."

-- by Kate Blaschak

Men's Golf

The Nittany Lions will travel to Williamsburg, Va., for the William and Mary Kingsmill Invitational. The tournament, which will take place next Monday and Tuesday, will be held at the Kingsmill Golf Club River Course.

The Lions will also compete in the Fripp Island Intercollegiate Tournament in South Carolina next Friday and Saturday.

Key stats: Coming into the Kingsmill Invitational, the Lions are led by junior Dirk Ayers. He was the team's leading scorer last fall with an average of 74.8 strokes. Sophomore Adam Decker was second in scoring average while junior Jeff Diehl, a transfer from Ohio State, was the team's third leading scorer.

Injuries: No major injuries to report.

Preview The Kingsmill Invitational is the first District II tournament for the Lions. For the past two years, Penn State has been the dominant team in this tournament. The Lions won their last event of the fall, the James Madison Invitational. A win in Williamsburg will give the team momentum going into future tournaments.

The Lions will then play in the Fripp Island Intercollegiate Tournament. Unlike the Kingsmill Invitational, this event is a cross-district tournament.

Coach Greg Nye says: "Right now, we're focusing on the upcoming tournament at William and Mary at Kingsmill."