Sluggers hit road against Spiders

The Nittany Lion baseball team will look to continue its winning ways this weekend as it squares off against Colonial Athletic co-champion Richmond in a three-game series.

The Lions play a doubleheader against the Spiders at noon tomorrow in Richmond, Va. Penn State (3-2) and Richmond (4-2) will cap off the series with a 1 p.m. Sunday game.

The Lions are flying high after a three-game sweep of Norfolk State last weekend and rebounding from an 0-2 start. Lion coach Joe Hindelang is happy with his team's ability to respond quickly after its losses to Virginia and North Carolina-Wilmington.

"In the first game we've got to give Virginia all the credit," Hindelang said. "They returned a lot of players from the ACC championship team. In the second game I thought we had a chance to win. I thought we were kind of walking on eggshells."

But the team's mood quickly changed against Norfolk State, when Lion batters heated up.

"What really changed the atmosphere was junior Adam Beers hitting a three-run home run," Hindelang said. "You could just feel it. You felt the surge."

The Lions must carry over their surge if they want to put away Richmond. The Spiders are coming off an impressive two-game sweep of Navy, blowing out the Midshipmen, 11-4 and 13-5.

Richmond coach Ron Atkins has been pleasantly surprised by his team's offensive fire power but is looking for a better defensive effort. This weekend, Atkins is looking for improvement and his team's taking the series.

"We've got decent pitching," Atkins said. "Our offense has been clicking a little bit better than I thought it would. Our defense hasn't been to steady. Anytime you go into a three-game series, you would like to win two out of three."

For the Lions, pitcher Matt Weimer should be ready to go. After taking a line drive off his fingertip in the third inning against UNC-Wilmington, Weimer sat out the Norfolk State series.

Hindelang said Weimer could go an inning and added his pitcher "can go if he can tolerate some discomfort."