Before the season started, Penn State baseball coach Joe Hindelang stressed the importance of getting off to a good start, but that the games that really mattered were Big Ten battles.

Hindelang's Nittany Lions have heeded their coach's words, as Penn State continued its scorching conference start this weekend in Ann Arbor. The Lions (12-15) took three games from Michigan (10-12) while Mother Nature claimed the fourth.

Penn State won a 2-1 thriller on Friday, then took both ends of a Saturday doubleheader, 9-3 and 4-1. The final game of the series was snowed out yesterday and will not be rescheduled.

The Lions upped their record in the Big Ten to 5-1 with some outstanding pitching and clutch hitting.

"We've strung together eight good games in a row," Hindelang said, who credited his starting rotation with helping to turn things around for the Lions after a 6-14 start to their season.

"It's been very important that they've started to put things together for us," he said.

Senior Dan McCall put a strong nine innings together Friday for his first complete game of the season. McCall is 2-1 in his last three starts, allowing only seven runs in 23 1/3 innings over that span.

"The biggest thing is that I've been able to throw strikes," the left-hander said.

"And I've been keeping guys mixed up and off balance. I was also able to keep my pitch count down so I could get into the later innings."

Penn State's hitting was inconsistent at the beginning of the season, but the Lions are providing their starters with plenty of support lately. Penn State tripled Michigan's output this weekend, due in large part to the resurgence of the heart of the order, and got several hits at opportune times, including shortstop Willie Melendez's game-winning RBI single in the ninth on Friday.

First baseman Donnie Wright has been on a tear out of the cleanup position since the Delaware series three weeks ago, but those around him in the order — third baseman Chris Wright, designated hitter Doug Rodio, second baseman Mike DeRenzo and catcher Chris Netwall — were just as deadly this weekend.

"Everybody's doing their job and playing their role," Donnie Wright said. "It doesn't matter who it is."

Junior starter Justin Nash (3-2) had another strong outing in Saturday's first game, coming within one out of a two-hit, complete game shutout (he wound up with a three-hitter). But it was game two's starter who provided Penn State with a pleasant surprise. Reliever Mike Watson (1-1) worked 4 1/3 innings in his first career start.

"(Penn State pitching coach) Randy Ford made an ingenious decision to start Watson," Hindelang said. "He thought that Michigan had struggled in the first two games with hitting breaking pitches, and Mike throws a lot of breaking balls. He was very effective."

For the second week in a row, however, the elements prevented the Lions from getting in a Sunday game.

"It's pretty disappointing not getting the fourth game in," McCall said. "We thought we could have taken the last one."

You can't blame Penn State for wanting to take advantage of each opportunity to get back to the .500 mark. With the way they've been playing, however, it doesn't figure to be too long before the Lions do just that.