A 13-1 team that has outscored its opponents 85-36.

Not exactly what a team wants to see after losing seven of its last nine games.

However, that's what the Penn State baseball team faces this weekend when it journeys to Pitt Field in Richmond, Va., to play the Richmond Spiders at noon tomorrow and 1 p.m. Sunday.

The Nittany Lions (4-7) need to turn things around with just five games remaining before they begin the conference season March 29 against Purdue. They earned an impressive victory over then-No. 25 Stetson last Friday, but a 12-9 loss to Central Michigan Saturday cost them whatever momentum they built from that win.

"Confidence is a very evasive thing," Penn State baseball coach Joe Hindelang said. "What we need to do to build that is string together a few well played games with strong defense, good pitching and timely hitting, and we haven't done that yet."

The Spiders have done a great job of building themselves up for their first venture into the Atlantic 10 conference. They boast a victory over James Madison, a team that beat the Lions, and three wins in their four games against North Carolina State.

The Spiders bat .281 as a team, and their lineup consists of four .300 hitters and five players with at least two home runs. First baseman Vito Chiaravallot leads the squad with a .373 average and three home runs. Catcher Adam Tidball is hitting at a .340 clip with two home runs and 13 RBI, and shortstop Matt Craig is batting .308 with two home runs and a team-leading 15 RBI.

The Spiders are as impressive on the mound as they are at the plate, with a team ERA of 2.27.

On Saturday, they will let sophomore Tim Stauffer take the mound. He has been brilliant thus far this season, winning all five of his starts with an almost invisible 1.05 ERA. He has pitched four complete games including a three-hit shutout against Cleveland State.

Their No. 2 starter, Jason Bolinsky, who will pitch Sunday, has been nearly as dominant, registering a 2-0 record, and a 1.40 ERA along with two saves.

The Lions had to make some changes to their pitching staff this week. Senior Mike Watson (2-1, 4.88 ERA) will still start tomorrow, however, senior Justin Nash(1-2, 8.62 ERA) will not fill his usual spot in the rotation. He started feeling the effects of bicep tendonitis in his loss to Stetson last Tuesday, and will be out for the next 2-3 weeks.

Taking his place will be freshman Josh Palm (0-0, 5.23 ERA), who helped the Lions to their 5-4 win over Stetson by giving up just three runs in six innings against the stacked Hatters lineup.

After his performance in that game, Palm is undaunted by Richmond's hitters.

"I just know you can't play the stat line," Palm said. "I'm just going to go in and try to pitch my game, and go at one hitter at a time. You just have to know that every hitter has weaknesses."

Palm will be joined on the infield by three more of his classmates. Freshman Mike Milliron will move from third base to shortstop and third baseman Arin Gelletly will get his first chance to start at the hot corner.

After a six-game absence due to a hamstring injury, first baseman Clint Eury will return to first base to make junior second baseman Mike DeRenzo the only upperclassman on the infield.

"I'm definitely confident that all of them can do their job," Watson said. "I think all of our freshmen have been impressive. Eury and Milliron have been starting since the beginning of the season, so that tells you something about them."