Ah, the joys of collegiate baseball in the north in March and April. Indoor practices, temperatures perfect for causing one's hands to sting when his bat connects with the ball, and, of course, games cancelled due to hideous weather.

The Penn State baseball team will be stuck in the rust belt for a while now, with only one trip south, to border state Maryland, left on the schedule. The Nittany Lions got to experience some of that joy yesterday when their first game in the state of Pennsylvania was postponed until today due to rain.

The Lions (7-8) will expect that when they travel to Lewisburg, Pa., to face Bucknell (9-13) at Bucknell Field at 3 p.m. today, there will actually be baseball to play.

The Weather Channel web site predicts a sunny afternoon with a temperature of 49 degrees.

That is great news for the Lions, who are anxious to get back on the field after a breakout performance at the plate against Navy this weekend.

The Lions scored 22 runs in two games, and pounded out 31 hits. In both games, every starter reached base at least once, and in the second game, every starter pounded out at least one hit.

"It's great for us to get back on the field," freshman third baseman Arin Gelletly said.

"We've had two great series, back to back. Everyone's pretty pumped up going into this."

This non-conference matchup will be the last before the Lions begin their conference season against Purdue in a four-game set at Beaver Field this weekend.

However, it will also be the first of the weekly mid-week non-conference games the Lions will use to keep their rhythm going between weekend conference sets.

"It's important to play these midweek games," Penn State baseball coach Joe Hindelang said.

"Especially for hitters because it keeps you sharp mechanically."

The Lions won't treat the game as an exhibition.

They will start the same position players as usual, but they will be giving freshman pitcher Tyler Wingerd his first chance to start. Wingerd is 1-1 in five relief appearances with a save and a team-leading earned run average of 3.60.

Hindelang will also get to see the progress senior pitcher Justin Nash has made since coming out of the Lions' game against Stetson March 5 with bicep tendonitis.

Nash was cleared to throw at the end of last week, and threw without pain in a bullpen session Friday. He will likely see an inning or two in relief against the Bison.

"I'm flexible right now," Nash said. "I'll do whatever the team needs me to do.

"I'm willing to close, do long or short relief, whatever."

For the Bison, this game is part of an ongoing trial by fire.

Seven of Bucknell's eight everyday players from last season have graduated, and the Bison have faced a torturous non-conference schedule that includes major conference teams Indiana, Illinois, Georgia Southern, and Virginia.

The Bison's stats have suffered at the hands of that competition. They're hitting just .236 as a team and sport a team ERA of 5.16.

"We've certainly experienced some growing pains," coach Gene Depew said.

"But I think a number of guys are making some progress. Our hitters are looking more comfortable at the plate and we're getting some solid starting pitching."

Senior left hander Blane Sharpless (0-0, 2.16 ERA) will get his first start, but Depew expects to use a number of pitchers in the game.

Penn State hitting coach John Ramsey hopes his hitters continue to do what they have been doing in recent weeks against all of those pitchers.

"They just have to concentrate on what they need to do," Ramsey said. "They have to continue what they have been doing, which is being disciplined at the plate and getting good pitches to hit."