This weekend the Penn State baseball team will be taking a peek into the looking glass.

For their home opener, and first Big Ten showdown, the Nittany Lions will be facing a Purdue team that also struggled early on while mired on the road before turning things around heading into conference play.

The Boilermakers (6-12) arrive in town this afternoon for a 3 p.m. game at Beaver Field before tomorrow's 1 p.m. doubleheader and Sunday's 11:00 a.m. tilt with the Lions (8-8).

"I liken them to us," Purdue coach Doug Schreiber said of the Lions. "We both have two quality starters returning and we both have some gaps to fill."

While Purdue doesn't possess an imposing record, Schreiber compares his team to last years' squad that had an equally poor record heading into the Big Ten season before finishing second in the conference. Plus, six of those losses came against strong baseball institutions Clemson and South Carolina.

The results may not look pretty, but Schreiber insists the tough games early on are necessary to prepare a team for play in a conference that receives little national respect.

"Plus, this type of schedule shows your deficiencies," Schreiber said, noting he doesn't put a lot of stock in early season records or statistics. "I think we've been able to fix some things."

Schreiber's philosophy parallels Penn State's. So far, the Lions have been bused up and down the eastern seaboard playing games against teams that aren't confined to wind tunnels and batting cages for pre-season practice.

The result has been a lack-luster record early in a season plagued with poor defense and spotty pitching. However, as of late the team has tightened up the glove work while getting quality innings from freshman Tyler Wingerd and co-captain Mike Watson to accompany their potent lineup.

"I think we should have a better record than we do now," pitcher Matt Carroll said. "Before these last three games we said if we can win these next three and go 8-8 into the Big Tens, it would give us some more momentum, help us out a little bit."

The warm weather might have been nice for a while but for now the Lions are glad to be coming home.

"Everyone's playing well, and hopefully this weekend it will show," Carroll said.