Trends are starting to become disturbing for the Penn State baseball team.

This past Friday night, for the second straight weekend, the Nittany Lions were successful against a Big Ten foe before pitching woes derailed the club. Last week it was Purdue. This time around the results were the same at Ohio State's Bill Davis stadium.

Team ace Mike Watson powered the Lions (11-14, 2-6 Big Ten) to a 14-2 victory against Buckeyes (18-6-1, 6-2 Big Ten), throwing a complete game four-hitter. Things turned sour for Penn State Saturday, dropping both games of a doubleheader, 7-6 and 10-0 in the nightcap, before getting shut out again yesterday afternoon 11-0.

Watson, who is coming into his own as a starter and improved his record to 5-2 on the year, pitched a four-hit complete game shutout while fanning a career-high 11 batters. Penn State coach Joe Hindelang said Watson gave a bulldog performance, throwing hard in the ninth despite wind-chill temperatures in the teens.

Unfortunately for the Lions, Watson seems to be the team's only hurler capable of consistently getting batters out. The Buckeyes tore into Penn State pitchers during the last three games for 28 runs on 33 hits.

"I've just been pitching good lately," Watson said. "Hopefully we'll get some wins when I'm not out there."

The situation was compounded by a Penn State offensive dearth that resulted in 19 consecutive scoreless innings to finish the series.

Center fielder Wes Reohr started the Lions off Friday night with a two-run home run in the second inning to put Penn State up 3-0. Penn State kept things going in the fourth, scoring six runs and putting the Lions in cruise control. While going three for six at the plate, left fielder Chris Wright hit his 53rd career double, tying the school record.

Friday's momentum looked to be carrying over to Saturday early on, as the Lions had a 6-2 after four innings. However, the wheels fell off for Penn State the next inning, which Hindelang called the turning point of the series, when starter Clayton Hamilton gave up three runs before Buckeyes third baseman Drew Anderson knocked in two runs with a single off Tyler Wingerd to take the lead 7-6.

"They strung together hits...and after that they were absolutely like sharks going after blood," Hindelang said.

Optimism had vanished from the Penn State dugout by the third inning, when the Buckeyes knocked Josh Palm out of the game after allowing four runs. Things didn't get any better while Matt Carroll, Jared Hopewell or Heath Vink were on the mound, with the three combining to give up six more runs while Ohio State hurler Scott Lewis finished seven shutout innings and allowed only two hits.

Yesterday might have been a new day but results were the same, as the Buckeyes abused Penn State starter Aaron Tressler, ending his day with two outs in the second inning after the sophomore allowed five runs on five hits, including four walks and a pair of two-run homers.

The lone bright spot for the Lions on an otherwise bleak day in which Ohio State pitcher Nate Smith held Penn State scoreless while allowed six hits among eight strikeouts was the performance of Kevin Damiano, who replaced Tressler. Damiano allowed one run in 4 1/3 innings while pitching himself out of jams in the fourth and fifth innings. Still, the Lions' bats remained silent while Wingert, pitching for the third time in four days collapsed in the eight, giving up five additional runs.