With the second batter in the bottom of the fourth inning stepping to the plate, the rains came.

The game was called within five minutes.

The game does not count because it must go five innings to be an official game, but the rain came when some of the Penn State players appeared to be breaking out of their slumps.

The Nittany Lions' third baseman Jen Tripken, who took a 0-for-13 streak into the second game against Kent State, was 2-for-2 to that point with her eleventh home run, a single and two runs scored. Her eleventh home run would have brought her to within one of tying the Penn State record for most home runs in a single season. But when Tripken takes the field on Friday in Northwestern, she will still be carrying that hitless in her last 13 at-bats streak.

First baseman Erin Norton singled for the second time on the afternoon, and Erica Greenberg lead off the fourth inning with a solo home run to left field. Left fielder Megan Humphrey, who scored the game winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning in the first game, had a RBI single in the first inning of the second game.

The Lions produced four runs in a little more than three innings, and though none of the statistics count officially, Penn State softball coach Robin Petrini is not worried.

"It counts in their minds," Petrini said. "It doesn't matter that it doesn't count on paper."

The Lions were a little disappointed because they had just regained the 4-3 lead, over the Golden Flash with Greenberg's round tripper. Penn State felt that the momentum was beginning to swing back toward them after Kent State tied the game at two and at again at three.

"We're disappointed because we were on a roll with Erica just hitting a home run," sophomore pitcher Marisa Hanson said. "I think that if we would have kept playing we would have come out on top."

With the forecast calling for rain most of the afternoon, getting one game was not guaranteed. Petrini anticipated that with everyone expecting rain and that if the grounds crew would have acted quickly and put the tarp on the field, that the game could have continued as the rain had virtually stopped in 15 minutes.

"It's a little disappointing and I need to talk to our grounds crew," Petrini said. "He knew it was coming, and he should have been over by the tarp ready to cover it, and we could be playing right now."

Even with the game being rained out, the Lions improved their record to 19-17 with the win in the first game, marking the first time Penn State is two games over .500 all season.

The Lions will not remember that the statistics did not count when they are playing in Northwestern and Iowa this weekend, looking to gain conference wins.