One aspect of the game that has been forgotten for much of the year by the Penn State softball team is stealing bases.

The Nittany Lions (22-20) have only tallied 45 stolen bases in 40 games before yesterday. In the doubleheader, the Lions stole 17 bases en route to two victories over Syracuse (17-13), 6-1 and 5-3.

Penn State softball coach Robin Petrini discussed before the game with her squad that they should take advantage when on the base paths.

"I don't know if that was my plan but I hadn't been calling steals," Petrini said.

"I just decided today when we were talking in our pre-game, that I was going to start calling steals again. Then when they weren't able to throw us out, I just kept calling them."

It was not just a few Lions who got in the act, as there were seven different players who stole bases.

Center fielder Gina Bianchini led Penn State by stealing five bases, fellow captain Jen Tripken swiped four and Mandy Nuxoll and Megan Humphrey each stole two.

Bianchini, who holds the single-season record with 42 steals, was able to get on track yesterday.

With the five, she brought her season total to 19 and her career total to 91. Bianchini is only eight stolen bases behind Jodi Ricciardi.

The Pottstown native realizes that her ability to run is a big part of her game.

"Basically, that's my game," Bianchini said. "Speed is a major part of my game.

"I just tried to be really aggressive today. So every time I got on, coach said to me 'We're going to run until they throw you out.' This makes me happy because it's my favorite part of the game."

Even with five stolen bases yesterday, she is still way behind her 42 thefts from 2000. Bianchini has not had the same chances to steal like in 2000, but expects that to change for the remainder of the season.

"We haven't stolen as much this year," Bianchini said. "There have been a lot of times when I got on and there will be runners in front of me, and the opportunities just haven't been there. But I think we are going to run more."

The Lions' ability to run against Syracuse led to big innings. In the first inning of game one, Penn State's five-run inning was jumpstarted with four stolen bases.

Penn State started running with a double steal by Norton and Nuxoll, leading to a pair of runs. After Dabrowski singled, she stole second, and Tripken followed with a single and a stolen base of her own, and both came around to score.

In the third inning of the second game, when the Lions scored three times, the rally was powered by their ability to steal. In the inning, Penn State stole four bases including another double steal this time Tripken stole second base and Humphrey swiped home.

Despite not running much this year Penn State has remained aggressive, and is willing to take the extra bases.

"We're a very aggressive team," Tripken said. "Whenever we can take an extra base we'll take it.

"Today, there were a lot situations where the steal was ideal, so we took advantage of it."