It's hardly been the rude awakening everyone typically associates with youth.

For Penn State freshman Derrick Barr, his first season as a member of the baseball team seems much less like an initiation and more like an exhibition.

Barr has been a valuable tool and an unexpected surprise for the Nittany Lions this season, a point that was hammered home with each base hit the Williamsport native tallied in last week's Pepsi/Johnny Quik Classic in Fresno, Calif.

In six games on the West Coast, Penn State's designated hitter and lead-off man went 11-of-26 from the plate, including a 3-for-6 effort in the Lions' final game of the trip, a 16-5 thrashing of Cal-Poly in the third-place game.

In addition to the .423 batting average, Barr batted in five runs and scored six more on his way to the All-Tournament Team as a designated hitter. While the stats may be astounding for many players, they are even more so from a freshman. Penn State baseball coach Joe Hindelang said in his season-opening press conference before the series against No. 4 Arizona State that Barr was going to turn some heads this season.

After Barr went 0-for-3 in the season opener against the Sun Devils, he proceeded to hit in the next six games and seven of the next eight to raise his season average to .378, best among Penn State hitters with at least six at-bats.

After hearing of his nomination to the All-Tournament team last weekend, Barr said he couldn't have foreseen the early-season success.

"I knew the competition was going to be tough," Barr said. "My goal was to just be in the starting lineup somewhere by the end of the season."

The spot at the top of the order may seem like a lot of pressure for someone so young, but Hindelang said Barr could handle it. Similarly, Penn State senior tri-captains, center fielder Zack Smithlin and left fielder Wes Reohr, both praised the freshman before the season.

All three mentioned Barr's ability to always get on base and said age didn't matter. Hindelang was a little more cautious not to heap too many expectations on Barr, but was raving about him after last Saturday's contest.

"Freshmen are freshmen and I don't want to put any additional pressure on him, but all nine games he's batted in the lead-off spot and he's handled it wonderfully," Hindelang said. "He has great hands and he covers all nine zones as a hitter. He knows the strike zone and he has lightning-quick hands."

Part of Barr's style that makes him so "pesky," in the words of his coach, are his abilities to hit hard ground balls and know where to put them.

While everyone raves about him, Barr casually passes aside the praise almost matter-of-factly.

"I'm seeing the ball well right now," said Barr about his performance last week.

While that may be an understatement, it is important to remember the kid is only a freshman and that it has only been nine games. Thoughts of spring-training wonders come to mind, the fresh faces that fizzled after a quick start to the Major League season.

No one around the Penn State program seems to be concerned about that now, however. Hindelang said Barr's development prior to becoming a Lion has helped him adapt to the collegiate level much faster than some other players.

As the season moves into spring, the competition will grow hotter like the weather. Penn State's first taste of the Big Ten comes on March 28 against the Purdue Boilermakers, a game the team has circled on the calendar.

If Barr is as ready for conference play as he was at the beginning of the season, the Boilermakers will hardly be anything new.