The baseball gods and Mother Nature certainly didn't give the Penn State baseball team any breaks.

The Nittany Lions (8-10, 3-1 Big Ten) will play their home opener against defending Big Ten Tournament Champion Ohio State (11-8, 2-2) this weekend at Beaver Field. The series opens today at 3 p.m., with a doubleheader tomorrow beginning at 1 p.m. and the Lions and Buckeyes close out the series on Sunday at 1 p.m.

After many cancellations at the beginning of the season, a rain out earlier in the week, and a total of 18 road games, the first home game is a relief to the Lions.

"Finally getting to play at home is exciting," Penn State assistant baseball coach Randy Ford said. "Whether home or away Big Ten games are important, and easy to get the adrenaline up."

Ohio State has struggled out of the gates but the Buckeyes remain a very dangerous team. The Buckeyes split the four games in the opening weekend of Big Ten play against Northwestern.

Mike DeRenzo said that the team needs to play like it did last weekend in order to be successful against Ohio State.

"We need to produce timely hits," DeRenzo said. "Limit the number of walks and errors. We need to the keep the games within reach."

DeRenzo said that a 3-1 record would be good, but 2-2 would be considered good playing against a top caliber team.

The Buckeyes boast a lineup of three hitters who hit over .300, including Derek Kinnear and Drew Anderson. Kinnear is leading the team in hitting with a .397 average and 14 runs batted in. Anderson has a .537 slugging percentage with a .354 average.

Ohio State's lineup is hitting .272 as a team, but the top two starters in the Buckeyes rotation have carried the team. Scott Lewis, who was named Freshman Pitcher of the Year last season, has continued where he left off. He is 4-0 with an earned run average of 1.80.

Lewis handled the Lions last season much like the rest of the country, as he tossed a complete shutout surrendering only two hits.

"He pitched last season like a junior or senior," Ford said. "He thinks well on his feet and he competes. He really knows what he is doing."

Ford said that the pitching staff needs to stay away from falling into too many fastball counts.

"We need to throw strikes and mix up the pitches," he said. "Avoid fastball counts and walks, and play like we did against Purdue."