It's good to be home again.

The Penn State baseball team lost all four games of last weekend's series at Minnesota in which it had a chance to claim first place in the Big Ten, but the Nittany Lions get a chance to rebound today with a 3 p.m. game at Beaver Field against Maryland.

This afternoon's game against the Terrapins (11-21, 0-8 ACC) could prove to be a turning point for the Lions (10-16, 5-7 Big Ten), who have lost five of their last six.

Junior right-hander Jared Hopewell is scheduled to start for the Lions, while the Terrapins haven't named a starter yet. In five appearances, Hopewell has surrendered five runs and 11 hits in 11.1 innings of work while striking out four.

In his only start this year on March 25 at Cornell, Hopewell (0-0) allowed two earned runs and six hits in 3.1 innings but got a no-decision.

While Penn State baseball coach Joe Hindelang said the Lions played well at Minnesota, they did leave 22 runners on base in the final three games of the series and failed to score more than three runs against a vaunted Golden Gophers pitching staff.

"We've got to keep our heads up," Hindelang said after Sunday's game. "That was one of the most outstanding teams I've seen. The challenge is how we respond to it." Penn State isn't the only team facing a dire situation, however, as Maryland comes into the game on a four-game losing streak as well after being swept in a three-game series against North Carolina. In those three games, the Terrapins scored just four runs and managed only six hits in the final game on Sunday.

Only one runner advanced past second base in the entire game, and he was stranded. Maryland is hitting just .221 with runners in scoring position this year.

After Sunday's game, Penn State senior left fielder and tri-captain Wes Reohr said the Lions just needed some time to continue to work and to get some mid-week experience. The five-day break between Penn State's series against Ohio State and at Minnesota hurts hitters timing, Reohr said.

"We just need to keep working hard," Reohr said. "We won't have that five-day layoff between games this time."

Reohr's fellow tri-captain, senior center fielder Zack Smithlin said that even though the 5-7 record in conference is a losing record, it came against some of the Big Ten's toughest opponents. The Lions began the season at Purdue, then played at home against Ohio State and followed that with last weekend's series at Minnesota.