The Penn State baseball club's 2004 season began Sunday one week behind schedule.

The extra week of practice paid off, as Penn State (2-0) swept a doubleheader against James Madison (0-2). Penn State won the first game 7-3, and got a 2-0 win in the second game.

Two solid outings by the starting pitchers were a big part of the sweep, which was a rematch of a first round match-up from last season's National Club Baseball Association World Series.

Starting pitchers Carmon Comunale and Bill Lippert combined to pitch 11 out of a possible 14 innings and allowed just six hits to James Madison batters.

"[The starting pitching] was a very, very nice surprise," Penn State club baseball coach Dan Day said. "We expected them to do well, but coming out of the Multi-Sport Center to outside, they did very well."

Comunale started the opener and struck out six in his five innings of work.

He allowed just four hits and one run, while the Penn State offense collected seven runs on six hits to secure the win.

In the two games, the Penn State batters had 15 hits. The quartet of John Ruhf, Dan Hileman, Nate Decker and Chris Connors had three hits, combining to go 12-for-28.

Ruhf scored three runs and Hileman drove in four to lead the offense. But Penn State left 16 runners on base, something that was a cause for concern for Day.

"We hit well, but we can expect more," Day said. "We left a lot of guys on base. A few more clutch hits and we would have blown both games wide open."

Lippert got the starting nod in the second game and pitched a six-inning gem. He only had two strikeouts, but he also only allowed two hits and no runs while throwing a total of 51 pitches in the game.

"I had good command of all three pitches," Lippert said. "The defense also had one of the best games I have seen since I have been here."

That defense only committed three errors in the two games, with just one of those coming in game Lippert pitched.

The bullpen also had a good opening weekend showing for Penn State, only allowing two runs in three innings of work. Hileman and Billy Leonard picked up the saves in the two games.

With the first five games of this season cancelled, the most important thing that Penn State got out of this weekend was the live game experience.

"It's important to get out there before spring break," Hileman said. "So when conference games come around we will be in full swing."