The Penn State softball team will be stepping onto the field at the Hoo's Who tournament this weekend in Virginia as the defending tournament champions. The similarities with last year's Nittany Lions tend to end there.

"We were a different team last year," Penn State outfielder Leigh Murray said. "We're so much younger this year. The chemistry and way we play is different, so there's a learning curve and bumps in the road."

Spring break helped the team start to even out those bumps as the Lions (9-16) went 8-7, improving their record considerably. With each new weekend of games, they start to settle down.

"Our hitting has been coming around and we've been working on cleaning up our defense," Murray said. "But we've got our legs under us now, and we should start to show signs of improvement."

Three unfamiliar uniforms will be waiting for Penn State upon arriving in Virginia. Today the Lions will face two teams they have yet to play.

First will be SUNY Binghamton (7-4-1), which started the season well, but has recently hit a skid, losing three of the team's last four games.

North Carolina State (16-16) will be next on the schedule for Penn State. This is the first season N.C. State is competing at the NCAA level after a 20-year layoff that started with the 1983-84 season, when the Wolfpack changed its national women's athletic association membership to the AIAW from the NCAA.

As a member of the AIAW, N.C. State fielded a slow-pitch softball team, but the school had to drop the program because the NCAA didn't offer a slow-pitch league.

Tomorrow pits Penn State against Seton Hall (14-4) in the team's morning game, which will be followed by an afternoon game against Virginia (33-15).

Last year, Penn State beat Virginia 3-0 to win the tournament. The Cavaliers and Lions are very familiar with each other, as they have met 26 times, with Virginia getting the upper hand in 15 of those games.

Lack of production from the lineup has also hurt Penn State this season.

"It's important to get an early lead," Murray said. "It gets our confidence going. We've only comeback from being down once this season but our pitching has been great and kept us in games."

-- By J.W. Palmer