The Penn State softball team started Big Ten play off on the right foot, winning its first two conference games. However, the Nittany Lions have drop their last four conference games and currently find themselves sitting in ninth place. However, Penn State (16-23, 2-4) will have a chance to climb the standings this weekend as they welcome Northwestern (20-13, 3-5) and Michigan State (23-16, 3-5) to Nittany Lion Field for a four-game weekend. Both teams are only one game ahead of Penn State in the Big Ten.

"It's a big weekend," Penn State first baseman Steph Viola said. "We can make up some ground we lost last weekend to Michigan."

The team's last home stand of the season may also hold the key for the Lions to jump starting their offense. Michigan State's pitching staff currently sits in last place in the Big Ten, giving up just under three earned runs per game. This could provide the spark Penn State needs to break out of its hitting slump and pile on some runs.

The Lions have struggled to produce runs most of the season. They have only managed to score more than five runs in seven times. However, the number of low scoring games they have had this season doesnÃyt seem to worry them.

"In the Big Ten they're always one or two run games, except for Michigan," Viola said. "Scoring runs isn't really a problem for us. We can score when we have to."

Last weekend, the Lions managed only six hits in two games and had trouble generating any kind of offense against the strong pitching of Michigan. But the team is looking past those games, because they are not the only team to have troubles offensively against the Wolverines.

"We worked on offense a lot in practice, but Michigan is a great team, and we can't judge our performance based on those games," Viola said.

Penn State will face off against Northwestern to begin the weekend, with one game tonight and tomorrow afternoon. The Wildcats are coming off of a 3-2 weekend. Northwestern continued its Big Ten schedule last weekend, splitting its series with both Wisconsin and Minnesota. Tuesday, the Wildcats added one more win before venturing to State College, as they beat Loyola 6-3 behind a couple of home runs.

The weekend will continue for the Lions as they host Michigan State on Sunday for a doubleheader.

The Spartans also split last weekend with Minnesota and Wisconsin, finishing out the week with two dominating wins Wednesday against Oakland.