A soggy Beaver Field speckled the Nittany Lions' pants with mud under a rare sunny day, but it was their bats that peppered the outfield -- along with the stat sheet.

Five Lions had two or more hits, every starter had at least one, and the team as a whole combined for a season-high 15 runs and 21 hits to beat St. Bonaventure (7-7), 15-4, in the home opener yesterday.

Senior shortstop Mike Milliron and sophomore Matt Lewis both had four hits and knocked in a total of five runs to lead Penn State (10-7) in the win.

"We got to show the people here at Penn State our new philosophy," Milliron said. "We're more offensive than in the past."

In the most recent past -- the previous weekend -- the Lions scored a combined seven runs in three games against James Madison.

It took just four innings for Penn State to match that yesterday.

After starter Steve Cline (2-1), who gave up three runs on seven hits while striking out three in five-plus innings, retired the Bonnies in the first, Penn State got right to work.

A Milliron walk and a single by Lance Thompson set up Lewis against St. Bonaventure lefty Cody Vincent. Lewis won that matchup, launching Vincent's serving well over the left-field fence for a three-run homer.

"He kind of left a fastball up in the zone, and I just got around on it," said Lewis, who finished 4-for-5 with three runs and three RBI. "The kid didn't throw very hard."

Lewis is now batting .439, with three homers and 17 RBI in 17 games. His third long ball of the season was followed by catcher Aaron Greenfield's third of the season, and the back-to-back dingers put Penn State up 4-0.

"We score four in the first," Penn State coach Robbie Wine said. "Believe it or not, I was a little nervous about what was gonna happen after that."

The Bonnies got on the board in the fourth when Brian Pelligrini scored, but the Lions did not concede the momentum.

In the bottom half of the inning Matt Cavagnaro and Scott Gaffney started things off with singles. Center fielder Travis Laird dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move Gaffney over, but Vincent's throw to first went wild and two runs scored.

In the sixth, when Penn State had a 7-1 lead, the Bonnies scored two more, only to see their deficit increase again in the bottom half.

Laird and Brian Ernst started the inning with singles again and Milliron knocked them in with a rip down the third-base line. Milliron was thrown out at third while trying to stretch a double into a triple, and Thompson struck out, but the Lions scored three two-out runs, thanks to three hits and two walks.

Penn State batted around in the sixth, finishing off Vincent and completely destroying Bonnie reliever John Nolan for four hits and four runs in Nolan's one-third of an inning.

"I thought their starting pitcher did really well," Milliron said. "They left some pitches up, and we just drilled some balls and got in a groove. We just hit real well. I think we were just due after this weekend."

In the seventh inning the hits kept coming. With Milliron and Lewis on yet again, Greenfield was a few feet short of hitting his second home run. This one hit off the center-field fence and Greenfield strolled in for a triple.

The irony in Greenfield's first career triple was that just two innings earlier he hit a potential single through the third baseman, but it was ruled an error. Greenfield finished the game in the on-deck circle a single short of the cycle.

"Usually I don't hit for triples because I am so slow," he said. "But it was nice to get a triple. Obviously I was disappointed [about not getting the cycle] but all I care about is the team winning."

Penn State hosts Bucknell at 3 p.m. today at Beaver Field for a game that was originally rained out last week. Penn State holds a 108-30-1 edge over the Bison in a series that started in 1893.