The Penn State baseball team has one characteristic going for it this season that it hasn't had in years past.

Confidence.

"The way we're heading into this game is 10 times better than last year," ace pitcher Sean Stidfole said.

The Nittany Lions (11-7) will look to carry that confidence into today's 3 p.m. Big Ten opener, when they play the first of a four-game set on the road against Purdue (5-12).

"We've really built up a lot of confidence," Stidfole said. "I believe we're going to take at least three from them."

Last year, Penn State split the four-game series with the Boilermakers.

Coming off a two-game, 35-run performance, however, the Lions certainly have the momentum in their favor this time around.

Even so, Penn State coach Robbie Wine was realistic when asked if his team could maintain such a high-scoring pace.

"I would like to say yes, but the reality is no," he said. "It's the start of conference play, and the quality of pitching and the quality of defense is going to be better."

Wine also said it's hard to gauge just how good Purdue is. He said the Boilermakers' record was not indicative of their talent.

And it would be difficult to argue otherwise. Purdue's first 11 games came against clubs that made last year's NCAA tournament.

According to today's starting pitcher, Stidfole, the Lions certainly won't take Purdue for granted based on the standings.

"You never want to estimate a team by their record," he said. "They've played some really good teams, and their record suffered for it.

"But we're definitely not going to underestimate them because of their record at all."

Right-hander Scott Byrnes will get the starting nod for Purdue, as he's accumulated a 4.91 ERA and currently leads the team in strikeouts (20).

The Boilermakers' pitching staff is fairly solid. The offense, on the other hand, has seen its share of ups and downs.

Only two regulars are hitting over .300 -- Neal Gorka and Mitch Hilligoss. Both batters are certainly making up for Purdue's sub-par hitting, though -- Gorka is hitting .414 and Hilligoss has a .406 average. The duo has also started in every game this season.

Individually, Penn State's offense matches up pretty well.

Through 18 games, Matt Lewis is 30-for-68 and leads the team in virtually every statistical category -- RBI (19), homers (3), total bases (45), stolen bases (5), etc.

Of course, Wine won't be able to rely on just one player to get the job done.

"We need to play steady, consistent baseball -- not make errors, not walk people and take advantage of any mistakes they give us," Wine said.