He slowly walks up to the plate and fiddles with his batting gloves a bit before smacking several baseballs into the net. He makes contact with virtually every swing and never hesitates.

It's only practice, but it's clear he has a confidence about him. It's obvious he's a starter.

But it takes a moment to realize he's only a redshirt freshman. He's Brian Ernst -- a rookie who is batting .300 through 20 games.

"I just wanna help the team win a Big Ten championship," he says. "We haven't won one since ..."

It's the only time he pauses to collect his thoughts.

"... Well, I don't even know the last time it was. But it'd be nice to win one."

Ernst fields questions like he fields pop-ups in the outfield -- quickly and with ease. It seems as though he would be better suited as a lawyer. He has an answer for everything.

Except, of course, the last time Penn State won a conference championship. Not many people do remember. Ernst was an 11-year-old playing Little League when the Nittany Lions collected their first -- and only -- Big Ten title in 1996.

So, it's hard to blame the switch-hitter for not recalling the old accomplishment.

Ask him about last season, though, and it's another story -- he can remember with ease what happened.

The Lions finished 28-29, and Ernst was none too pleased about sitting on the bench as a redshirt.

"At first, I was disappointed. [Former coach Joe Hindelang] last year told me I was gonna be getting some significant playing time -- but it didn't work out," he says in a casual manner, his shoulders slightly hunched and his light-colored goatee pointing straight ahead.

But Ernst says he benefited in the long run. What seemed like a bad idea in the beginning seems to be paying dividends -- even if the current coach was puzzled by last year's move.

"Brian's got tools, and my first impression of him was I didn't know why he didn't play last year," Penn State coach Robbie Wine said.

But like a punching bag that just doesn't know any better, Ernst bounced right back up during the off-season. He started weightlifting and joined a summer baseball league.

"I was basically trying to bulk up," Ernst says. "I put on about 10 pounds. I did a lot of upper-body stuff and a lot of legs. I also played 70 games this summer, so I got a good deal of baseball in there, too."

It's easy to see the difference. A simple glance at this year's media guide reveals a picture of Ernst that could be mistaken for a middle-school athlete.

The photo was from one year ago -- but there's no confusing him for anything other than a college player now.

Ten extra pounds of muscle seems like a conservative estimate. He's no power hitter, not at present, but, just like his previous fortunes, that can change.

"In the long run, he's going to have some power," Wine says. "And he's just learning -- it's his first year."

Wine punctuates the end of his sentence. "First year" -- it seems like Wine himself can barely believe it.

Ernst has been batting leadoff lately, but Wine wants to slot him at the No. 7 spot. After all, the move seemed to work well in Penn State's 13-0 romp of Purdue.

And Ernst doesn't mind.

"Right now, being a freshman, I just wanna be in the lineup wherever," he says. "I'm just trying to get on base and help the team."