Everything seems to be coming together for the Penn State baseball team -- but one thing's still missing.

Consistency.

After dropping both games in last Saturday's doubleheader, the Nittany Lions bounced back with two straight shutouts -- the first time they accomplished that in five years.

Penn State (14-9, 2-2 Big Ten) will look to continue that streak when it takes on Northwestern (12-9, 3-1) at 4 p.m. today in the first of a four-game set.

"Our entire Penn State program is just completely being turned around right now," catcher Aaron Greenfield said.

"People are starting to realize what kind of team we have."

Greenfield may be on to something. Some 3,584 fans showed up for Wednesday's renewed Penn State/Pitt rivalry.

Penn State coach Robbie Wine said he was very pleased with the lineup against Pitt -- he utilized the same order in the Purdue shutout -- and said he anticipated maintaining a similar philosophy over the weekend.

Wine tweaked the lineup quite a bit, most notably placing Travis Laird in the leadoff spot and moving Brian Ernst to the No. 7 slot.

Scott Gummo is also batting fifth after increasing his batting average by more than 130 points in only two weeks.

And Penn State's pitching staff looks to pick up right where it left off.

Alan Stidfole recorded a shutout in conference play last week, and his twin brother Sean looks to do the same today.

Ace pitcher Sean Stidfole has collected a 3.85 ERA through a team-high 44.1 innings. He also leads the Lions in strikeouts, with 44.

Still, Penn State may experience some pitching woes tomorrow.

Wine is intent on starting senior Josh Palm, who hasn't fared well when given the starting nod -- he has an 8.31 ERA.

"I wouldn't hesitate throwing Steve Cline in over the weekend, but I think Josh Palm would be a better starter at this point," Wine said.

"We have five quality starters, and that's pretty good for college."

The Wildcats, on the other hand, have four quality starters -- Andrew Smith, Ryan Myers, George Kontos and Evan Blesoff.

Myers has been the most effective pitcher so far. He's 3-1 as a starter and has limited the opposition to a .231 batting average.

He will certainly be tested against the Lions' hot bats, though.

The Lions are second in the conference in terms of batting average (.309), and Northwestern is among the worst fielding teams in the Big Ten.