Let's win two. Twice.

That twist of Ernie Banks' phrase held this weekend for the Penn State baseball club (9-4, 4-0 New Penn West Conference), which swept weekend doubleheaders against Kent State and Robert Morris.

The team beat Kent State 7-4 and 3-2 on Saturday, returning on Sunday to topple the Colonials of Robert Morris in a pair of 11-1 contests.

Both of Sunday's games ended early as a result of the 10-run rule.

Penn State, returning to the field on Saturday for the first time in nearly a month, was buoyed by resilient starting pitching and nearly spotless relief work.

Senior starters Jimmy Donovan and Steve Eberbach each went five innings, giving up three and two runs, respectively. Both had to work through one bumpy inning, stopping a Golden Flashes rally before it started.

"In my mind that's what makes a good starting pitcher," Penn State coach Buck Kicinski said, adding that faith in their abilities and defense was a key in not crumbling.

Donovan got into a jam in the third inning of the first game, when the first two batters reached base and a two-run single tied the game at 3-3. He ended the threat, however, with a ground ball out and strikeout to end the inning. Eberbach allowed two runs in the third inning of the second game, also tying the score at 2-2. One of the runs came home on a balk.

In a pair of games that could easily have swung in Kent State's favor, a pair of freshman relievers was able to shut the door.

"I was so happy with our bullpen," Kicinski said.

Freshman Ryan Frankeny relieved Donovan in the first game, pitching a scoreless sixth.

Frankeny had to work out of a jam in the top of the seventh to preserve the victory.

In the second game, freshman Jason Shirey pitched two scoreless innings in relief of Eberbach.

Penn State's runs in the first game were largely due to Kent State's erratic pitching.

They issued 11 walks and were visibly rattled by Penn State's aggressive base running and attempts to break starter Dom Rodger's rhythm.

"We never allowed him to get comfortable. That was the key," Kicinski said, adding that he told his hitters to take at-bats on their own time and frequently step out of the batter's box.

The timely hits that Penn State did get made the difference in the second game.

First baseman Mark Mihalik drove in a run in the second with a two-out triple, and would score Penn State's second run on a passed ball the very next batter.

Shortstop Jason Crandall singled in the eventual winning run in the fourth, also with two outs.

Mihalik broke out in the second game, adding two doubles to his triple. His second-game feats starkly contrasted his first-game performance, in which he went 0-for-3 and struck out twice.

"[Rodgers] seemed to be making pitches against me," Mihalik said. "I just cleared my head, hit the ball. I've been trying to shorten up my swing, it was a little loopy earlier."

The team was not short on hits on Sunday, however, collecting 23 -- for an average of .460 -- over the course of two wins against Robert Morris, which is in its first year participating in the NCBA.

All but one Penn State hitter managed to get on base in some way, as the team posted a remarkable .548 on-base percentage.

"It's nice to see the team as a whole play some good baseball," Kicinski noted.

Though Penn State won Sunday's games by mercy rule, Saturday's close victories might have slightly more value for Penn State -- especially considering that Robert Morris is a first-year program.

"[They were] great games for the program," pitching coach Bill Lippert said. "You gotta win close games like that when you don't score a ton of runs."