Forget that Aaron Markowitz retired 15 straight batters and allowed only two hits. Forget that Norfolk State lost 30 games this season and hasn't beaten Penn State in nine years. The Nittany Lions were hanging by the skin of their teeth yesterday at Beaver Field.

Penn State came out on top in the doubleheader by scores of 5-1 and 3-0, but a sputtering offense greatly limited the Lions' opportunities. Norfolk State coach Claudell Clark believed the game was a lot closer than the scoreboard indicated.

"In my opinion, it should've been a 1-1 ballgame -- not 3-0," he said of the second seven-inning stretch.

It may have been closer, but the Lions (21-12) turned in a solid pitching performance. Gary Amato earned the win in the first game, and Markowitz set the tone early in the second by striking out seven of the first eight batters en route to a complete game shutout of the Spartans (10-32). All in all, the nine-K, no-walk performance was pretty surprising, considering the sophomore entered the game with a 12.27 ERA.

With deceptive offspeed pitches and a wicked curveball, Markowitz kept the hitters off balance all game.

"That was one of the best pitching outings I've caught in a while," catcher James Spinelli said.

Markowitz's shutout came under fire in the sixth frame when pinch runner Whitney Moore broke for home after a line drive to the left-field gap.

Penn State's Travis Laird didn't waste any time. He grabbed the ball on a bounce and hurled it toward home plate.

"I knew he was out right away when I caught it," Spinelli said.

The Lions added two more insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth -- both of which came from two mistakes -- to put the game out of reach.

The Spartans might have had an opportunity to win, but their horrendous defense prevented them from capitalizing.

Norfolk State's fielding ability seemed like it was straight out of the movie Bad News Bears -- and it was almost as entertaining.

In the first inning, Spartan first baseman Ernie Banks gloved a ground ball and was set to turn the 4-3 double play when he ran into a slight problem -- he didn't realize he dropped the ball.

He glanced behind his shoulder and swung his head around, as if he were a dog chasing his tail.

The ball was right in front of his feet.

Banks managed to get the close out at first -- but Scott Gaffney, the man on second, would eventually score after a passed ball and a wild pitch.

If that wasn't bad enough, the Spartans went on to drop two routine pop-ups.

The start of the second game actually resembled more of a Harlem Globetrotters' contest -- with the Spartans playing the role of the Generals.

Left fielder Ranard Miller committed back-to-back mistakes in the sixth inning when he attempted to handle a ball on the bounce.

The ball ended up nipping his glove and hopping deeper into the outfield. One batter later, he misplayed a fly ball.

Those two miscues resulted into a pair of Penn State scores, and the Lions' narrow 1-0 win suddenly increased to 3-0.

It might not have been the prettiest outing, and Lions coach Robbie Wine may have danced around questions pertaining to his team's offensive performance. But, in the end, everything worked out for Penn State.

"I'm happy with the two wins," Wine said.