The term "family" can be attributed to most sports teams. But there are differences, and among them is one nearly as wide as the space between the words "club" and "varsity" in the dictionary.

The Penn State baseball club's Alumni game tomorrow will be evidence of this, as it is more than a collection of graduates. It will be more than players who donated some years of service to the team and left.

Penn State does belong to a structured organization with conferences and a World Series at the end, and the 15-16 hours a week senior Jimmy Donovan estimates the team spends working on its game falls under the 20 hour-per-week time limit instituted by the NCAA for varsity sports. But none of the team's players have to practice or play, or live up to a scholarship.

"We're not like varsity teams where we [just] come to play," senior pitcher Steve Eberbach said. "We have a lot to do off the field to keep the club running."

On those occasions when the team faced varsity programs from Division II and III schools, the matchup closes the gap between club and varsity.

"It gives us a feeling of we're there to actually play for the love of the game, and some of those guys might be there on scholarship," Eberbach said. "To be able to win those games has a different ring of winning to it."

Penn State pitching coach Bill Lippert said that the familial aspect stems from the time they spend together, beginning when the team is selected and growing with each successive practice, lift and road trip.

"Sports are an incredibly unifying endeavor," said Lippert, who was a pitcher on the team from 2001-04. "It's not just baseball, it's anything you put work into."

There is also, of course, the social aspect.

"You know the expression 'All work and no play,' " Donovan said. "It's the time to play."

This is not to say that the team is a collection of party hounds constantly on the Good Times Patrol, but like any collection of people with such a strong common interest as baseball, they come together both on and off the diamond.

"We get down together whenever we can," Lippert said.

Lippert attributes a lot of the family aspect to the fact that they do spend all that time together and have to rely on each other on road trips in strange places when there is no other haven but your teammates.

Future Alumni

Three seniors -- Donovan, Eberbach and shortstop Chris Connors -- will finish out their final year with the team in a leadership role as the team makes a push for the NCBA World Series crown.

Each will take up a leadership role, as they guide the team's younger players through a playoff with which they might not be familiar. Each will also provide a different kind of leadership.

Donovan will only be on the field when he starts a game, and Eberbach is sidelined with a back injury.

"We're gonna have to lead vocally," Donovan said. "I'm not out there every game."

Eberbach said that despite his injury, he doesn't want to mope around and said that the team is capable of picking up the slack.

"[My injury] has me real upset, so I feel like the only thing I can do is to push my teammates and do everything I can to make them want to win," Eberbach said. "It's kinda tough because I felt real strong."

As the starting shortstop, Connors is able to do both.

He is the owner of quick hands and feet, in addition to some gaudy stats: .347 batting average, three home runs and 14 RBI in 15 games.

"I think he's got Division I talent," Lippert said. "When I was pitching, I was glad to see him back there."

Lippert said that he respects Connors not only for his talent, but also for playing games through the pain that accompanies a troubled knee and being one of the "more entertaining and lighthearted" people he's known on the team.

"You know Chris," Donovan said. "He's just plain awesome."

Notes

- The team does have a fourth senior in pitcher Juan "Gaby" Diaz. However, he will not be finishing out the season in order to take a job starting on May 30 in his native Puerto Rico. He said that the time it will take to move back and get set up would conflict with the team's journey through the NCBA playoffs.

"I didn't quit in a bad mood," Diaz said. "It was me being responsible with other things."

- Penn State, with a 12-4 record (7-0 New Penn West conference), was ranked No. 1 in the April 15 North East Atlantic regional poll, which includes teams from the New Penn West, New Penn East and Empire State conferences. They have two games scheduled at Bucknell this Sunday, but the weather forecast that calls for showers may call them off.