If the goal is to surprise a few teams this season, this may be too much too soon.

Penn State will open up the 2005 baseball season with a three-game series against No. 10 Tulane (3-1), starting at 7:30 tonight. The Nittany Lions are looking to show they can go pitch-for-pitch against a College World Series caliber ball club in New Orleans, a tall order for a team attempting to build on last season's 28-27 record.

"They're a tough team to start with," Penn State baseball coach Robbie Wine said. "We're hoping we just compete. That's our goal: compete for three games."

Tulane lost a number of key position players following its run to Omaha, Neb., last year. In their absence, the experienced pitching staff has picked up an offense that is averaging only five runs a game during its current three-game winning streak over the likes of No. 7 Texas, Texas Tech and McNeese State.

"Their bats aren't coming around yet," Wine said of the Green Wave's five run per game average. "It might be nice to sneak attack it, but I doubt it."

As pessimistic as that sounds, it is also practical.

Not only has Tulane had the luxury of playing traditional powerhouses, the Lions were not even able to practice under the State College sun until Tuesday afternoon due to winter temperatures cold enough to make the aluminum bats freeze.

That means Tuesday marked the first occasion the outfielders could snare live fly balls without a Holuba Hall roof ricocheting the rawhide throughout the indoor facility.

"They've been outdoors, they've played four games already against good competition," Wine said of Tulane. "They're ahead of us, no doubt about it."

Tulane dealt with issues of its own regarding how to prepare for the season following Hurricane Katrina.

The club moved to Zephyr Field -- home to the New Orleans Zephyrs, the AAA affiliate of the Washington Nationals -- as its normal home had to be transformed into a site for campus reconstruction.

Green Wave coach Rick Jones described the minor league stadium as "a small park that plays big," rendering outfield defense extremely important on balls destined for the gaps.

Despite the unknowns in the outfield, Penn State solidified its rotation for the series.

Junior southpaw Alan Stidfole gets the ball to open the series, followed by righty Mark Wyner for the Saturday matinee. Another junior lefty, Craig Clark, toes the rubber for the final game of the weekend.

The three combined for a 9-11 record last season.

As little as Penn State knows about itself at this juncture, Tulane knows that much less. In the first-ever meeting between the schools, Jones could only rummage through scouting reports from last season.

"All we know is what we got from last year's club," Jones said. "Our knowledge of them is very limited."

Instead, he opts for past experience when facing schools north of the Mason-Dixon Line. Usually the Yankees can hit, and hit well since practice starts and ends with bats in hand.

"When schools come down from the north, they normally swing the bats very well because they spend so much time in the cage," Jones said. "

Offsetting any advantage of hot sticks, Penn State has only faced itself, meaning the starters have yet to jell, rendering the game-by-game outcome of the series secondary.

"It'll help us to play somebody in a different uniform instead of dividing one team into two," Wine said. "When you get one lineup together, you have a good idea of what team you're going to have. In terms of wins and losses, it's going to be hard to tell."

Uncertainty aside, the Lions will enjoy the prospect of facing the best opposition they may encounter all season after no game-type preparation, hoping for a few surprises along the way.