Beyond the little leagues, when a coach says it's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game, he's most likely full of it or has no real expectations.

When Penn State baseball (0-3) got swept by No. 10 Tulane (6-1) this past weekend, Penn State baseball coach Robbie Wine sang that tune, just as he did before he the team flew south for the three-game set.

Overmatched, he just wanted his club to give the team its all, grow from the experience, and, eventually, become better ballplayers because of it.

The Nittany Lions hoped to be competitive and they were to a degree in the first game, a 9-4 loss. But they had outhit the Green Wave. It was a small victory, but one that's needed before the bigger ones, those where the tallies in the "H" column become "Ws".

But the final two games, Wine was not happy with how Penn State played the game.

From poor outfield communication to not throwing strikes to not making adjustments at the plate, positives were few and far between on the field and the stat books.

"I wish we had competed better," Wine said. "The three losses doesn't bother me as much as the way the way the pitchers handled themselves and the way our hitters didn't make adjustments."

It was an all-around frustrating 18 innings, especially if you were an upperclassman, because you may have made your way to the bench by Sunday afternoon, as Penn State started a season-high three freshmen.

"Some of the older guys sat there and watched and wondered what was going on," Wine said. "I'm trying to get everybody experience."

For those players, it's hard to understand the managerial moves and look into the long term, as they too are looking to get experience prior to the start of the Big Ten schedule in April.

Their feelings appeared to be justified, as Penn State was no-hit until the seventh inning and headed for a second straight shutout until a senior, Lance Thompson, capped a small rally with a three-run homer, accounting for Penn State's lone runs for Saturday and Sunday.

Another figure was quite telling -- everybody played in some capacity.

It's not that Wine doesn't think his team is capable of winning. He knows that it is, but this stretch of the season means nothing for that long-term growth of the club.

He believes this team can make a run at a Big Ten title, but the realization of that goal requires a productive roster from top-to-bottom, senior to freshman.

"The bottom line is we gotta compete in conference," Wine said. "I wanna know what I have and that's really what we're doing. It was a good experience coming down here."

Penn State went down and shared the field with one of the top clubs in collegiate ball.

One day maybe it'll compete with teams of that stature, but that does not happen overnight for either the players or a second-year head coach. It takes years of experience.

The program is in its adolescent stages so the attitude will be that of many youth teams -- give your all and have some fun -- until the start of the conference season, anyway, when winning is everything.