The Penn State softball team has already proven it can win on the road against difficult opponents, as well as come from behind. This weekend, the Nittany Lions' next test is to turn a hose on a team fresh off burning the Chinese National Team.

The Lions will play in their final five-game tune-up tournament this weekend in Greensville, N.C., before heading into their first stretch of home games of the year.

The Lions begin the State Farm Pirate Invitational with a doubleheader against Kent State and Buffalo, starting at 10 a.m. today. Tomorrow, the Lions face off against Coastal Carolina at 11 a.m. and East Carolina at 4 p.m. before the showdown against California at 9 a.m. Sunday.

Recently, the Lions went off on a 12-game tear that separated them from the rest of the Big Ten with an .824 winning percentage. The Lions will try to improve on their best start since 1978, but will have stiff competition as they run into No. 8 California.

"That's something for you guys to keep track of, not me," Penn State coach Robin Petrini said of the streak. "If you didn't tell me that, I wouldn't even know it. I'm just trying to win games every time we step on the field."

The Golden Bears (14-2) are the most likely candidates to knock Penn State off its streak this weekend. California's most recent victory came

Tuesday against a Chinese National Team that placed fourth in the Olympics two summers ago.

"I would suspect that Cal is a really good team. They have tremendous experience and they have been in the running for a championship over the last couple years," Petrini said. It was probably a great opportunity to have the Chinese National Team come in and play on their campus."

California is 4-0 against other Big Ten opponents, but only No. 15 Northwestern was as skilled as the Lions.

The last time the Lions faced a top-10 team, they defeated then-No. 1 Michigan in a 1-0 victory. The Wolverines have since fallen to No. 7.

Petrini said she has coached her team not to look towards California until today and tomorrow's games have been played.

"Every game is equal in rate to each other. If you lose to Kent State or Carolina, you negate that you beat California," Petrini said. "A good win followed by a bad loss negates the good win."

Petrini said there was nothing particularly important about this weekend except for gaining more experience on the field in preparation for the upcoming Big Ten schedule.

After the tournament, the Lions have only one home game before their first showing against Big Ten competition.

If there's one thing the Lions might not be able to improve on this weekend, it's their pitching. Through 17 games this year, Penn State has held its opponents to a measly 0.48 earned runs per game with all three of its pitchers leading the Big Ten in ERA.

The three hurlers, Ashley Esparza with a .035, Missy Beseres with a 0.54 and Jenn Reynolds with a 0.55 have been more effective as a unit than any other pitching staff in the Big Ten by almost a full earned run per game.

Petrini said the defense deserves some of the credit for the low ERA. Along with completing routine plays, the defense has been very effective in getting the lead runner out during sacrifice bunt situations.

"That's taking the pressure off the pitching," Petrini said. "If the defense makes plays, the pitchers are rarely in a situation where they need to strike people out, but it's a tandem."