Other than the thrill of dominating victory this past weekend against Carnegie Mellon, the Penn State club baseball team (8-4) felt a rush of cool, early spring air as most opposing batters could do nothing except create wind with their bats.

Outscoring the Tartans 25-0 over the three-game competition, the team was led by pitchers Pete Chalfin, Brian Binder, Dave Brodeur and Jason Shirey, all of whom contributed to the 21 innings of dominance over the clearly weaker Carnegie Mellon squad.

Chalfin, the team's ace as a sophomore, threw a five-inning no-hitter, striking out eight and giving up only two free passes.

"The conditions were tough, it was cold," Chalfin said. "The mound was flat so I had to rely on my fastball because my curve and changeup were hard to locate."

Being a part of a combined no-hitter last season, Chalfin was able to experience the first of his career against a Carnegie Mellon team that was just becoming accustomed to the new conference.

"We didn't know anything about CMU. We went in not expecting anything, we were just ready to play," pitching coach Bill Lippert said.

By working ahead and throwing strikes, the pitching staff was able to display a mastery over opposing batters even at an somewhat early stage in the season. And at Carnegie Mellon on Saturday, it occurred in what could have been considered non-baseball weather.

Even with the success this past weekend in Pittsburgh, however, head coach Buck Kicinski has not let the team waver from their focus on the remainder of the season, and the not-so-distant playoff period.

"There are some weekends where you can just cruise. We are going to run into some times though, where our pitchers aren't going to allow three hits and no runs in three games," Kicinski said to his team before practice Monday. With a definite opportunity to win a national championship this season, the coaches have been stressing the concept of teamwork, even to a squad of 26 talented players.

"There's not one guy that can beat nine," Kicinski said. "You can't win unless you have everyone else with you."

Even after a series of games like this past weekend, where multiple players had accumulated numbers that would make a fantasy baseball owner drool, the team is trying to break from the notion of individual accomplishment.

"Stats are created for sportswriters," Kicinski said. "Stats are not a measure of you as a ballplayer, and not of us as a team."

With just what will feel like a brief two-and-a-half months left in the club baseball season, the Lions, who have come a long way, will be preparing for their national championship run in May.

"Our goal right now is to win a championship. May is not far away and that's when playoffs start. There are some things we have to work on in the field," Kicinski said.

So as the team hosts Robert Morris this first weekend in April, the Lions will be looking to gain experience, form memories, strengthen friendships and become closer as a team in hopes of bringing home a championship to Happy Valley this year.

"When we win, we win together. When we lose, we lose together," Kicinski said.