As Penn State baseball coach Robbie Wine enjoyed some recreational swings at the plate while his team stretched along the right-field line, it was obvious this club enjoyed escaping the confines of the Multi-Sport Complex and Holuba Hall.

After finally getting the opportunity to play outdoors on consecutive days for the first time all season, the Nittany Lions did not lose sight of the irony of having to play their first indoor series this weekend.

"We're going outside to practice, finally, to go inside to play our games for the first time and that's kinda weird," Wine said.

The Lions journey to Minnesota to open up Big Ten play in the Metrodome, home of the Minnesota Twins. With no prior experience in Minneapolis, the Lions want to parlay that experience into success on the Astroturf this weekend.

The background at Holuba Hall is less than desirable for those at the plate, but dealing with that obstacle may transform into an advantage in the dim setting the Golden Gophers call home.

"We haven't played there, and they say it's pretty tough to see in there, but we play at Holuba Hall and I've played there for four years," senior outfielder Lance Thompson said, smirking.

The Gophers qualified for the NCAA Tournament a year ago, and some consider them to be one of the favorites to compete for the conference title this year. It would be easy for Penn State, who has struggled to date, to tighten up, given the stress this weekend will surely bring. Instead, the club remained relatively relaxed, soaking up the rays under the State College sun for only the third time all season on Wednesday afternoon.

Perhaps Wine is baseball's equivalent of philosopher John Locke. Throughout the course of the season, he stressed that the non-conference schedule means next to nothing. Once the regular season began, there would be a blank slate, although the relative emptiness in the win column causes concern for the second-year coach.

"There is an element that you worry about with learning how to win," Wine said. "That's still something I'm concerned about, but I believe I you play hard every inning of every game, the wins will come."

As hard as they've played, the Lions sit at 12-games under .500 after facing possibly the toughest schedule in the Big Ten, including a series with a top-15 team like Arizona State that saw two competitive games in a hostile atmosphere.

"We know where we stand with those guys, and we can compete with them," Wine said. "We can compete with the. For two games, we had them on the ropes."

The Big Ten brings a new challenge this club has not faced: a four-game series. Aaron Markowitz joins Alan Stidfole, Mark Wyner and Craig Clark in the rotation.

Markowitz gets the ball tomorrow during the second game of the doubleheader. Because those contests are only seven innings, the starters don't need to go as deep.

Penn State pitching coach Jason Bell said he needs to solidify a shaky closer situation because he has not had the opportunity to put guys in there.

Despite the concerns of pitching staff, like Wine, Bell remains relaxed while taking his hacks before practice, relieved that both the sun is out and the season can officially begin.