When describing her softball team, Pittsburgh coach Michelle Phalen said it had no superstars. But, she added, the squad plays well together, has cleaned up its fundamentals and has more experience than the group of mostly of freshmen and sophomores last year.

Sound familiar?

Penn State will battle against a team that is almost a clone of itself as it continues a new in-state rivalry when Pittsburgh comes to State College at 6 tonight for a doubleheader. The Lions have yet to lose to the Panthers in the early stages of the rivalry.

Last year, Penn State trounced the Panthers, winning 7-1 and 10-1 in the doubleheader on Pittsburgh's home turf. This year, the matchup will be nearly identical as both teams graduated only one starter.

Penn State is looking to continue a streak of four games in which it has not allowed a run. The streak can be largely attributed to senior pitcher Missy Beseres, who pitched three complete game shutouts during the four-game streak, bringing her ERA down to 0.95

"The pitchers have pitched great, how long the zero run production continues, we'll see. That's not an expected thing," Penn State coach Robin Petrini said.

Even though Beseres threw 14 innings through the weekend, Petrini said she would not hesitate to put the reliable starter back on the hill during the doubleheader.

"Pitching in baseball, you have to rest for four or five days, but in softball you can pitch back-to-back days, or even three or four days in a row," Petrini explained.

The Panthers have made a profound transformation from last year's squad that went just 23-28. This year, Pittsburgh has already tied its totals in conference victories and is posting an overall record of 27-18.

"We're doing things just a little bit better. We're on the verge of having a pretty darn good season," Phalen said. "Last year, we were just a little out of sync every once in a while. "We've had a couple of different players stepping up at different times.

Our pitchers have done a much better job of being smarter and better. That's been a nice change for us."

One such player is outfielder-turned-third baseman Jessica Dignon. In her second year, Dignon has already passed her freshman numbers in RBI and has raised her average by over 100 points to .359. She is second on the team in both categories as a sophomore.

Penn State freshman first baseman and designated player Sam Hovenec played with Dignon for three years at Baldwin High School in Pittsburgh. She said the two were best friends while on the same team.

As prior teammates often do, Hovenec and Dignon have playfully exchanged words in anticipation for tonight's doubleheader.

"We keep writing little notes back and forth to each other on-line, making little comments about who's going to win," Hovenec said.

Hovenec said any strategy she's tried to deploy in gaining possible details helpful to beating Pittsburgh has been denied.

"It's just been in good fun, she won't release any information," Hovenec said.