A 2-12 record through its first 14 games may not have been exactly what the Penn State baseball team was expecting when the season began.

But it is going to take more than the Nittany Lions' worst start since stumbling out of the gates to a 1-13-1 mark to open the 1989 season, as well as their longest losing streak in a decade (eight games), before head coach Robbie Wine lunges for the panic button.

"I couldn't be more pleased with the way these guys responded to what we've been up against, what we've been through and the situations that we've put them in," Wine said.

"This is a tough game, and there's a lot of failure in this game," he added. "I really like this team and its character."

Wine dismissed any notions that Penn State has performed that poorly. Instead, he noted that one of the biggest reasons for his team's slow start has been the strength of its schedule.

Not only have the Lions been forced to play their first month on the road, which is the nature of the beast for all northern ball clubs, but also they are going up against teams that are no pushovers.

So far, Penn State has squared off with two schools from the highly competitive Big 12 conference (Kansas State and Kansas), and battled with and beat once the then-No. 1 team in the country (No. 5 North Carolina).

This past week, the Lions faced two more schools that finished first and third, respectively, in their conferences last season (Oral Roberts of the Mid-Continent and Wichita State of the Missouri Valley).

Not exactly a slate full of marshmallows and easy victories.

In retrospect, Wine, who is in his third year of scheduling, admitted that he needs to back off from putting teams with high RPI's on the early-season schedule and, instead, worry about putting the Lions in a position to be successful. But rather than use that as an excuse, he is using it to make Penn State better.

"I definitely know that our guys are ready," Wine said. "I know that our guys are made of the right stuff and they're looking at it like 'We should have had that game, and we should have had this game and this game.' Their confidence level is high even though our win-loss record doesn't look good."

Junior catcher Joe Blackburn agreed with what his coach said and reiterated that Penn State is not even close to panicking at its lack of success during the early stages of the season.

For Blackburn and the rest of the Lions, worrying about W's and L's doesn't usually begin until conference action starts up anyway.

"I would definitely not say there's a sense of urgency," Blackburn said. "In a baseball season, a sense of urgency is pretty much confined to the Big Ten schedule, so I think we all realize and know what we are capable of after playing against these national powerhouses."