Zeros flashed all over the scoreboard in Medlar Field at Lubrano Park on Friday, and no one was happier than Robbie Wine.

Right before his eyes, the Penn State head baseball coach was not only watching senior pitcher Craig Clark keep a no-hit bid going until the eighth inning, but bullpen arms were safely idle in the dugout.

Clark was awkwardly sitting in a corner of the dugout by himself for much of the game.

Wine could almost rest easy, as relief pitching insurance was available for the rest of the weekend.

Seth Whitehill, with a bloated earned-run average of more than 11, was due for a start on Saturday.

On Sunday, injured starter Mark Wyner would make his first start since Feb. 16 because of an elbow injury.

"Especially with Wyner, we are not sure how far he's going to go," Wine said on Friday.

"Not being out there, you are always guarding against that and Seth is working through some troubles. He's going to have to come out and do something tomorrow. It's nice to have the bullpen ready."

Neither was expected to dominate against Central Connecticut State, and Wyner was only able to go two and one-third innings before control problems got the best of him.

In his stead, a rested bullpen pitched a scoreless remainder of the game.

The Nittany Lions only surrendered three runs during the weekend series.

That is the lowest total of runs allowed in a series this season, regardless of length. The least amount of runs given up in a three-game series prior to last weekend was 15, and that was to North Carolina.

While the overall staff numbers were impressive, it was Clark's near no-hitter that got the weekend off to a fast, yet awkward start. It's baseball superstition to flat-out ignore a pitcher who is on a tear.

Second baseman Matt Cavagnaro noticed Clark's potential no-hitter in the sixth inning, and promptly offered no words to his teammate. Clark remembers the looks coming earlier.

"I come in after that inning, and everyone else is messing around with me," Clark said. "I guess I came in the fifth inning and everyone's staring at me and I'm like, 'What's going on?' Everyone's smiling at me. I mean, it worked out."

Clark's opening pitch ball went into the All-Sports Museum, but there were small victories for Whitehill, whose ERA fell to a reasonable 6.08 after going six stanzas in Saturday's 9-0 win.

For Wine, Clark was becoming more than just a hard thrower, and the relief pitching proved some things after Wyner's struggles on Sunday.

If it wasn't for Central Connecticut starter Matt Gianini's 141-pitch effort on Sunday, Penn State relievers Michael Lorentson, Paul Hawkins and Matt Ogrodnik's zeros could have possibly equaled a sweep for the Lions.

"We can piece together a bullpen game if we need to," Wine said. "We are happy with that. We had guys ready to go. Yeah, I'm very pleased with that."