Mike Deese was slumping.

At 4-31 over his last 11 games, including 2-16 at his brand-new, home ballpark, the junior Penn State third baseman was looking for anything to light a fire last night.

So when Bucknell pitcher Andrew Clarke tossed up a high fastball in a third inning at-bat, Deese wasted no time depositing it into the left-field picnic area at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. The two-run blast put the cap on a four-run third inning, and helped the Nittany Lions (6-15, 1-2 Big Ten) to a 6-5 win over the Bison.

Deese's homer would prove the last Penn State run to cross the plate, but it was all the team needed despite four unanswered Bucknell (10-12, 3-1 Patriot League) runs to end the game.

"I think confidence has been a big factor with this team," Deese said. "At first, we started to be more passive and look for walks, and it's come back to bite us."

The Lions' new aggressive strategy seemed to work like a charm -- though they only drew one base on balls, they managed to make contact with a plethora of pitches: they didn't strike out a single time.

Deese himself saw just six pitches in his four at-bats, choosing to swing at appetizing balls no matter when they came in the count. He picked up an opposite-field single in the eighth inning, earning his first multi-hit game since March 10 at Wichita State.

It's a keynote example of the different philosophy for the struggling Lion offense.

"You can't be overly aggressive, because you don't wanna get out in front," junior catcher/designated hitter Rob Yodice said. "But you can't be too passive because if you get a strike on you, all the rinky-dink stuff comes in."

Yodice was on base when Deese went yard, scoring his second run of the Lions' big second and third innings.

Starting pitcher Scott Gaffney (2-2) looked sharp in three innings of work, but was taken out of the game when he "banged his knee up" on a run-scoring slide, head coach Robbie Wine said.

The Lion bullpen managed to preserve the 6-1 lead Gaffney left with, but had to fight through several walks, hits and defensive relapses. A passed ball by catcher Joe Blackburn in the ninth inning led to an unearned run off of closer Drew O'Neil, but O'Neil managed to force a double play to end the game.

Still, the Lions are focusing on the positives.

"Our offense is real good," Yodice said. "You're not gonna go up there and go 10-for-10 or 11-for-11. You're gonna fail more than you succeed. You just gotta trust your abilities and keep pounding away."

Notes: Senior infielder Matt Cavagnaro set a career-high with eight assists, including a spectacular diving play in the seventh inning ... Penn State righty Dan Hawkins pitched three scoreless innings out of the bullpen ... The game was relatively sloppy, featuring three errors, a wild pitch, a passed ball, a hit batsman and several misplayed balls in the outfield ... Penn State will take on Kent State at 5:05 tomorrow night at Medlar Field.