Penn State baseball coach Robbie Wine stood on the grass at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, beating dirt out of his cleats with a bat.

He was quiet and terse, and his body language couldn't hide what was on his mind.

"We're going back to basics," Wine said. "It's about some guys stepping up at the right times."

His Nittany Lions (8-17, 2-4 Big Ten) scored just two total runs in the final two games -- both losses -- of last weekend's series with Iowa, after putting up six runs in the first contest and 15 runs in the two games before that. His lack of explanation for the drought was bugging him.

Wine hopes that the bats that loudly announced their presence in home games against Bucknell and Kent State last week will make the same entrance at 6:35 tonight at Medlar Field when Penn State squares off against Temple (10-17, 4-5 Atlantic 10).

Though the forecast calls for cold weather -- something that plagued them in Iowa City -- the Lions don't like to make excuses, as the temperature affects both teams.

"We broke a couple bats, and obviously anytime you're breaking metal bats, it's not very conducive to hitting," junior catcher Joe Blackburn said. "I got a couple stingers and my hands were ringing for a couple minutes. ... But I wouldn't attribute [the struggles] to the weather. It was similar conditions on Saturday as Friday."

Junior pitcher Ryan Stobart will get the ball for the start tonight, as frigid temperatures forced his previously scheduled start against Iowa into cancellation. He will be on a pitch count, but doesn't expect the restrictions -- or the thermometer --to change his game plan.

"When you're out there, what are ya gonna do? You gonna complain about the weather? It's not gonna change," Stobart said. "So you just gotta get over it, get your mind back into focus, and you gotta throw strikes."

Stobart's opposition is an Owl lineup that is hitting .272 on the season, led by sophomore outfielder Sean Barksdale's .333 average and 19 RBI.

Blackburn and senior second baseman Matt Cavagnaro will hope to continue their hot hitting. They combined to drive in the Lions' only two runs on Sunday, and Cavagnaro hit his first home run of the season in Friday's victory. Junior shortstop Scott Gaffney busted out of a slump with a four-hit series.

Junior pitcher Seth Whitehill also experienced a rebirth, giving up just one unearned run in 5 2/3 innings on Friday in a performance that Wine called "the highlight of the weekend."

Wine hopes that several awakening players will spark the offense and that Stobart's efforts, though limited, will be supported with a healthy amount of runs.

"He needs to understand that it's his job pitch-to-pitch to get people out," Wine said. "He's gonna go out there and do his job."