An opportunity for a baseball team to get some extra rest after playing a nearly four-hour game in the bitter cold is always welcome.

Such is the case for the Penn State baseball squad (9-17, 2-4 Big Ten), which will be taking to the road for a four-game series against Michigan State this weekend. But inclement weather has postponed the start of the series slated for today until tomorrow afternoon at 1. The scheduled double-header will move to Sunday, with Monday laying claim to the finale at 3:05 p.m.

The Nittany Lions are coming off of a grueling test on Wednesday night against Temple in which a seven-run eighth inning propelled them to victory. Metal bats were shattered, uniforms were soaked and windy conditions toyed around with balls hit into play.

Perhaps looking to avoid similar circumstances in East Lansing, Mich., the Spartans (14-10, 5-2 Big Ten) opted to push back the start of the series. In turn, this weekend series becomes the third straight for Penn State changed by weather.

But the Lions made it clear to which direction their eyes are still gazing.

"We're focused on conference games," Penn State manager Robbie Wine said. "It's just taking one at-bat at a time and taking our walks. We get a couple breaks defensively and we take advantage of a couple of things."

Despite hitting almost 50 points less than the Spartans, the Lions have steadily improved their patience at the plate over the last few games.

Their 87 bases on balls rank fifth in the Big Ten, drawing 11 on Wednesday alone.

Penn State was finally able to get some runs across the plate, chipping away at the Owl lead while the bullpen contained them to just one run in the last four innings. The big eighth inning ensures that the Lion bats will be sizzling when they arrive in East Lansing.

They hope to have first baseman Cory Wine back, who missed the Temple contest with an undisclosed injury. However, usual catcher Joe Blackburn filled in admirably at the position, making some nice scoops and driving in the go-ahead run with a triple in the eighth.

"We've gotta carry the momentum, being able to put runs up," junior reliever Paul Hawkins said. "Hopefully we put up runs like that and pitchers throw like they did."

Penn State has won four of its last six games and has at least posed a threat in all of them.

Penn State starter Craig Clark will need to get more run support than he did in his last two appearances. Despite pitching brilliantly in both starts, the Lions afforded him with just two total runs.

He'll be facing stiff competition from Michigan State's Steve Gerstenberger, whose .415 batting clip is good for fourth in the Big Ten.

"We showed that we can come back and win games, and that's a lot for the team right now," senior infielder Jim Leitgeb said.