Accepting the harsh reality of Wednesday's blowout to Mount St. Mary's, senior second baseman Matt Cavagnaro called it "a game we should have won."

On Wednesday, playing against a Northeast conference opponent they hadn't played in 102 years, the Nittany Lions lost to Mount St. Mary's, 16-8.

But when Penn State (12-19, 5-5 Big Ten) takes the field against Northwestern at 6:35 tonight at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, the Mountaineers and an unsavory game that got away should be a distant memory.

"We have to put this past us, because we have a big weekend this weekend against Northwestern," Cavagnaro said after Wednesday's defeat. "If we fret over this, then we could be in some serious trouble."

Now, the Lions just want to get back to where they were less than a week ago.

Last week, Penn State won a conference series for the first time since 2005 when it beat Michigan State in three of four games.

The Lions don't want to duplicate the four errors they committed in the Mount St. Mary's contest or exhibit their overall quality of play during midweek games this season.

Against Temple last Wednesday, Penn State had five errors and trailed until an eight-inning rally. But after the sloppy, 14-8 win against the Owls, the Lions responded by winning three of four games.

Even in a 6-5 comeback win versus the Spartans, where the Lions had another five-error performance, they still got a hit per every three at-bats. Momentum was supposed to carry into the next conference series this weekend.

The Lions had a season-high 16 hits in Wednesday's loss to Mount St. Mary's, but still weren't able to overcome a 10-3 deficit in the third inning. How they come out against Northwestern (9-21, 3-9 Big Ten) will play a more pivotal role for the rest of the season.

"This is a learning experience for some younger guys, and we are going to put it behind us and get ready for the weekend," Penn State head coach Robbie Wine said. "You hope you get up early, score some runs and make things easier. It just wasn't letting that way. But conference games are most important."

Despite the pitching staff's poor effort on Wednesday, the Lions still rank third in the Big Ten in earned run average, giving up an average of 3.36 runs per game.

A .265 team batting average ranks near the bottom of the league, but a few bats in particular are rolling for Penn State. Catcher/designated hitter Joe Blackburn is hitting .516 and is in the midst of a seven-game hitting streak, while Cavagnaro had his first career four-hit game in Wednesday's loss.

Freshman pitcher John Karr, who moved up Wine's "book" with a career-high four strikeouts in three innings of scoreless work, said he knows to forget the effort with haste.

"We know what kind of people we have and what kind of team we should be," Karr said, "so we just have to take it as a learning experience and try to come back the next series."