It didn't take long for the Penn State baseball team's clubhouse to come back down to earth.

Fresh off of a seven-game winning streak that vaulted them into third place in the Big Ten and to their first .500 record of the season, the Nittany Lions (19-21, 11-7 Big Ten) dropped two games in a row to close out this past weekend's series at Indiana.

Still, they have reason to be positive. Their 14-6 stretch in April still helped them finish the month tied for third in the conference with Ohio State.

Now, Penn State will look to start a new month on the right foot, taking on in-state rival Villanova (22-19, 7-11 Big East) at 6:35 tonight at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. Though midweek games are traditionally much less important than the conference matchups, a successful endeavor tonight could boost the Lions' morale for a vital weekend series with Purdue.

"We are pretty disappointed," junior shortstop/pitcher Scott Gaffney said. "We were still pretty high after those first two games [with the Hoosiers], but it's definitely disappointing."

Gaffney and the Lions will look to extend their 31-26 all-time advantage against the Wildcats. However, Penn State has lost to Villanova every year since 2003, and has not beaten it since 1973 -- while still in the tenure of the ballpark's namesake, the former head coach Chuck Medlar.

Unfortunately for Penn State, Villanova has won four of its last five. Shortstop Derek Shunk is surging as of late, boosting his season batting average to an obscene .421, along with 26 RBI.

To emerge victorious, the Lions will have to cut down on the mishaps that plagued them in Sunday's 8-7 loss to the Hoosiers. Two errors, 10 strikeouts, and 11 men left on base kept a late-inning rally from coming to fruition.

But the Penn State players believe their mindset is right to get another winning streak going soon.

"Errors are going to happen. Guys don't mean to make errors," junior catcher Rob Yodice said.

The Lions are hoping a return home will help catcher/desig-nated hitter Joe Blackburn to revert to his scorching hitting of last week.

In the four games at Indiana, Blackburn recorded a total of three hits. In last Tuesday's game with Duquesne, he went 4-for-4 with two RBI.

Though Blackburn's hitting is normally a sure thing, Penn State has learned not to take anything for granted.

"You can't come out flat. You can't say, 'Oh, we won a few games,' " Yodice said. "You don't do that and win."