The Duquesne University baseball team already has played two completely different seasons.

The first wasn't very comforting down South, where the Dukes made trips on three weekends to play second-ranked Florida State, ninth-ranked South Carolina and perennial power LSU. A brief stop in Morgantown, W.Va., against the Mountaineers left the Dukes at 0-10, the school's longest losing streak since 1990.

"I told our kids to pretend like the first 10 games were spring training," Duquesne coach Mike Wilson said. "I told them it would be a lot easier from here on out."

It has been.

Duquesne has put together a seven-game winning streak that tied a school record for consecutive victories against Division I opponents.

"Their belief system is intact now," said Wilson, whose Dukes (7-10) play host to St. Bonaventure (8-6, 2-1 Atlantic 10) in a three-game series this weekend.

The games are scheduled for Duquesne's field in Green Tree if Wilson and his players can get it into shape. They will rake it, put on a tarp and rent heaters to blow-dry the dirt around home plate, the bases and the pitcher's mound.

Duquesne has yet to play a game at home, but the Dukes swept a three-game league series against visiting Massachusetts at Seton Hill University's turf field. Duquesne's Ryan Juran, a junior from Shaler, pitched his first complete-game shutout in a 2-0 victory and was named the league's co-pitcher of the week.

Wilson wasn't surprised the losses were by lopsided scores on the trips south because Duquesne's players had spent just one day practicing outdoors before their first game.

"We were very rusty. Our guys were running circles around fly balls and looked stupid on some popups," Wilson said. "I was hoping to win at least one game, but I think we're better for playing those games."

Duquesne received a total of $22,000 in guarantees from Florida State, South Carolina and LSU.

"That helped defray the costs of the trips," Wilson said. "It was a big risk to play against those teams because you can completely lose your team if they get too down on themselves."

Wilson pinpointed the start of Duquesne's turnaround with a 4-3 victory in 10 innings against Maine.

"We needed to get that win," he said. "That changed the whole psyche of our team."

The statistics tell the tale of Duquesne's two seasons. The Dukes had a .204 team batting average and a team earned run average of 14.15 in the 10-game losing streak. They hit .267 with a 3.05 ERA in the seven-game winning streak.

Duquesne's leading hitters for the season are Aaron Janusey (.328, 2 HRs, 13 RBIs), a senior first baseman from Peters Township, and junior catcher Mike Carroll (.317).

"I really like our odds of getting to the conference tournament," Wilson said of the A-10 playoffs that have expanded from six to eight teams this season. "I feel good about our team."

Finally.