Baseball loses a wild one to 'Nova

Penn came back from a 7-1 deficit to take a 10-9 lead in the seventh before falling in the bottom of the ninth. Talk about comebacks. The Penn baseball team rallied from a 7-1 deficit with nine runs in the sixth and seventh innings last night against Villanova, but its great effort ended up being for naught. Why? Because the Wildcats, the home team in this first-round matchup of the Liberty Bell Classic at Veteran's Stadium, scored two runs with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to defeat a resilient Penn squad, 11-10. "The bottom line was we didn't close it," Penn coach Bob Seddon said. "It's a shame. We did some good things, but it's a sin because we had them and we let it get away. "It was a sloppy game but we did battle back and we did hit the ball good. It was an exciting game to watch." If you like action with your baseball, this was not a game to miss. The highlights and lowlights -- three home runs and five passed balls by the Wildcats, seven two-out runs in the late innings by the Quakers and 12 walks, eight hit batsmen and six errors between the two squads -- were astounding. Add to that a two-out, game-winning rally in the bottom of the ninth. Just another evening at a major league ballpark. Villanova arrived late to the Vet because its 8-7 win over Wagner yesterday afternoon also was not decided until the final frame. But the Wildcats did not miss a beat. Hardly sluggish, 'Nova (13-12-1) scored in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings to build a 7-1 lead. Three errors and several defensive lapses marred an otherwise strong start by Penn's John Dolan and put the Quakers (5-12) in a hole before they could get their offense in sync. But then the Quakers erupted. The sixth inning saw Penn put a "4" spot on the board to cut the lead to 7-5, thanks to two-out RBI hits by sophomore Travis Putnam and junior Kevin McCabe. "I think our team is really good at keeping our focus when we're down," said freshman Will Clark, whose double kept the two-out rally alive. "It wasn't surprising -- we were expecting to come back and we knew we could play with them." Villanova, however, would not allow the Quakers to "play with them" just yet. The first two pitches of the bottom of the sixth saw home runs off the bats of Wildcats sluggers Matt Longo and Rob Cafiero. It was the second home run of the evening for Cafiero, the Wildcats freshman clean-up hitter -- a particularly bitter pill for Penn to swallow. "Cafiero was my big recruit last year," Seddon said. "He got deferred on early decision and then he got a 'likely letter' in February but the parents were upset over the fact that he was deferred, and he chose Villanova over Penn -- so you can see what it cost us. "If he had been accepted here on early decision, he would have been hitting the bombs for us." But Penn hurler Brian Burket recorded two strikeouts to pull out of a jam later in the inning and prevent further damage. Then the fun began. The Quakers recorded two quick outs to start the top of the seventh but proceeded to put the next eight runners on base. Three huge doubles drove two 'Nova pitchers to the showers, and the Quakers suddenly found themselves up -- both on the scoreboard and on the top step of the dugout cheering every new at-bat. Sophomore Jim Mullen reached base for the third time with Penn's biggest hit -- a ground-rule double to left-center that scored Putnam and gave the Quakers their first lead, 10-9. "I definitely like to be in that position," Mullen said. Modest to the end, the third baseman said, "It was nothing special -- their pitcher gave me a fastball up and I hit it." But then it was the Wildcats' turn. The eighth inning featured a heated argument between Seddon and an umpire who reversed a call against Penn, but junior hurler Anthony Napolitano got out of a bases-loaded jam without allowing a run. Unfortunately for the Quakers, he couldn't do it two innings in a row. Two walks and a hit batsman loaded the bases with two outs in the final inning. Still on top and with a chance to close out the game, the little-used Napolitano hit the next batter to tie the score. With both crowds cheering on, Wildcats senior John Picone lined a single to left for the improbable victory. "Early on, we were swinging the bats a little bit," Villanova coach George Bennett said. "But in the end they helped us with the walks. We were lucky, we won our other game the same way -- we were given a gift twice." As the Quakers sat dejected after a game they could have and should have won, it was difficult for them to see Villanova celebrating -- both for Bennett's 400th career victory and for the chance to face Temple in the semifinals of the Classic. The Quakers now must move on as well. Penn faces Lafayette at home at 3 p.m. today on Bower Field.

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