Hoyas can't stop Baseball

Sunday's doubleheader against Georgetown could be considered one of the first steps of the thousand-mile journey that is the Penn baseball team's season. Now, following the sweep of the Hoyas, the Quakers can only hope the rest of their games are so easy. If they are, the season could turn out to be less of a journey than a joyride. But in all likelihood, Penn will have a far more difficult time throughout the rest of its schedule. The Quakers (8-2) knew going in that Georgetown (5-14) was a bottom-rung Big East team struggling to work its way up with a new coach. Penn wanted to try to put the Hoyas away at the start to avoid any chance of an upset in the later innings. And just as it has throughout most of this young season, everything fell into place for the Quakers. Penn continued its hot streak at the plate, taking advantage of shoddy Georgetown pitching to score early and often. Backed by strong performances by junior starting pitchers Dan Galles and Lance Berger, the Quakers twice jumped out to quick leads and twice breezed home to easy victories, 6-1 and 9-0. "We were in a good groove, making plays in every phase of the game," Penn coach Bob Seddon said. "Everybody was contributing and that's been the secret to our success." Penn's success began with its offensive firepower. The Quakers continued the mammoth hitting they've displayed so far this season in which they've averaged 10 runs in each of their eight wins. Penn wanted nothing more than for that trend to continue, and continue it did. The hapless Hoyas pitchers gave up nine runs in the second innings of both games combined, effectively sealing wins for Penn before the games had hardly begun. In the second contest, Penn's six-run second inning was ignited by several walks as Georgetown struggled in vain to put anything over the plate. With the bases loaded, Penn scored one run via a walk, and a second because of a hit batter, to get the barrage underway. By that time it had already become apparent the Quakers were going to have their way at the plate this day. "They had some bad pitching," Seddon said. "Their pitchers struggled, they had no rhythm at all. They were a mess." The problems Georgetown faced on the mound may, of course, have been a result of a Penn lineup laced with .400 hitters. Merely seeing the statistics of the Quakers' batting lineup on paper must have been a trying experience for the green Hoya pitching staff. Penn even tried some intimidation tactics before the first game began, with Berger howling at the Georgetown players as they warmed up. "After that we knew it was going to be a good day," first baseman Allen Fischer said. "We just destroyed them. There was bad pitching, but we are playing with such confidence right now that we feel we can play against anyone." The Quakers did not suffer from any sort of bad pitching in either game. Galles, picking up where he left off in a strong outing in the final game of the Cal State-San Bernadino tournament last weekend, took a no-hitter into the fifth inning, and a shutout through his entire seven innings of play. Berger followed Galles' seven-inning shutout performance with one of his own. Despite waking up the morning of the game feeling sick, Berger settled into a groove before the second inning was over. By that time his team had given him a lead he was never in danger of relinquishing. "I was pretty pleased with the way I hit the spots with my fastball, even though the velocity wasn't great," Berger said. "Going into the game, [the Hoyas] had been hitting a lot better. But the way I look at it is if I pitch my game and the team plays its game, we'll be fine." Right now the Quakers' play is better than fine. But they realize there is still work to be done before Ivy League play gets underway next weekend. "We're nowhere near our peak because we still have a lot of improving to do," Berger said. "But right now we're playing about as well as we can play." · There is still one game to be played before Penn's opening Ivy games against Columbia Saturday. That comes today when the Quakers host Rider at Bower Field at 3 p.m. Rider is a perennial NCAA tournament team that has had Penn's number in recent years. "We just want to relax and have fun and not pressure ourselves," Seddon said. "We just need to go out and play. I think we'll be looking forward to the game because of the way Rider's handled us so easily over the past few years."