Baseball comes out flat, drops 3

Last weekend's Penn baseball team performance would not have made Montezuma proud -- Yogi Berra, perhaps, but not Montezuma. After last season's collapse during the first weekend in April when the Quakers (13-9, 5-5 Ivy League) dropped four consecutive games at Bower Field to Harvard and Dartmouth, Penn was seeking revenge this season. Those losses virtually eliminated the Quakers from contention in the Gehrig Division. Penn's 1-3 weekend performance more closely resembled deja vu all over again than any measure of exacting revenge on its New England rivals. The Quakers were swept by Dartmouth, 8-5 and 12-9, before Penn managed a split with the Crimson, winning a 10-9 decision in game one before receiving a 15-2 drubbing in the nightcap. The best part of the weekend was that the Quakers were the benefactors of some good fortune, as the other contenders in the Gehrig Division also had a rough time. So, unlike last season, Penn remains in contention after this perilous weekend, having as many wins as anyone else in its division. The Quakers, however, did fail to take advantage of an excellent opportunity to take control of first place. Penn's impending troubles were apparent from the very first batter against Dartmouth (5-10, 3-4) when junior starting pitcher Dan Galles began the game with a walk that led to two Big Green runs. Dartmouth erupted for four more in the second, sending Galles to the showers with a loss that dropped his record to 4-2. "Dan just wasn't throwing the ball well," Penn coach Bob Seddon said. "He got ripped and it seemed that Dartmouth didn't do anything wrong all day." Although freshman A.B. Fischer silenced the Big Green bats in relief, and Penn managed to pound out five runs on 11 hits, Dartmouth's lead proved insurmountable. The Big Green held on for the 8-5 victory. If the first game was a disappointment for the Quakers, the second game was an absolute nightmare. Penn jumped out to a 9-3 lead behind strong starting pitching from junior Lance Berger (2-1, 2.79 ERA) and an offensive onslaught highlighted by freshman shortstop Mark DeRosa's solo home run. When Burger tired and eventually gave way to senior reliever Mike Komsky in the sixth, Dartmouth picked up a pair of runs to close the gap to 9-5. The Quakers, however, remained confident carrying a four-run cushion into the seventh. That seemingly comfortable lead proved insufficient seven runs, five hits, two walks and two hits later. Komsky and junior closer Mike Martin recorded only one out in the fateful seventh before a three-run home run by sophomore Craig Pawling. "We have a lot of trouble beating Dartmouth," Seddon said. "I don't know what it is. That was a game we never, never should have lost -- but that's baseball." After a silent bus ride from the Cape (where Dartmouth is playing as a result of the poor condition of its home field) back to Boston and a good night's sleep, the Quakers were again out for revenge Sunday. After Penn jumped out to a seemingly comfortable 10-5 lead, it was almost deja vu all over again for the Quakers. Sophomore Mike Shannon failed to seal the win for junior Ed Haughey as the Crimson clawed back to score four runs and place runners at second and third with nobody out in the bottom of the seventh. With Harvard within one run of knotting the score, Seddon loyally turned the ball over to Martin, giving his closer a chance to redeem himself for Saturday's debacle. After intentionally walking the bases loaded to set up a force at the plate, Martin forced a short pop fly to center field and then got a 6-4-3 double play to end the game and altering his status from goat to hero. "We were definitely scared out there," junior Allen Fischer said. "We had our fingers crossed, and Mike did a great job out there." Martin's redemption would be the last of the heroics for the Quakers on the weekend. In the second half of the twinbill, Penn fell behind early amidst a driving rainstorm and continued to slide in the confines of a muddy Soldiers Field en route to a 15-2 embarrassment. Despite conditions that many Quakers felt were the worst they've ever experienced, nobody expected Harvard to call a home game with a convincing lead throughout. Despite the disappointing results, Penn is lucky to still be in contention for the division title. "The season is far from over," Fischer said. Both players and coaches feel the Quakers are in good shape with six of their remaining 10 games at home, and many divisional games left to be played. Since Penn was unable to exact revenge on a weekend that has become a nemesis in recent years, the Quakers will have their work cut out for them if they have any hope of tasting champagne in May. · The Penn baseball community suffered another disappointment yesterday when 1990 alumnus Craig Connolly, the only all-American in Quaker history, was released by the Oakland Athletics organization. The 6-foot-3 right-handed starter was diagnosed as needing surgery on his pitching shoulder, and therefore let go. "Craig was aware of the problem in February when I was working with him in the Annex," Seddon said. "But he felt he had to go to spring training and try to throw through it."