Baseball ready for showdown

Quakers play 4 against Princeton Dan Galles knows what it will take for the Penn baseball team to win the Gehrig Division and earn a trip to the Ivy League playoffs in Middletown, Conn. Facing a four-game series at Princeton tomorrow and Sunday at 1 p.m., Galles and the first-place Quakers face a critical test which will determine the outcome of their season. "This is going to be the biggest series of the year," Galles said. "We need to take three out of four." The winner of the Gehrig will play the Rolfe champion in the second-annual Ivy playoffs. The winner of that series will challenge the Northeast Conference champion for a berth in the NCAA tournament. Last year the Quakers were in a similar situation -- they needed to take at least three games against Princeton in order to stay in the postseason race. But Penn split with the Tigers and came up one game short of Columbia, which slipped into the playoff series against Yale. "We talked a little about last year," second baseman Derek Nemeth said. "We've taken a lot of lessons from last year and we're going to make sure we don't do it again." The Quakers will enter the series riding a five-game winning streak during which Penn has been enjoying overpowering pitching performances from its starters. Since the Quakers staff has given up only four runs in its last five outings, it may be hard to believe this is the same staff which gave up 45 runs in a four-game weekend series with Dartmouth and Harvard earlier this season. The pitching may be the key for the Quakers this weekend. Which staff will show up -- the one that baffled Cornell for four games last weekend or the one that was pounded in New England? "Everything was different this week," Penn catcher Rick Burt said. "I'm hoping the pitchers just turned the page and put it all behind them. [Against Cornell] they came in with intensity and they came to win. "They started the season slowly, but now they're rolling. I think they'll be ready to go this weekend." The staff is led by Ed Haughey, the reigning Ivy League Pitcher of the Week. Haughey's followed closely by Lance Berger, Mike Shannon and Dan Galles. Their task this weekend will be to contain the explosive Tiger bats. That must start with Princeton's Michael Ciminiello, who boasts a .355 average, five home runs and 25 RBI. "We have to get men on base and score some runs," Ciminiello said. "We have to make sure we don't get shut down." But the Penn pitchers did just that last weekend against the Big Red. But the team is clearly not being carried solely by the pitchers. In fact, the Quaker bats are hitting with a collective .326 average, 19th nationally in Division I. Right fielder Tim Shannon, who has also made some terrific diving catches, paces the Quakers with a .395 average. "We have the most confidence going into this Ivy weekend since I've been here," said Burt, who is in his second season with the Red and Blue. "When our defense, offense and pitching come together, there isn't a better talent in the league." How confident are the Quakers? According to Nemeth, several members of the team are already looking for summer housing in West Philadelphia, confident Penn's season will be extended into the postseason. Standing in the Quakers' way, though, is a formidable Princeton opponent. Nemeth knows there's no love loss between these two. "We really don't like each other," he said. "And then when you realize we lost to them last year, that plays a big part in the rivalry."