Baseball goes for title

The exact circumstances of this year's season-ending Penn-Columbia series are somewhat altered from last year's, but the significance of the games is the same. Once again, it's the Quakers versus the Lions for the championship of the Ivy League's Gehrig Division. Last year Penn and Columbia went into the season's final doubleheader tied for the division lead. The Quakers scored a dramatic sweep to claim the Gehrig title before losing to Yale in the Ivy League championship series. The Quakers (19-17, 11-5 Ivy League) go into this Columbia series able to rest somewhat easier than they did last year. Penn has a two-game lead over the Lions, and needs only a split of the four games. The only thing that matters to Penn is winning two games. But it is clear the Quakers would prefer to clinch the title with a sweep tomorrow in front of a home crowd rather than have the issue undecided when the teams head up to New York for the second doubleheader Sunday. To that end, coach Bob Seddon is doing something different with his two ace pitchers. Normally, Dan Galles and Ed Haughey pitch on different days of an Ivy weekend series, but tomorrow they will form the most effective of one-two punches. "It's the only way to go. We need to win at least one and maybe two games at home," Seddon said. Columbia (15-21-1, 9-7) has its own agenda in mind. The Lions are anxious to gain at least a split tomorrow at Bower, then return to the friendly confines of Coakley Field. Friendly indeed -- the Lions' strength is easily their hitting, and Coakley is definitely a hitter's park. The center field wall is a mere 350 feet away from home plate. The Lions boast several offensive stars. B Teal and Garrett Neubart lead the Ivies in hitting. Teal and Marc Mezzadri are tied for second in home runs, and are also among the leaders in RBIs. Neubart, the leadoff hitter, is second in stolen bases. "Neubart's a player," Seddon said. "He can swing the bat. He's a legitimate draft pick. And B Teal's broken all of their records." But Haughey and Galles loom just as large at the top of the significant pitching categories. On paper, at least, they are far superior to their Columbia counterparts. Lion Steve Ceterko was feared by opposing hitters through most of last season, but ever since the he lost game one of that crucial doubleheader to Galles and the Quakers, he has been quite mortal. "He's gotten banged around," Seddon said. "He's walked a lot of people. He does throw very hard. When he's on, he's good." Regardless, Ceterko is 4-4 with a 6.88 ERA this season. In fact, the best ERA on the Columbia staff is Eric Rothfield's 6.43. Galles and Haughey sport ERAs of 1.98 and 2.21. "Columbia's pitching is very average," Seddon said. At Coakley Field Sunday, those Columbia ERAs will have a hard time standing up to a solid Quakers lineup. But if Penn's top two pitchers live up to their billing tomorrow, that may not matter much.

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