Baseball hoping to add to lead

Even though the Princeton Tigers invade Bower Field this weekend for four games that may decide the champion of the Ivy League's Gehrig Division, Penn's biggest opponent may be Cousin Brewski. The first-place Quakers' biggest nemesis may not be Tigers' ace hurler Dave Kahney or slugger Mike Ciminiello, but the Spring Fling activities surrounding them. Penn (16-16, 8-4 Ivy league) took sole command of the division lead with last weekend's four-game sweep of Cornell in Ithaca, N.Y. In tomorrow and Sunday's noon doubleheaders, the Quakers are hoping to put some distance between themselves and second-place Columbia, which is only one game out. The Tigers (13-16, 6-6) know the quartet of games is crucial if they hope to make a run for the crown. Princeton is only two games off the pace with a great opportunity to grab a share of the lead this weekend. The Tigers are also hoping to get revenge from last season, when Penn went into Old Nassau and took three out of four games en route to the Gehrig title. Ciminiello, who leads the Ancient Eight in dingers with five, will lead the Tigers' quest. Setting the table for Ciminiello are Dave Ekelund, Zack Perry and Todd Pate, all of whom are hitting over .340 in the Princeton lineup. Their opposition, the Penn pitching staff, tossed four complete games while going a combined 4-0 last weekend in Ithaca. Ed Haughey and Dan Galles, first and second in the Ivies in strikeouts, will key Penn's efforts from the hill. Lance Berger and Mike Shannon, the most talented all-around player in the Ancient Eight, will also get starts. Shannon is dangerous on the other side of the ball as well. Seddon has described him as the Quakers' "one man army" at the plate, and he leads the league in batting (.449) and RBIs (41) and is third in homeruns (4). Shannon is only six hits shy of Glenn Partridge's single-season Penn record of 59, set in 1976. He is also eight RBIs away from breaking Tom Olszak's 1979 record of 48. Trying to contain Shannon and the rest of the Quakers' lineup will be a struggling Tigers staff that has yielded nearly seven runs per game. Kahney and Jon Edgar lead the rotation. While Kahney is fourth in the Ivies in strikeouts and victories, Edgar leads the Tigers with a 2.97 ERA -- by far the best on the team. If the Quakers can focus at the task at hand, the chances are good they repeat last weekend's success and virtually lock up their second consecutive Gehrig Division title. If Penn's boys of summer spend too much time in the Quad, however, they could possibly end up with a quad in the loss column.