Baseball to face Drexel at the Vet

Until last Sunday's meeting, when Major League owners decided not to lock out the players, Veterans Stadium was supposed to be the home of the Phil-ins this spring. With the regulars back to work in Florida for spring training, the Vet will be home to another local team tonight. Penn and Drexel meet to break in the new Astroturf at Veterans' Stadium tonight at 7 p.m. in the annual Liberty Bell Classic. The Quakers (10-9) are coming off a successful weekend in which they won three of four games against Ivy League foes Harvard and Dartmouth at Bower Field. Excellent pitching was the key to the weekend's success, and Penn hopes to continue that against its West Philly rival. In last year's Classic, the Quakers saw a convincing 4-1 lead disappear in the eighth inning as Delaware rallied for three runs against senior closer Mike Komsky. Any hope for a win disappeared in the final frame, when the Blue Hens scored three more against Mike Martin for a 7-4 win. The disappointing loss was Penn's third straight setback in the Liberty Bell Classic, a trend the Quakers hope to reverse tonight against the Dragons (17-6), who are leading the North Atlantic Conference with a 6-0 record. Drexel has also defeated Temple, another Philadelphia rival, twice already this season. If Penn is to succeed, it will have to shut down Kris Doiron and John Shannon, Drexel's leading hitters. Doiron has four home runs, to go with a team-leading 25 runs batted in, while hitting .398 through 23 games. He is in the midst of an eight-game hitting streak. Shannon complements him beautifully as the Dragons' leadoff man by reaching base a staggering 56 percent of the time. He is hitting .438 with six doubles and 19 walks. If Penn's hurlers can stop this dynamic duo, the odds are certainly in favor of the Quakers. Freshman Armen Simonian, who will be Penn's starting picther tonight, could use some help from the Quakers' bats. Simonian, who has been on fire of late, may help his own cause. He is hitting .600 on the season with 15 hits in 25 at bats. "Armen's a great pitcher. It'll be cold out there and he's going to throw the ball well," Penn catcher Rick Burt said. "He's very mature for a freshman. He'll have no problems at the Vet." Designated hitter Mike Shannon has hit the ball solidly for the Quakers all season, driving in 24 runs in 19 games from the cleanup spot. Unlike the replacement players, Shannon and the Quakers will, barring rain, actually get their three hours of fame under the lights at the Vet.