BEHIND THE PLATE: Youth not an asset on the hill

After a 12-8 loss to a mediocre Georgetown team yesterday, Penn coach Bob Seddon didn't talk about the hitting. He talked about the pitching. With the starting rotation committed to the weekend Ivy League games, these weekday non-conference games often become an opportunity for Seddon and pitching coach Bill Wagner to work out some of the younger members of the staff. Yesterday, it was sophomore A B Fischer who was given the start. He was relieved by freshmen Todd Mahoney and Ed Kimlin, with senior closer Mike Martin brought in for a short workout in the ninth. Fischer didn't get off to an auspicious start, giving up two runs in the first inning and proving unable to get the first pitch over for strikes. He worked long, deep and inaccurately into the count. He threw over 80 pitches in his four innings, which appeared to take its toll fatigue-wise. It wasn't his best outing (4 innings, 5 earned runs, 8 hits, 4 walks and 2 strikeouts) but Fischer will still be given a long look for a spot in next year's rotation. Yesterday's outing was really more of a learning experience than anything else. It was even more of a learning experience for Mahoney and Kimlin. Each was making his first collegiate appearance. Unfortunately, both had a bit of trouble. Mahoney gave up five runs -- none of them earned -- in 1 2/3 innings, but he started out very well. After getting the first two batters in the fifth inning on ground balls, he walked Georgetown's Mitch Temple before getting Steven Buckley to strike out on a full count. After second baseman Joe Carlon mishandled a grounder to begin the sixth, Mahoney walked the next two batters and hit a third to force in a run. He regained his composure to get the cleanup hitter to fly out to center, scoring another run, but then a Derek Nemeth throwing error on a fielder's choice at third base appeared to rattle him. Instead of having runners on first and second with two out, he had the bases loaded with only one out. Four more runs would score before Seddon went back to the bullpen for Kimlin. Mahoney wound up with the loss. "Mahoney got rattled when Nemeth threw the ball away," Seddon said. "He showed moments, so that was good" Kimlin got the 10th batter of the sixth to ground out to end the inning. Then he worked through the seventh quickly, walking one and striking one out. Kimlin gave up a single in the eighth but otherwise had no trouble. He ran into a bit of trouble in the ninth, with Penn only down three. A leadoff single followed by a triple and a single led to a five-run Georgetown lead and put the game out of reach. His final stats: 2 1/3 innings, 2 earned runs, 3 hits, a walk and 2 strikeouts. "Kimlin pitched pretty well," Seddon said. "He was a bright spot. It was good to get him out on the mound. He's got a good arm. He did pretty well for his first time on the mound." With a runner on first and nobody out, Seddon decided to call in Martin for a half-inning of work. He quickly got a double-play ball and a flyout to end the final rally. With a number of regular position players resting on the bench, these youngsters didn't get the kind of defensive support the rotation is used to. Seddon said that would change when Alex Hayden and Armen Simonian each take the mound for a few innings today against West Chester. "I'm not screwing around," Seddon said. "We'll be closer to the weekend team."

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