Penn erupts in win over St. Joseph's

The Penn baseball team had been using a combination of strong starting pitching, solid defense and timely hitting to get their season off to an impressive start. But the Quakers offense had been silent for most of the season, especially last weekend, even though Penn still managed to win three of four games against Siena and Coppin State. That all changed Tuesday as Penn exploded for 21 hits in an 18-4 rout of cross-town rival St. Joseph's at Bower Field. "It has to help you as you go into upcoming games," Penn coach Bob Seddon said. "We were able to bunch hits together, something we hadn't been doing so far this season." For the second time this season, the Quakers (8-7) defeated the slumping Hawks, a team that has given Penn trouble in the past. Despite a solid spring break trip to Florida, the Hawks have had a tough time putting wins together since returning. "It's always important to play well mid-week, and we've won both of our mid-week games, both against St. Joe's," Seddon said. "They don't have good mid-week pitching." The same is not true of the Quakers, who received yet another stellar pitching performance, this one from freshman Sean McDonald. After pitching no-hit ball through the first three innings, McDonald (2-0) eventually tired and gave up two earned runs in the sixth. "Sean has pitched well from the beginning," Seddon said. "He was able to mix all of his pitches -- split-fingered, change, fastball -- early in the game." Seddon said that the mid-week pitching is much better than it has been in recent years. "We definitely have more depth this year despite losing three pitchers from last year," the Quakers skipper said. But it was the offense, not the pitching, that was the big story in the game. Early on, there was little indication that the final score would be so lopsided. The Quakers broke through for one run in the third and two in the fourth, before a Sean Turner home run upped the margin to 4-0 after five innings. Starting in the sixth, the Quakers broke through with their best offensive display of the season. Penn put up six runs in that inning, followed by four runs each in the seventh and eighth innings. "We got great performances from everyone," Seddon said. "We hit the balls hard, and the balls were finding holes." Sophomore Armen Simonian, who had been struggling so far this season with a .147 average, showed signs of returning to last year's form -- when he hit .382 -- getting four hits and scoring three runs. "In batting practice, we worked on him keeping his head down," Seddon said. "Three of his hits were up the middle, just like he was hitting the ball in practice. Before the game he said to me, 'Don't worry Coach, I'll hit,' and when you have confidence in yourself, you will get the hits." The game was also important as Seddon tries to settle on a lineup for the season. He believes that Joe Carlon will fit in as the team's leadoff hitter, a position that needed to be filled. Despite struggling with his average early on, Carlon leads the team in runs and has exhibited a leadoff hitter's mentality. Carlon scored four runs Tuesday, to go along with a homer and three RBIs. Seddon also has decided to keep Turner in the fifth spot to provide a little power behind shortstop Mark DeRosa, the teams RBI leader with 15. Yet with all the emphasis on hitting and McDonald's pitching, Seddon still found time to praise his team's defense, which he feels has been excellent so far. "The field we were on was in very poor shape," Seddon said. "To get away without committing an error says a lot about our defense." Now the Quakers will see if there is a carry-over effect from the 18-4 rout as they head into four weekend games against a Columbia team that will challenge Penn for the Gehrig division title. However, Seddon in no way believes that Tuesday's performance was a fluke. "We have a very good and talented team that is capable of winning a lot of games like this," Seddon said.