Penn sweeps four games from Big Red

With two wins nextWith two wins nextweekend, Quakers willWith two wins nextweekend, Quakers willclinch Gehrig Divsion title Following a weekend four-game sweep of Cornell, the Penn baseball team is looking only at the bottom line. Don't think about Quakers junior lefthander Mike Greenwood's shaky performance in the late game Saturday, during which Cornell loaded the bases three times in three different innings. Greenwood managed to get out of the touchy situations with only two runs scored, and each time, the Quakers came back. Forget about Penn senior co-captain Mike Shannon's cut pitching finger, which forced him to leave yesterday's first game after only three innings. The injury should heal by next weekend. Ignore the 10 errors committed by Penn, five of which were committed by third baseman Derek Nemeth. Bower Field was in hideous shape. Remember only that the Quakers won four games over Cornell, 3-2 and 5-4 Saturday and 4-3 and 4-2 yesterday. The victories allowed Penn to build a two-game cushion over Princeton in the Gehrig Division race. "They gutted it out through tough games," Penn coach Bob Seddon said. "We did what we had to do." What the Quakers had to do was pitch, and they did that extremely well. Penn sophomore righty Armen Simonian (5-1, 2.15 ERA) was the first to step up to the challenge on Saturday, throwing a complete-game six-hitter. Penn came from behind to top the Big Red 3-2 in the first game on a sixth inning home run by Shannon. In Saturday's nightcap, the Quakers held off Cornell 5-4. Greenwood (3-1, 4.63) fought through six and two-thirds innings, giving up seven hits and four runs while striking out seven Cornell batters. The Quakers were in trouble early as the Big Red loaded the bases with no one out in the first inning. "I've always pitched with the bases loaded," Greenwood, a former reliever, said. "I'm kind of used to it. It doesn't really bother me that much anymore. There's one thing in your favor -- you touch any base and there's a force out." Two grounders to Nemeth and a fly ball to rightfielder Sean Turner followed, and the Quakers emerged unscathed. Cornell would load the bases again in the fourth, and Greenwood would not as lucky as before. With two outs, Big Red leftfielder Michael Macrie hit a bloop single between Shannon and second baseman Joe Carlon, and two runs crossed the plate. The Quakers knocked Cornell starting pitcher Jim Pronti out of the contest in the fourth inning, running through the batting order and tacking on four more runs. Shortstop Mark DeRosa had the biggest blow, a line drive to short-centerfield off Cornell reliever Jason Paul that drove in catcher Rick Burt and Shannon. Penn righthander Alex Hayden (3-2, 5.40) came in for Greenwood in the sixth inning with Big Red players on first and third. He shut Cornell down from then on. "As a team, we picked each other up," Quakers centerfielder Drew Corradini said. "We didn't have our two greatest outings of the year by any means, but we still were able to pull it out. That's a sign of a good team, when you can win games even when you're not playing your best." The Quakers exploited Cornell staff ace John Douglas in the first game Sunday. When Douglas entered the game in the final inning, Penn was down by one run. Penn designated hitter Mark Nagata forced Douglas to throw 12 pitches, fouling off six before striking out. Corradini then beat out the throw on a bouncer to second base. Carlon brought him home on a double to the centerfield wall. He stole third base three pitches later. Burt followed that with the game-winner, a single to center. Penn sophomore righthander Travis Arbogast (2-0, 0.49) got the win -- his first in the Ivy League -- after replacing the injured Shannon in the third inning. Following a ceremony in which Shannon was honored for being named an All-American last year, the Quakers took the field for their final contest with Cornell. Quakers junior righty A.B. Fischer (4-3, 3.76) did not have an easy outing, loading the bases in the opening inning. However, like Greenwood the day before, Fischer managed to escape without letting a Big Red batter cross the plate. However, he continued to struggle, giving up a two-run homer to Cornell second baseman Jake Frame in the second. He settled down later, shutting down the Big Red for the rest of the game. But the Quakers manufactured a pair of runs in the fourth inning. Following singles to the outfield by DeRosa and Nagata, Nemeth executed a perfect suicide squeeze, sending DeRosa home. Leftfielder Jeremy Milken added another run on a single to center, scoring Nagata. "We hit when it counted," Turner said. "I don't think there was that real need, that feeling that we had to score every inning. We felt we could pull it out when we needed to because we are the better team." As things currently stand in the Gehrig Division, the Quakers need to take only two of next weekend's four games with Princeton to clinch the division title. The Tigers would have to sweep all of their remaining Ivy League games, four each with Penn and Cornell to win the crown. "We have that desire, that hunger to win a championship," Penn assistant coach Bill Wagner said. "We're in the driver's seat." And that's the bottom line.

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