Seven-run comeback highlights Baseball's win

Bob Seddon is having fun. When talking about his Penn baseball team, the Quakers' manager sounds as if has just realized how good his team is. "They've won 24 games," said Seddon, after Penn earned the latest of those victories yesterday afternoon at Villanova. "This team is a helluva team." Yesterday's win over the Wildcats certainly served to uphold that opinion. The Quakers (24-12) made an improbable comeback, rallying from a seven-run deficit -- eventually pounding Villanova 17-10. "It certainly isn't a surprise," Seddon said. "This is a good team. We have better athletes than a lot of teams, and it helps. And this team has a lot of heart. We didn't pack it in in a midweek game, down seven." Penn wasn't just down seven -- the Quakers were down seven after just one inning. Penn went down 1-2-3 in the top of the first, and the Wildcats took advantage of some erratic pitching to plate seven runs. "You're beginning to think," Seddon said, "down seven, 'What's the final score of this going to be?' " Quakers sophomore starter Ed Kimlin walked the first five batters he faced and was then pulled for fellow sophomore Todd Mahoney, who walked three more batters before finally getting out of the inning. "It might have been a combination of things," said catcher Dave Corleto of Kimlin's rocky start. "Maybe he was a little nervous, because it was his first start of the year. There was a lot of wind. He was just having problems getting the ball down in zone. I think also the umpire missed a couple of calls early, and that didn't help." Despite the inauspicious beginning, Penn never panicked or conceded the game. "Everyone came into the dugout and said, 'All right, let's just chip away at it,' " Corleto said. "And we scored a couple runs in the next inning, and the next thing you know we were back in it." The Quakers scored two runs in the second when sophomore Armen Simonian (4-for-6, five RBIs) knocked a single and brought in designated hitter Mark Nagata and shortstop Mark DeRosa. And Penn exploded for five more in the fourth inning, keyed by second baseman Joe Carlon's three-run homer. "We were really swinging the bat well," said Corleto, who along with DeRosa went 5-for-6 at the plate. "We were loose and relaxed. We knew we were going to come back." Still, the Quakers trailed 8-7 after four. But the comeback continued, and Penn surged ahead with two runs in the top of the fifth. Again, Simonian knocked in both runs with a single. Villanova came back with a run in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game at 9-9, but it was simply postponing the inevitable. The Quakers put up three more runs in the sixth to surge ahead, and the Wildcats were behind for good. "There was a very relaxed atmosphere, like it should be for a midweek game," Seddon said. "The guys wanted to play. They gave a great effort. Who would have imagined us winning after being down seven?" The Penn bats were largely responsible for the comeback win, but it couldn't have happened if the pitching hadn't settled down. After some shakiness in the first and giving up two earned runs, Mahoney pitched a solid game, going the distance and allowing only three more runs in the final eight innings. "He came in and had a little trouble in the first," Corleto said. "Then he settled down and started hitting spots, making the pitches he needed to get out of jams. And when he got tired in the late innings, he sucked it up and gave it a good effort." "He struggled at times," said Seddon of Mahoney, "but it was a very gutty effort. He had it when we had to have it." The Quakers, who have now won 10 of 11 games, will need "it" for at least a few more games. They play at La Salle this afternoon, and then travel to Princeton for two doubleheaders this weekend, where two wins would give Penn another Gehrig division title. Then Seddon and the Quakers would really have some fun.