Two DeRosa blasts lead Penn to blowout win

Quakers' explode forQuakers' explode for18 run to mid-weekQuakers' explode for18 run to mid-weekvictory over La Salle After struggling in two consecutive mid-week games early in the season, much was made about the Penn baseball team's difficulties in out-of-conference games. But lately, the Quakers have returned to form for mid-week contests by following an increasingly familiar pattern -- blow the other team out. "We had one bad game against West Chester, and everyone jumped on the bandwagon," Penn coach Bob Seddon said. "But we've done real well in mid-week games all year except for the two against Delaware and West Chester." Penn continued its two-day offensive explosion with an 18-1 rout of La Salle to boost the Quakers' record to 25-12. Coming one day after defeating Villanova 17-10, the win is a sign that the once dormant Quakers bats -- which produced only 16 runs in four games against Cornell -- are coming alive. "We had two weekends, one against Cornell and one against Columbia, where we struggled with hitting," Seddon said. "But we were able to win those games because of solid pitching and timely hitting." The Quakers did not have to rely only on timely batting as they hit early and often against La Salle starter John Ranieri. The Red and Blue got off to a quick start in the game as second baseman Joe Carlon led off the game with a double. After catcher Rick Burt drove Carlon home on a groundout, first baseman Mike Shannon connected for his team-leading sixth home run to put Penn up 2-0. The Quakers onslaught continued into the next inning. Derek Nemeth and Jeremy Milken started the inning off with singles. After a sacrifice fly by Drew Corradini, Burt picked up the second of his four RBIs of the game with an RBI single. Shannon followed with a double to up the Quaker margin to 5-0. Penn batted around once again in the third inning to break the game wide open. After shortstop Mark DeRosa was hit by a pitch, Mark Nagata blasted a ball out of the yard for his fourth homer of the year. "He's a very dangerous hitter," Seddon said. "He's got a lot of power, and he's only a sophomore who's going to get better." Following a Milken single sandwiched between two outs, Penn batted around to drive Ranieri out of the game. Carlon singled Milken to second, and consecutive doubles by Burt, Mike Shannon and Sean Turner brought home four more runs. DeRosa then capped off the inning by launching the first of his two homers in the game across the street to put Penn up 13-0. Although the La Salle pitchers struggled, the 18-1 final score is more of an indication of Penn's offensive firepower. "When you watched their pitchers warm up, you didn't think they were dominating," said Shannon, who had six hits on the day. "But you also didn't think that they would get bombed like they did." In contrast, three Penn pitchers kept the Explorers lineup in check throughout the game. Penn allowed only six hits and one unearned run in the final inning. Alex Hayden pitched the first three innings for Penn before being removed so he will be available this weekend. He allowed only one hit, while striking out three. Next up was freshman Ray Broome, who struck out six in three shutout innings. Sean MacDonald finished up for his first save of the season. Seddon, however, does not believe that Penn's success this week will carry over to their weekend games against Princeton. While he hopes the team continues their hot streak, he doesn't see any continuity between mid-week and weekend games. "I don't think mid-week games affect the weekend," Seddon said. "I said that after the West Chester game, and I'd be a hypocrite if I said they did now after we had a few good games." But Shannon does think that the previous two games will help Penn as it tries to clinch the Gehrig Division title with two wins this weekend. "Usually, no matter what happens during the week, we put it behind us when we play the Ivy games," Shannon said. "But when we put up so many runs against a 'Nova team that is almost nationally ranked, it has to boost our confidence." In either case, Penn is a team on a roll, having won 11 of its last 12 games. Lately, it hasn't mattered what day the game is played on. A win is usually the result.