It's all about the bookends, baby. The seniors on the Penn baseball team won the Ivy League Championship their freshman year. Now they want it back. After close calls in the past two years saw the Quakers squander golden opportunities to gain the Ivy crown, Penn feels ready to reassert itself and regain its form of three years ago. In 1996, Penn lost its last four regular season games to Princeton, and in 1997, it lost a playoff to the Gehrig Division champion Tigers. "We have a really good nucleus on the team, but we need the guys who won't be counted on as much to step up in big games," senior co-captain second baseman Joe Carlon said. "Obviously guys like Mark Nagata, Armen Simonian, myself and Russ Farscht need to have big years. "[But] getting more of everybody into it, not just counting on four or five guys [is key]." Carlon, who was captain alone last season, and Simonian, who is currently co-captain with Carlon, anchor Penn's senior-laden group, which feels it has its best unit since 1995. "In my four years, aside from my freshman year, this is the most confident we've been going into a season," Carlon said. "That's solely a result of the fact that we have seven returning starters that had good years last year." The Quakers have the most returning seniors -- nine -- of any team in the Ivy League. This experience has solidified Penn's fielding and has given the team a solid base around which to build. "Definitely our strengths are our defense and our hitting, simply because we have so many returning players at those positions," Carlon said. Last year the Quakers hit .318 as a team, led by Blair Batting Champion Mark Nagata, who hit .422 and All-Ivy pitcher/hitter Simonian, who batted .365. But as Penn coach Bob Seddon said, "Good pitching stops good hitting." And pitching is one area in which the Quakers could stand to see some improvement. Last year Penn pitchers posted a 4.25 ERA en route to a 10-10 finish against Ivy foes, who batted a lofty .317 against them. "Our weakness is in our pitching staff. We only have one proven starter -- Armen," said Carlon, referring to Penn's ace, Simonian, who posted a 5-3 record and a 2.73 ERA last season. "The other three spots in our starting rotation are wide open right now." Hoping to fill those spots for Penn are seniors Todd Mahoney (1-2 with an 8.22 ERA), Ed Kimlin (3.47 ERA against Ivy opponents), 1997 closer Travis Arbogast and sophomore Sean McDonald, who sat out last season. "The pitching staff is definitely going to have to step up," Simonian said. "[But] I think they are all at the peak of their ability, especially when it comes to the senior staff members." Most of all, the leadership of the senior class will help the underclassmen learn what it takes to win titles. "Whether it's sitting on the bench or being in the games, just the fact that you've seen three full seasons really gives you a good idea of what to expect," Simonian said. "And as a group, the seniors have really been the leaders on this team. "It's been a plus to have this many seniors on the team, because each guy takes a few players under his wing." Early in the season, the seniors will get the lion's share of the playing time. But as the year progresses, a talented core of freshmen and sophomores will need to fill in the gaps if Penn wants to rule the Ivy League once again. "There are some freshmen who are very good players," Seddon said. "Ron Rolph is a very good-looking freshman. And Randy Ferrell, who is quick and has a great arm, is backing up [in the outfield]." Penn stressed the need to be more aggressive at the plate. There is a need, however, for a balance between aggressiveness at the plate and swinging at everything a la Sammy Sosa. "We have to cut down on strikeouts and not put ourselves in a defensive position where we're hitting with two strikes on us," Seddon said. In order to strike that balance, the Quakers will not swing for the fences, instead of concentrating on making contact. "We're really encouraging our guys to be singles and doubles hitters," Carlon said. "That helps guys out in not striking out as much." Being more aggressive hitters will help, but pitching will be the key in Penn's Ivy competition, especially against main rival Princeton. "We might be stronger offensively, but [Princeton] might have the edge in the pitching department," said Mark Nagata. Princeton, who returns almost as many starters as Penn, has "one of the best outfields in the league," according to Seddon. "They are the team to beat for us in the division." But the Quakers remain optimistic that they can win the Ivy crown. "Winning the Ivy League title is our number one goal this year," Carlon said. "I think we feel that we're more than capable of winning it. The last two years we've really dropped the ball. "We put ourselves in great positions and then at the end of the year we really shit the bed." This weekend the Quakers travel to Florida to start a spring break road trip. Penn plays Eckerd (10-5) tomorrow and Saturday. "We want to use the southern trip to compare," Seddon said. "Hopefully [we'll] find out where the holes are, who's playing where." The trip marks the start of the last run for this group of seniors, who hope to put the bookend on their Ivy careers with a title this Spring.
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