A win at home today against Drexel will give the Penn baseball team three in a row. Coming off a doubleheader sweep of Dartmouth last weekend that ended an eight-game losing streak, the Penn baseball team looks to continue its winning ways against Drexel today at 3 p.m. on Bower Field. Penn (9-15-1, 6-6 Ivy League) would like to come away with a decisive victory over the struggling Dragons (9-22-1), but more importantly they would like to tune up before an important weekend series with Ivy League rival Cornell. "Mid-week games are usually to get a lot of guys work that haven't been playing," said pitcher John Dolan, who leads Penn's staff with a 3.86 earned run average. "It's also to get [starting pitchers] practice during the week for the weekend [games]." Dolan, a sophomore, is expected to see some action today, along with a bevy of other young Quaker pitchers. Sophomore Anthony Napolitano will start, but Dolan, freshman Brian Burket and senior Todd Mahoney will all likely throw against Drexel. Napolitano, who brought his ERA down to 5.87 after early-season troubles, got a win against Dartmouth last weekend in the nightcap and has struck out 15 batters in 15 innings pitched. "Burket pitched well last weekend, so we're going to see him pitch again," Penn coach Bob Seddon said. "We want to see how he does because he might be in the picture for this weekend [against Cornell]." Seddon and pitching coach Bill Wagner will gauge the throwing performances to determine the lineups for the upcoming league contests. "They are trying to put in people who will be pitching on the weekend to see if anyone steps up and shows something because we need the pitching over the weekend," Dolan said. The young arms, however, will get a test from the Dragons. Although its lackluster record does not necessarily indicate it, Drexel has a potent offense. Led by Dennis Hekowski, who is batting .414 with 53 hits, Drexel boasts a team batting average just under .300. The Dragons do not have much pop -- they have just five home runs all year collectively -- but can get on base. "Drexel's had a rough year," Seddon said, "but they hit the ball." Jose Jimenez is hitting .346 with two home runs and 28 runs batted in for Drexel. Also posing a threat is Lou Marchotti, who is hitting .336 with two dingers of his own to go along with 25 RBI. In addition to incorporating many young pitchers, Seddon is also giving more inexperienced players time in the field today. Freshman Chris May will get his first start at first base. Regular first baseman Russ Farscht will split designated hitter duties with full-time DH Mark Nagata. Junior Shawn Spiezio makes his return to third base today. He relieves freshman James Mullen, whose late inning heroics in the first game of the Dartmouth doubleheader gave Penn a 5-4 win. Catcher Dave Corleto will get a rest today as well, as sophomore Ralph Vasami gets the nod from Seddon. "Corleto needs rest. We need him for four games this weekend," Seddon said. "Vasami is hopefully one of our catchers for next year, so he needs to play a little." Offensively, the Quakers expect more of the same from their very productive bats. Penn is hitting .309 as a team and is averaging almost eight and a half runs per game. The Quakers can capitalize on struggling Drexel, whose pitching staff has posted a 5.91 ERA. "Drew Corradini, Nagata, Joe Carlon and Glen Ambrosius have been very consistent all year," Seddon said about the meat of his order. "After [that part] of the order, they haven't been quite as consistent. They've had moments." The Quakers hope to have a lot of those moments today, but Seddon thinks "the pitching will set the tone." "We want it to be the stepping stone for the weekend," he said.
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