COLUMN: Pitching remains key for baseball

Kent Malmros, Commentary The Penn baseball team has seemingly disproved that notion so far this year. Unfortunately, so has its opposition. This season's 7-13-1 (4-4 Ivy League) record is far from a reflection of the Quakers' ability to score runs. Rather, it is an illustration of the pitching problems that have plagued Penn thus far this year. Open to page 8 and look at the Ivy Box. Check out the offensive categories, and look for the many familiar names -- Penn's Drew Corradini, Joe Carlon, Glen Ambrosius and Mark Nagata. Homeruns, runs batted in, runs scored -- every major offensive category is led by the heart of the Penn batting order. 7-13-1? Penn has the second best team batting average at .315 in the Ivy League, scores 8.85 runs per game and has hit 26 homeruns (the next best Ivy League team is Yale with 15). So the only explanation lies in the pitching. Sure they're making Ted Williams look like he doesn't have a clue --which is a sacrilegious comment in the baseball world -- but no more so than their opponents, who have tarred and feathered Penn's pitchers. Penn coach Bob Seddon's answer is a simple one -- the pitchers just are not good enough. That about sums it up. The pitching is good enough to win 50 percent of the games so far even with almost 9 runs a game of offensive support, which is not good enough to win the Ivy League title. Also on page 8 are the team and individual pitching statistics. The Quakers' team earned run average hovers at a lofty 8.16. More notable is the number of walks surrendered by the arms of the Red and Blue. In 161 innings pitched, Penn's hurlers have walked 124 batters. A general rule of baseball goes something like this -- when you walk hitters, they score. Penn senior Armen Simonian's 5.23 ERA is the best among Quaker regulars. Six Ivy League teams and 10 additional pitchers have better ERAs. Fellow senior and Quakers' closer Travis Arbogast has the second best team mark with a 5.64 ERA. If the two elder statesman took the mound everyday, seven innings a game, the Quakers would be fine, scoring nearly nine runs a game. But the 8.16 team mark makes for too many close, high-scoring games. Tuesday's contest with La Salle exemplified the Quakers struggles thus far. Penn came out and opened the game with a blast by second baseman Joe Carlon -- the Ivy League homerun leader with six. Designated hitter Mark Nagata followed suit with his own homerun to open up a two-run lead. Two runs on two hits is usually a very comfortable way to begin a game. But the ensuing seven runs in two innings by the Explorers set the tone for the rest of the game. No pitchers could get out the opposing batters on either team. In the end, Penn lost a one run game, by a score of 18-17. Maybe it's the inexperience of which Penn assistant coach Bill Wagner speaks. Maybe it's the inability to execute a season long goal to cut down on walks and go after hitters more aggressively that Simonian and the rest of the staff aim for. Regardless, the Quakers have the most potent offense in the Ivies right now, and have managed only a 4-4 record against their brainy foes. What's worse is that the four losses were all winnable, and the pitching cost them the game each time. Wagner points to the youth as a determining factor for the team's pitching problems. Outside of Simonian and Arbogast, the Quakers are relying on a cast of several others to fill the holes. The play of freshmen Ron Rolph and Matt Hepler has been encouraging. Sophomores Anthony Napolitano, Sean McDonald and John Dolan have thrown well enough to earn innings of the hill. At the same time, the relative disappearance of Ray Broome's fast ball -- from the mid 80s to about 76 -- has left Penn without the lefty power pitcher they were counting on. Penn did everything right against Columbia the first weekend, sweeping four games from the Lions. But the second Ivy weekend exemplified the kinds of problems the Quakers will face all season if the title is even a consideration. Against Brown, the offensive attack didn't miss a beat, as the Quakers scored 12 and seven runs. Likewise, the games against the Elis saw Penn plate five and eight runs. Eight runs a game in an Ivy weekend should win. But the key number was four -- four losses. Hitting draws crowds, but pitching wins games. Simonian feels the team is a couple good outings away from regaining its confidence and putting together a win streak. Wagner feels that if the hitting continues, the pitching will improve. The offense hopes the same is true, or position players will be chasing down more balls than they are swinging at. Regardless of the formula, the Quakers need to find a way to get the opposition out starting this weekend at Harvard and Dartmouth, so they can make Williams' theory look dumb from the plate and not from the pitchers mound.