Penn goes on another hitting spree

The Penn baseball team's offense chipped in with 11 hits, but the pitching staff also hit six batters. and Kent Malmros The Penn baseball team traveled to West Point with one idea in mind -- winning. They came back with the same idea in mind? for next time. The Quakers (12-18-1) left for New York yesterday hoping to gain some sort of momentum against the Cadets (13-25), with a crucial four-game series against Princeton this weekend. After a 16-7 loss to the Cadets, the Quakers are going to have to find the winning way from within over the next two days before traveling to Princeton. The Quakers frequently throw a variety of pitchers during mid-week games in order to rest their stronger arms for the weekend. The expected pitchers for the first few innings, Armen Simonian and Sean McDonald, didn't make the trip, leaving Penn coach Bob Seddon left with only inexperienced arms to send to the hill. A professor wouldn't let Simonian out of his class. "[Simonian's a senior]. This is his last midweek trip, and he had to go to his class or be in trouble in his course," Seddon said. "McDonald had strep throat." Seddon didn't bring a couple of other tired pitchers on the bus. What was left was many of the younger staff members. They recieved a harsh welcome on the field as each of Penn's first three pitchers gave up at least three runs. Nicholas Barnhorst got the start for Penn and gave up four runs in the first. Only one of those was earned as an error by third baseman James Mullen, who kept the Cadets at the plate to score the rest. "Barnhorst actually threw very well," senior pitcher Travis Arbogast said. "He had a little bit of a rough going in the first, but really settled down in the second and third. Hopefully he can build on that." The Quakers' troubles came early and often in the bottom half of the fourth as new pitcher Todd Mahoney gave up five runs while recording only one out. Mahoney hit four of the six batters he faced, forcing in a run when he hit Army's Matt Sawyer with what was the final pitch of his outing. "He has had a horrendous year. He really hurt us," Seddon said. "He hasn't given us one good outing the entire year." Duff Blair entered the game for the Quakers with the bases loaded and promptly cleared them by giving up a two-run single. Blair then filled the bags again with a hit batter, and kept them full by walking home a run. Another run-scoring single was all it took for Seddon to yank Blair before he could record an out. All told, Army scored eight times in the fourth on just four hits. With the score 12-2, not even the potent Quakers offense could make a dent in the lead. The Quakers did score once in the sixth and twice in the seventh, but Army answered with three following the stretch on four singles and an error. The messy middle innings overshadowed what was another quick start for the Quakers. In true form, the Quakers came out of the dugouts and stepped into the batters' box looking to get the sticks of their shoulders. After Penn shortstop Glen Ambrosius singled in the second at bat of the game, just two batters later senior Mark Nagata blasted his eighth homer of the year. Just like that, the Quakers had a two-run lead. "You have to capitalize on the positives," catcher Ralph Vasami said. "If we keep hitting the way we are, we have a shot to win four games this weekend." Seddon said he will limit his staff to seven pitchers for this weekend's crucial four-game series against Princeton. With a reduced pitching staff and continued solid hitting, the Quakers are holding out hope that this game is not a premonition of this weekend's action. "You always try to get momentum, especially our team which has been so streaky this whole year, but I'm not going to say because we lost this game our season is over," senior center fielder Drew Corradini said.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.