Baseball has date with Cats at the Vet

The Quakers will try to put it all together tonight against Villanova in the Liberty Bell Classic at Beterans Stadium. The day after the end of the college basketball season, two of the most storied members of the Big 5 square off. In baseball, that is. Tonight, it will be captain Glen Ambrosius -- and not the more readily recognizable Michael Jordan -- leading a youthful Penn squad when the Quakers (5-11) take on Villanova (8-11-1) at 7 p.m. in the Liberty Bell Classic on the artificial turf at Veterans Stadium. Penn comes into the game still in development. The Quakers split four games with Columbia last weekend, losing two close ones that could have easily gone either way. Nonetheless, the team is aware of what could happen if it can put it all together. "Just thinking about the way we played [this weekend], it's encouraging in some ways -- our pitching was really good, which is always a good sign," Ambrosius said. "I think if we can shore up our defense a little bit, and our pitching stays consistent, we can win a lot of games." Penn entered last year's matchup with Villanova as the model of consistency, coming in off a four-game sweep of the Lions. But then the Quakers ran into the wall that was the Wildcats. "Last year [Villanova] hit us around a little bit, and before you knew it we were in a big hole," said Ambrosius, a senior shortstop. "We came back a little bit and scored some runs, but by that time it was too late." A 12-run barrage in the top of the first inning put the '98 Quakers at a deficit from which they could not recover. The 15-6 loss sent Penn reeling, beginning an eight-game Quakers losing streak. "Villanova is a strong team and a tough draw," said Penn coach Bob Seddon, who is in his 29th year at the helm of the Quakers. "They annihilated us last year." The challenge for Penn is to not let this happen again. The Quakers need to show up in their entirety if they are going to beat 'Nova and get momentum for future Ivy games. At times in '99, the offense -- which is averaging 10 hits a contest -- has led the way. Jeff Gregorio, Chris May, Kevin McCabe, Anthony Napolitano and Ambrosius all had multiple-hit games in last weekend's wins. But more recently, dominating starting pitching has led the Penn charge -- the squad's ERA has dropped by over two runs a game in the last two weeks. Unfortunately, the team has generally been unable to put good pitching and good hitting together with solid defense into one nicely-wrapped package. "Our Achilles heel so far is our infield defense," Seddon said. "It's a focus thing [and] as a group we have to shore up." The Quakers have been focused for the majority of the team's seven games back on the East Coast and just a handful of miscues stood between Penn and wins in six of its last seven, instead of only four. "We just need to get back out there and play," Quakers third baseman Jim Mullen said. The sophomore added that Penn's defensive lapses were "nothing we can't correct." Against Villanova, the Quakers will get the chance to both "get back out there" and to "correct" their mistakes. The Wildcats, who lost their first seven, have played strong of late -- including a Sunday sweep of St. John's and a win over a St. Joseph's team that beat Penn 6-2. Strangely, the Wildcats face Wagner at home at 3:30 p.m. this afternoon before making the short journey to the Vet for the evening's main event. Along with centerfielder Mike Perate, sophomore All-Big East selection Matt Longo heads up a 'Nova contingent that Ambrosius regards as "always a solid hitting club." "Our infield will be strong with Matt Longo [at] second base," Wildcats coach George Bennett told Villanova sports information. "Matt hit .393 [last season] and can probably hit even better this year." Add to this the fact that the Quakers will be pitching by committee and things could get interesting. "No one will pitch very much in this game," Seddon said. The coach named junior John Dolan, sophomore Brian Burket -- who gave up one run in an inning of relief against the Wildcats a year ago -- and freshman Dan Fitzgerald as likely hurlers. But if the Quakers can hit the way they have demonstrated, this game may be a reversal of the past. And while the Quakers recorded 10 extra-base hits in the Columbia double-headers, that number may be significantly increased due to the faster artificial turf at the Vet. This leaves the proverbial door open for Quakers sluggers such as Ambrosius, Gregorio, rightfielder Ron Rolph and first baseman Russ Farscht -- among others -- to make a statement in a big way. If the Quakers can string together nine innings of good hitting and contain the Wildcats on the other side of the ball, another Big 5 victory may be headed back to this side of the city -- in baseball, that is.

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