Baseball sets loss record

With an 11-6 defeat at Drexel, the Quakers set a season mark for futility. The Penn baseball team has earned itself a dubious spot in the annals of Quakers sports history. An 11-6 loss to crosstown rival Drexel yesterday afternoon brought Penn's season total to 23 -- a new school record for losses in a season. And there are still nine games to go. Once again, sporadic hitting and defensive lapses did in the Quakers as Drexel (11-17) rode a five-RBI performance from designated hitter Matt Neiber. The Quakers (6-23), however, had their fair share of opportunities in the early innings. Drexel starter Mark Horgan got into a jam in the top half of the first inning, walking leadoff man Kevin McCabe, giving up a double to Jim Mullen and walking Glen Ambrosius to load the bases. Horgan then struck out Quakers catcher Jeff Gregorio -- who came into the game leading Penn regulars with a .343 average and five home runs. McCabe came around to score on a passed ball and then Russ Farscht drew a walk, but Ron Rolph ended any chance of a rally by hitting into an inning-ending double play. The Dragons wasted no time in getting the run back off Penn starter Mark Lacerenza, who took the loss to move to 0-5 on the year. After Mike Francis led off the inning with a bloop single to center, he advanced to scoring position on an Ambrosius error. Neiber singled Francis home for the first of his five runs batted in on the day. The Quakers jumped out in front again, 3-1, on the strength of a two-run double in the top of the third by Farscht off new Drexel pitcher Eric Metzger. But the Dragons struck back, scoring three in the bottom half to take a 4-3 lead. Two Lacerenza walks set the table for a Neiber two-run triple -- which drove Lacerenza from the game. Usually solid freshman Mike Mattern relieved Lacerenza but the pitcher who has earned five of Penn's six victories did not turn in the type of game the Quakers have come to expect of him. "[It] was just one of those days," said Mattern, who pitched 2 2/3 innings of relief and gave up four runs on five hits. "I couldn't spot my fastball. I was having trouble getting my breaking ball over." Mattern gave up an RBI groundout to Lou Marchetti and got out of the third when Jose Jimenez was caught stealing home on a failed double steal attempt. After a hitless Penn fourth, Mattern ran into trouble in the bottom half of the inning. To start the Drexel fourth, Bruce Boehm laid down a bunt, which Mattern threw wide of first baseman Farscht. After a walk to Jeff Tornabene, Mattern misplayed another bunt attempt, allowing a run to score and putting runners at the corners with nobody out. Drexel coach Don Maines called a double steal, and it appeared that it worked as Tornabene slid into home before catcher Brian Fitzgerald's tag. But the home plate umpire called the 5'7'' second baseman out, claiming the diminutive Dragon never reached home plate on his slide. A two-run single after the botched steal put the Dragons up 6-3, but the Quakers were not done yet. With Gregg Mellott in to pitch for the Dragons in the top of the fifth, the Quakers tied the game up at six apiece. Mullen and Ambrosius led off the inning with singles. After a Gregorio strikeout, Farscht batted into a fielder's choice but he and Ambrosius advanced to second and third on a throwing error. Rolph smacked a two-run single up the middle, bringing in Ambrosius and Farscht. Anthony Napolitano then singled to center and centerfielder Renaldo Smith bobbled the ball, allowing Rolph to come all the way around from first to tie the game. Mellott then hit both Fitzgerald and Matt Homme, loading the bases, but once again the Quakers could not capitalize -- McCabe ended the inning with a strikeout. "The first couple innings we had so many runners on base," Ambrosius said. "We can't keep [failing to convert] and expect to win." Mattern gave up two more runs in the bottom of the fifth, giving the Dragons an 8-6 lead, and then the Penn bats fell silent -- not getting another base hit all game. Drexel added three more runs to its total off Penn freshman Dan Fitzgerald, who came in to pitch the sixth and the seventh. Sophomore Brian Burket came in to pitch the eighth inning for the Quakers, giving up a walk and a single before retiring the side. "We fell apart defensively again," McCabe said. "Mental errors, physical errors --Eit's become a pattern." A pattern that has etched the 1999 Penn baseball team into the record books.