'Lethargi' Baseball falls to Lafayette

A five-run inning for the visiting Leopards deflated the Quakers, who dropped their third straight game. Coming off an emotional, last-inning loss to Villanova the night before, the Penn baseball team looked sluggish in an uninspired 10-2 loss to Lafayette yesterday at Bower Field. On the mound for the Quakers (5-13) was freshman Dan Fitzgerald, making his first-ever collegiate start. Fitzgerald had pitched 5 2/3 innings previously while posting a staff-leading 3.18 earned run average. And things went well for the freshman -- for the first three innings, anyway. Fitzgerald took a one-hitter into the top of the fourth inning but ran into trouble with the heart of Lafayette's (2-10) lineup. The rally started with an infield single by Vince D'Angelis, who reached base when the umpire said Penn first baseman Russ Farscht bobbled third baseman Jim Mullen's throw. After a Bob Osipower single drove in D'Angelis, pitcher Mike Palos smacked a triple to left center, driving in a run and putting Lafayette ahead, 2-1, a lead the Leopards would never relinquish. Two singles and one run later, Fitzgerald was relieved by another freshman, Jordan Reed, with Lafayette up 4-1 and two runners on. Reed walked in a run but finally got out of the jam when Leopards first baseman Tye Gonser flied out to center. The baserunner at third tagged up and scored, but Eric Armstrong was gunned down trying to advance to third by Penn catcher Bill Collins. As it turned out, the five-run fourth was all the Leopards would need -- Penn's offense only managed to produce one more run all game. "We went down soft," Penn coach Bob Seddon said. "We didn't have any spunk." Reed settled down to pitch four scoreless innings of relief but it would not matter as strong outings by Lafayette pitchers Palos and Chris Boyette kept the Quakers' bats at bay. "We've been playing some decent defense but the pitching has been coming through since last week," Lafayette coach Lloyd Brewer said. Penn picked up a late run when Jeremy McDowell, who came in to replace Randy Ferrell at centerfield, singled in Farscht in the bottom of the sixth, making the score 6-2. "We're getting eight, 10 hits in a game, but they are all sporadic," Seddon said. "We're not getting two or three hits an inning and you have to do that to win." Lafayette added four more runs in the top half of the ninth off freshman pitcher Will Clark. After the game, Seddon lamented his team's lack of energy, calling its play "lethargic." He said the late night after the Villanova thriller may have taken its toll on his young team. "Sure [the Villanova game affected the players], but that's not an excuse," Seddon said. "I went to bed, too, but I'm not lethargic." Seddon said he was upset that his players were not more motivated for the game and that it showed in their play. "It's boring to watch," Seddon said. "Mid-week games are tough, there's not a lot of excitement." As if the Quakers' day wasn't bad enough, more unfortunate news came after the game had already ended. Adding injury to insult, Penn's No. 1 pitcher thus far, freshman Mike Mattern, injured his ankle while clearing Bower Field after yesterday's game. The extent of the injury was unclear, but it may have been a sprain, which would most likely force Mattern to sit out the weekend's games -- a doubleheader against Harvard tomorrow and another twinbill against Dartmouth on Saturday. To date, Mattern has been the best pitcher in the Quakers rotation, posting a 4-0 record and a 3.24 ERA. Opponents are hitting a meager .235 against the righty. If Mattern is out this weekend, he will be sorely missed by the Penn pitching staff, which has worked six games in a five-day stretch. His presence would be a big boost to the Quakers going into games with league powerhouse Harvard and Dartmouth, which can hit the ball, Seddon said. Mattern's injury comes at a most inopportune time for the slumping Quakers, losers of three games in a row.

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