Baseball explodes for 33 runs as Gregorio hits for the cycle

The Quakers scored in all but one inning at LaSalle and set a team record for runs scored. Usually in baseball, a number as big as 33 is seen only on the back of a player's uniform, not on the scoreboard. But at La Salle's De Vincent Field yesterday evening, after over four hours of play between the Quakers and the Explorers, a 33 shined unexpectedly in the runs column for the Penn baseball team. The amazing tally for the Quakers (12-10) in their 33-13 walloping of the Explorers (3-22) shattered their old team record of 29 runs in a game, wowing even veteran coach Bob Seddon in the dugout. "Unbelievable. I've never seen anything like this," said Seddon, who is in his 30th year of coaching the Red and Blue. "We just pounded the ball." Chief among the Penn pounders was senior Jeff Gregorio, who was moved from his usual catcher position into the designated hitter slot for the 3:30 p.m. start against La Salle. Gregorio responded to his new role by hitting for the cycle with two singles, a double, a triple and a grand slam homer in the top of the ninth inning that capped off the 33-run barrage for the Red and Blue. In all, the senior was responsible for 11 of Penn's 27 runs batted in and six of his team's season-high 27 hits in a night that he will not soon forget. "It was probably the best game I've ever played, hitting-wise," Gregorio said with a chuckle in his voice. "The ball was huge today. It was a really great day to hit." Two of Gregorio's fellow seniors also contributed greatly to the record-setting batting performance by the team. Shortstop Glen Ambrosius contributed five hits and five RBI in six at bats, and center fielder Kevin McCabe tallied four hits in eight at bats while driving home three runners from the leadoff position. In all, eight of the Quakers' nine starting batters recorded at least one hit, as did two of Penn's five substitutes who entered the game. "The whole team just played really well today," Gregorio said. "Midweek games we usually come out flat, [but] I hope this kind of attitude and this kind of intensity continues. Every guy seemed like they came to play today." With the wind blowing hard to the fences, the grass cut short and fast on the ballfield and facing a demoralized La Salle pitching staff that had been slammed for five straight losses coming in, yesterday definitely had the makings of a Penn hitter's dream. It started well enough for Ambrosius, who drove a runner home on a double, and for Gregorio, who popped in an early RBI single. But it was Chris May's second homer of the season on a two-run shot -- bringing the Quakers up 4-0 -- that served as a sign of things to come. The signs even looked good on the mound for the Red and Blue, where junior Matt Hepler forced his first two batters into ground outs and caught the next looking at a third strike to retire the side. After a promising start, however, the Quakers quickly lost ground in the second inning. Penn managed only one hit for no runs in the top of the second and took to the field after Ambrosius flied out to center field, leaving McCabe on second base. If the first inning was cake for Hepler, then the second must have been like brussels sprouts for the starter. Hepler gave up four hits to the first five batters he faced in the inning, and by the time he was relieved by junior Brian Burket, the score read 7-4 in favor of La Salle. Two more runs scored on the combination of a fielding error -- the second of the inning -- and a wild pitch before Burket could retire the side with the home team up, 9-4. "It was definitely a combination of everything," Gregorio said of the nine runs given up in the single inning. "Pitching has to be there all the time, but when you give them five outs in an inning [because of errors], it's causing the? pitchers [to] get frustrated. It's a trickle-down effect." Penn's batters slowly closed the five-run deficit while the Quakers' bullpen kept La Salle's bats at bay. After tying the score, 9-9, with four runs in the fourth inning, the Red and Blue re-took the lead in the top of the fifth when third baseman Oliver Hahl scored on a wild pitch. From there, Penn never looked back. The team scored two more unearned runs in the fifth, then unleashed 21 runs over a span of four innings to close out the game. Penn's relief pitchers were also a dominant force, allowing no runs from the third through the seventh innings when Dan Fitzgerald replaced eventual winner Greg Lee after two innings of work. Fitzgerald allowed only one hit in the seventh, but gave up four runs in an eighth inning that saw two more fielding errors by the Quakers. Paul Grumet pitched the ninth inning for Penn and preserved the 33-13 final score by allowing the Explorers no additional runs.

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