Baseball hopes that the heavens can wait

Coach Bob Seddon hopes rain holds off today so Penn can get some mid-week action in before challenging Princeton. This is getting ridiculous. To those of you saying that to yourselves after waking up morning after morning this week and walking out the door only to find the world wet and dreary, just imagine how the Penn baseball team (17-14, 7-5 Ivy League) feels. April showers may bring May flowers, but they also rain out baseball games. With yesterday's game against Wagner canceled due to rain, and with the National Weather Service forecasting showers for last night and scattered showers for today, this afternoon's 3:30 game with Drexel might be postponed, leaving the Quakers with no mid-week games. And going up to Princeton on Friday afternoon to battle the Tigers for the Lou Gehrig Division lead without a non-conference, mid-week tune-up under its belt is something that Penn does not desire. Yet, it might be unavoidable. "I hope we play," Penn coach Bob Seddon said. "[Murphy] Field is really very, very wet. We can't get any rain, or else we won't make it. The field took a lot of rain all weekend and took a beating, and it's going to need a lot of work to get it in playing condition [today]." However, Seddon isn't overly concerned about the consequences another rainout would have on the games with the Tigers this weekend. "It won't affect anything, other than the fact that we just won't have a mid-week game," he said. "Whatever happens [today] has no bearing whatsoever on the weekend." Should the Quakers make their appointed rounds this afternoon against the Dragons, Penn, in preparation for the two doubleheaders with Princeton Friday and Saturday, will insert several players who have seen little use in games this year. "We'd like to play, because we'd like to use some pitchers that haven't pitched in a while and that need some work," Seddon said. To this end, Penn hurler Matt Hepler will start the game on the mound tomorrow for Penn. Hepler has appeared in five games this season, and has started three of them. The junior has given up 20 earned runs in 12 1/3 innings pitched. "We'll split the game up [between pitchers]," Seddon said. "We'll let [Hepler] go for a while and see how he does. [Dan] Fitzgerald will pitch, [Nick] Barnhorst is in the picture to pitch, and if need be we may use one or two others for one inning max because we've got [the Princeton] game two days later." Furthermore, sophomore catcher Brian Fitzgerald, who has missed time with a back injury, will don the tools of ignorance today for only the ninth time this year. He will spell Jeff Gregorio, who is leading the team in home runs and RBI. The Drexel team that visits Murphy Field today was rained out yesterday in its matchup with Temple. The Dragons are 11-23 and 3-9 in the America East conference, but on March 25 they defeated Lafayette at home twice by the combined score of 23-13. The Quakers lost at Lafayette on March 29, 10-9. "There's nothing I could say that's a rivalry thing or anything like that," Seddon said. "It's a neighboring school. We'd like to win the game, that's for sure. I wouldn't even use the word momentum, because I don't think that will be a factor win, lose or draw, because we're so close to the [Princeton] game." In an interesting sidenote, the game today, an inter-University City matchup, will be televised locally on CN8. Seddon is medium cool about the attention that the cool medium will lavish on his Quakers. "It won't affect anything with us," he said.