The Quakers host Cornell in two doubleheaders. The grand opening will take place tomorrow. A famous alum, the newest installments to the Penn baseball Hall of Fame, the Phillies' organist, 500 free pennants and free food are just a few of the things that the Penn baseball team is promising fans for the official dedication of its new stadium at Murphy Field tomorrow afternoon. "We're going to be doing a lot of neat things," Penn coach Bob Seddon said of the weekend's festivities. "It's going to be fun." The dedication ceremony will occur during the intermission of the Quakers' (13-13, 4-4 Ivy League) Saturday doubleheader against Cornell (5-16, 4-4). The first game begins at noon. The teams will also meet for a second doubleheader beginning at noon Sunday on Murphy Field. Autograph seekers should definitely be on hand for Saturday's dedication, as Philadelphia Phillies star outfielder and Penn baseball Hall of Famer Doug Glanville will throw out the ceremonial first pitch to officially open the ballpark. Also planned for the dedication is the induction of the Penn baseball Hall of Fame's six newest members -- including Mike Shannon, the 1996 Ivy League player of the year and the Quakers' record-holder for hits in a season. Additionally, Seddon and Penn Athletic Director Steve Bilsky will say some words about the new park and the Quakers baseball program in between games. And during both games of the doubleheader, Phillies organist Paul Richardson will pump out ballpark favorites for the Murphy Field crowd. "This will be a good time for everybody to come out and see the stadium and see the team," said Penn Athletic Communications Assistant Stephen Haug, who helped plan much of the dedication's events. "It should be a good weekend." Of course, the weekend could be spoiled for Seddon if the Quakers get too caught up in the festivities and lose focus on their games against the Big Red. Cornell visits Murphy Field coming off a successful Ivy League weekend last weekend at Brown and Yale. Similar to Penn's home results against the Ancient Eight, the Big Red split with the Bears and swept the Elis in their doubleheaders. And despite Cornell's subpar overall record, the team's fortunes in Ivy League play make Seddon leery of the folks from Ithaca. "Cornell doesn't have a good record, however. I think you can throw that out when you talk about the Ivy League weekend games," Seddon said. "It's really apparent that all the teams in our division are very equal." The apparent equality of the two teams could be broken, though, by the red-hot bats the Quakers have been swinging lately. Over the past six games, Penn has racked up a whopping 62 runs on 82 hits -- including a 33-run night at La Salle last week. The Quakers' opponents, on the other hand, can only claim 39 runs on 62 hits over the same span of games. These batting statistics give Seddon confidence in his team's chances this weekend against the Big Red's experienced pitching staff. "Whoever pitches for [Cornell], they'd better be good because our kids will hit the ball," he said. "A good pitcher will slow us down, but for the most part we hit the ball." Marked improvements in other aspects of his team's game has Seddon even more sure of Penn's chances against Cornell in the four games the teams will play. "We're playing very well right now, even in [the] games we've lost," Seddon said. "We're running the bases well; we're playing good defense; [and] we've been getting better pitching in the last three weeks. "The games [this weekend] are going to be very competitive, and they can go either way. But I'm pretty certain that our kids will rise for them." Slated to start on the mound for the Quakers in tomorrow's first game is sophomore Mike Mattern, who will try for his second win of the season after nabbing his first last weekend against Dartmouth.
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