Tough twin bills await Basebakk, if the sun shines

The Red and Blue travel to face Dartmouth and harvard this weekend. Heading into this weekend, Penn baseball coach Bob Seddon isn't just thinking about Dartmouth and Harvard. He's thinking about Mother Nature as well. While, regardless of the weather, his Quakers (12-10, 3-1 Ivy League) will make the trip to New England this weekend to play two noon doubleheaders -- one tomorrow at Dartmouth (10-9, 3-1) and one at three-time defending champ Harvard (8-11, 3-1) -- their journey might be all for naught. According to National Weather Service reports, showers are expected in Hanover, N.H., tomorrow afternoon, while breezy rain is expected in Boston on Sunday. "Our chances of playing this weekend are not very good, as they look right now," Seddon said. "When you're a baseball coach, you watch [the Weather Channel] like a hawk." A lost weekend for Penn would have a two-fold effect -- not only would the Quakers lose some of the steam gained from their offensive explosion in their 33-13 win at La Salle on Wednesday, but Penn would also have to make the trip back up to New England at some later point in the season. "This is not a good thing," Seddon said. "We don't want to drive up there and get postponed the entire weekend and have to go back [to Dartmouth and Harvard] again. Financially, it's terrible for your budget. It's a very expensive trip?. I don't feel like driving on a wild goose chase." Assuming baseball is played this weekend, the Quakers will try and continue their Ivy success after sweeping a doubleheader with Yale and splitting one with Brown last weekend to open Ivy play. Penn will throw the same starting set at Harvard and Dartmouth that tied up the Elis and Bears. Sophomore Mike Mattern will start the first game tomorrow, and fellow sophomore Mark Lacerenza gets the ball in the nightcap. Sunday, Ben Krantz will face the Crimson to kick off the double-dip, and impressive freshman Ben Otero will take the mound for the second game. According to Seddon, freshman Andrew McCreery, who missed his start last weekend because of the flu, is still sick and will most likely only be used in relief. If Penn can turn in the kinds of pitching performances that it did last weekend, the Quakers will be in good shape. Out of all four starters, only Mattern gave up more than four runs while Otero went the distance on Sunday against the Bears for a complete-game victory. But, in addition to battling a veteran team in Dartmouth and the league champs in Harvard this weekend, the Quakers hurlers will also have to battle the cool and crisp New England air. "I don't think anyone will go nine [innings]," Seddon said. "You have to watch [the pitchers]. The weather up there is going to be cold." Tomorrow, Penn will face Dartmouth senior pitcher Conor Brooks for the first time ever in the opening game of the doubleheader. Brooks is the Big Green's No. 1 starter and one of the top pitchers in the Ivy League. The Quakers will most likely clash with freshman James Kelly in the second game. Dartmouth's offense has been hurt of late with the absence of senior first baseman Aaron Meyer, who hit .333 last year with 11 home runs and 38 RBIs. "[We'll] be lucky enough to have [Meyer] get back for us," Seddon joked. "Dartmouth hasn't hit the ball that well. He's a big force for their team." Penn will also have its hands full with the Crimson, who have won the Ivies the last three years and are still a dangerous force. Telling is the fact that Harvard's pitchers have held opponents to a .749 OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage), whereas the Quakers have allowed much weaker foes to rack up an .836 OPS. And while the Crimson are not distinguished offensively -- their team OPS is .679, as opposed to the Quakers' .890 -- they have played tough non-conference competition, including three games at UCLA and one at Miami, ranked 16th and 24th respectively in the Baseball America NCAA top-25 poll. All four games were losses, but the fact remains that Harvard has played competitively with some of the best the country has to offer. "We've got some tough games coming up here," Seddon said. "The guys are loosey-goosey, and hopefully they're having a good time. That's the most important thing."