Finally, a day outdoors for Baseball

Penn head baseball coach Bob Seddon and pitching coach Bill Wagner have been working together for 31 years. Since 1971, they have compiled a record of 562-482. So, their collective eyes have pretty much seen it all as far as Ivy League baseball goes. Still, there are days like yesterday, when Seddon's and Wagner's collective age drops to around nine. After a morning spent worrying about whether the Quakers would practice indoors or outdoors, the two coaches took their troops to Murphy Field, where the air was brisk but pleasant under a perfectly blue sky. "Get out into the sunshine!" Wagner implored as the players warmed up. "Best place to have a catch!" For his own part, the usually verbose Seddon didn't have too much to say about today's game with Lafayette. Instead, he was practically jumping out of his bifocals to involve himself with the activities of practice. One of the first parts of practice is throwing, which is certainly better done outside. "You should try throwing in the annex [Penn's indoor facility]," catcher Jeff Gregorio said. "That thing's just like a box, waiting for balls to hit you." There's none of that outdoors, and the 10-3 Quakers seemed to enjoy their preparation for today's game with the 4-10 Leopards. But it is the game itself that they truly want. The Red and Blue simply cannot get enough innings in. "Midweek games are great," Gregorio said. "It's just better to play than practice any day." Lafayette was supposed to play in a midweek game yesterday. The Leopards were scheduled to take on East Stroudsburg, but the game was postponed due to the cold weather in Easton, Pa. "We're young, a lot of freshmen on my club," Lafayette coach Joe Kinney said. "We need to improve our pitching and defense to be competitive, and hopefully we can get on that." Pitching and defense are just what the Quakers have had. Penn pitchers have posted a 4.21 ERA, while the defense has committed just 18 errors in 13 games. Penn's bats, meanwhile, are coming around. The Quakers have raised their team batting average to .306. Six of the Red and Blue's regulars are hitting .300 or better, including Gregorio, who went 7-for-13 in four games over the weekend. Gregorio is likely to don the tools of ignorance today, but will be the designated hitter if Zac Hanan remains sidelined with back problems. Hanan is batting .385 and hit a game-tying, pinch-hit home run against Lehigh on Sunday. If he does sit out and Gregorio is the DH, it will be a chance for one of Penn's backup catchers to distinguish himself. "We could just go to Jeff at DH, and then split the duties with the young kids with Bill Collins and John Slaughter and maybe even Dan Goldstein," Wagner said. The main concern for the Quakers, though, is to make sure that they maintain their winning ways today. And it figures to be a competitive game -- Penn lost a 10-9 contest in Easton last season. "Anytime you win, it's habit," Seddon said. With a four-game winning streak on the line -- and having won eight of their last nine -- the Quakers will definitely be looking to continue that habit today. News and Notes Mark Lacerenza has not seen game action since the Quakers' trip to Florida due to a dislocated index finger in his throwing hand. The junior will test the hand today when he starts against the Leopards, likely pitching for about three innings... Penn's rained-out game with Maryland-Baltimore County, which was originally slated for a week ago, will not be rescheduled. Seddon is talking to Drexel about possibly playing a game to make up for the Quakers' rainout against the Retrievers.

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