Improved pitching staff aiming at title

With a one-run lead in the ninth inning at Princeton last year, all the Penn baseball team had to do was get three outs. But starter Andrew McCreery hit a batter, then gave up a weak single and two walks to tie the game. Coach Bob Seddon then went to the bullpen, but Paul Grumet surrendered a game-winning single, and the Red and Blue's last hopes for a Gehrig Division title were dashed. Penn's pitching staff held opposing hitters to a .288 average last year, second in the league only to pitching-rich Harvard. But the Quakers gave up a league-worst 252 walks and threw 52 wild pitches, the latter total being fewer than only Columbia. Penn pitchers also plunked a league-high 45 hitters. "You've got to throw strikes," Seddon said. "That has been a bugaboo for us, not throwing strikes, even though the pitching hasn't been bad. This pitching staff has a good upside." The Quakers' team ERA was 6.12 last year, good for fifth in the Ivy League. If the Quakers can improve their control, they should be able to better that figure, which would put them in excellent position to contend for the Ivy League title. "It's all about pitching," Seddon said. "And I'll throw our pitching staff against most all of them." There's good reason for Seddon to be confident. The Quakers were last in the league in both complete games and saves last year, but already have their top four starters set and some healthy competition to fill the closer's role. "We have a good bullpen," Penn reliever and co-captain Brian Burket said. "We've got good arms in there, so we want to develop a closer and have one or two guys who can do that. One of them's me, probably, Nick Barnhorst [and] a couple of freshmen -- Russ Brocato, a hard thrower that we're going to give a shot to. We hope that Greg Lee gets better -- his arm's messed up, but he can also do the job." Penn's relievers can expect to be called upon often to protect leads, since the Quakers have a good balance between four solid starters in Ben Krantz, Mark Lacerenza, Mike Mattern and Andrew McCreery. "I don't think there's really an ace of the staff right now," Mattern said. "The four guys who are going to be the weekend starters are interchangeable. Hopefully those four will take the burden of the workload." Another reason that Penn's bullpen will likely be called upon to hold a lot of leads is the strength of the Red and Blue's offense. The Quakers led the Ivy League with a .321 batting average last year. They also led the Ancient Eight in runs scored. "It's great," Burket said. "We don't have to worry about striking every guy out. You can throw the ball over the plate, make the other team hit the ball and beat you. It's good to know that if you give up a run, you're going to get it back." The old baseball adage that pitching wins championships will likely hold true for the Quakers this season. Assuming that their good hitting keeps up, an improvement in pitching should put them in contention for their first Gehrig Division title since 1997.

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