Baseball drops 3-of-4 to start Ivy season

Before the opener of the Penn baseball team's doubleheader against Dartmouth on Saturday, Quakers senior captain Jeff Gregorio was hit in the head with an errant practice throw. Gregorio was unable to start the game, but entered in the second inning. He was forced to leave in the third, though, as the cut above his eye continued to bleed. Although Gregorio, Penn's starting catcher, was able to return to start the second game, the weekend continued downhill from there for the Red and Blue. Penn (12-6, 1-3 Ivy League) dropped three out of four, losing both to the Big Green (5-9, 2-2) and splitting a Sunday twin bill with Harvard (5-11, 2-2). The most exciting game of the weekend was the last one. Penn starter Ben Krantz was solid, allowing three runs over eight innings, but he could not match Harvard's John Birtwell. Birtwell held the Quakers scoreless until the ninth inning. In their last at-bat, though, the Red and Blue loaded the bases with one out. Harvard called to the bullpen for closer Barry Wahlberg, who allowed two of his inherited runners to score before sealing the Crimson's victory. "That was a great college baseball game," Penn coach Bob Seddon said. "We had too many men left on base. A well-pitched game, the teams play well." The Quakers stranded 10 runners in the 3-2 loss. A win would have allowed them to end the weekend with a 2-2 Ivy mark. Instead, Penn is last in the Gehrig Division, two games behind Columbia and one game behind Cornell and Princeton. "Weekends like this, you've got to make up for," Gregorio said. "Dartmouth was good. We expected Harvard to be good. Nine out of 10 years, if we go to the playoffs, those will be one of the two teams that we see again." In the first inning of the weekend's opener, Dartmouth touched up Penn starter Mike Mattern for four runs. The rally was highlighted by a two-run double off the bat of third baseman Brian Nickerson. Penn got two runs back in the bottom of the first, but Dartmouth pitcher Lawrence Fay retired 14 straight Quakers hitters en route to a 5-2 win. The Big Green then romped in the nightcap, as Penn starter Matt Hepler allowed eight runs and 11 hits in three and two-thirds innings. Dartmouth first baseman Mike Mileusnic, who hit a solo homer in the first game, had two more homers in the Big Green's 16-1 second game. Mileusnic had not hit a home run all season prior to Saturday. "I knew that he's got good power," Dartmouth coach Bob Whalen said. "He just hadn't shown it. He needed the experience and the strength. He started to come on near the end of the spring trip with consistent quality at-bats." Mileusnic's seven RBIs in the second game set a new Dartmouth team record. On the mound, John Velosky scattered eight hits and went the distance for the victory. "We didn't deserve to win," Seddon said. "We didn't hit, didn't field, didn't pitch.... Every team gets blown out once during the year." On Sunday, the team that got blown out was Harvard. Andrew McCreery tossed a complete game for the Quakers, who used a seven-run second inning to fuel a 14-2 thrashing. Previously undefeated Harvard starter Marc Hordon was hit hard, as eight of the 12 batters to face him reached base. Trey Hendricks replaced Hordon in the second and didn't fare much better. Gregorio took Hendricks deep on his very first pitch, and the Harvard hurler went on to surrender five runs in just one inning of work. That game, though, was the lone bright spot of the weekend for the Quakers, who must now try to claw their way back to the top of the Gehrig Division standings. News and Notes Saturday's doubleheader allowed for something of a family reunion. Penn freshman outfielder Bryan Graves had a chance to see his brother, Dartmouth sophomore pitcher Kevan Graves. The Oakland, Calif., natives posed as their father took photos after Dartmouth's sweep.... Penn hosts La Salle at Murphy Field today at 3:30.

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