The Penn baseball team currently on a streak -- of come-from-behind wins.
This weekend, when the Quakers (10-21, 4-8 Ivy) square off against Ivy League opponent Cornell (10-19, 2-6) in two, back-to-back doubleheaders, the Big Red should be advised to stay alert in the closing innings of each game.
And after a miracle 10-9 win in the bottom of the ninth against Villanova on Wednesday, the Quakers seem to be on a roll from the underdog position. The win marked the fourth time that Penn has rallied in the ninth inning for a win.
Yesterday at Murphy Field, the Quakers entered the bottom of the ninth down, 9-5, but rallied for five runs in an incredible victory.
Last Friday in Boston, the Red and Blue made a late charge against Harvard, coming back from a six-run deficit in the ninth inning. Penn eventually won the game, 19-11, in 11 innings.
Again, last Thursday the Quakers rallied behind a two-run homer from Billy Collins. Penn scored four runs in the ninth to warrant a 13-11 victory.
In the Quakers' first Ivy win of the season against Brown on April 6, freshman catcher Matt Horn hit a homer in the ninth, putting the Red and Blue ahead of the Bears, 14-12.
"Don't go home when we're playing," Penn coach Bob Seddon said after the victory over 'Nova.
However, when Penn takes on Cornell on both Saturday and Sunday at Murphy Field, they may be in an unfamiliar position -- the favorites.
Cornell has produced a dismal campaign thus far this season, with only two wins in league play. The Big Red split their doubleheaders against Yale and Dartmouth.
Senior tri-captain Erik Rico leads the Big Red this season, with a .373 batting average. He has also tallied six home runs, 27 RBI's and five triples. However, only three Big Red players have tallied batting averages at or over .300. Senior Andrew Luria files in with a .320 average and senior Fint Foley maintains a .305 average.
The Quakers, on the other hand, have seven players with averages over .300.
If the Red and Blue can continue their dominance at the plate -- and not just in the final inning -- four wins seem a safe bet.
In addition to the momentum that Penn has accumulated over the course of its recent wins, the Quakers' junior first baseman, Andrew McCreery, was named the Ivy League Player of the Week for April 16.
Currently, the Ivy League's Lou Gehrig Division is shaping up to be a tight race down to the wire. Columbia is 6-2, while Princeton is 8-4. Due to the different number of games the teams have played, they both share first place in the division. The Quakers are third with a 4-8 record, while Cornell is 2-6 and, in a similar situation to the Tigers and Lions, is tied for third.
