This is the one they've been waiting for.
On March 29, 2002 the Penn baseball team had Princeton, the two-time defending Ivy League champions, by the throat.
And the Quakers let go.
Leading by three runs and with their best pitcher, Andrew McCreery, having already retired the first batter in the bottom half of the final inning, things went wrong. McCreery never recorded another out as Penn lost, 5-4.
Penn went on to be swept in that four-game series, digging a hole from which it never recovered. Despite ending the season winning 13-of-18 Ivy games, the early deficit was too much to overcome, as Penn finished two games behind Princeton in the standings.
And now, 13 months later, the Tigers are coming to Philadelphia.
Can this year be different?
First of all, it appears to be the same old very good Princeton team. After slumping at the end of last season and allowing Harvard to catch it for the title, Princeton has stormed out of the gate this year, winning seven consecutive league games after dropping the opener to Brown. Since beginning the year 1-8, Princeton has fought back to even its record at 15-15.
Pitcher Thomas Pauly, who has won back-to-back Ivy League pitcher of the week awards, has posted a 0.76 ERA. A year ago Pauly dominated Penn pitching 3 1/3 scoreless innings.
However, this season could be different. While the Tigers have the arms again, this year Penn has the bats to counter.
While the Quakers are lacking in power -- Andrew McCreery leads the team with four home runs -- six starters for Penn are batting over .300. Leftfielder Nate Moffie and senior second baseman Nick Italiano, who broke Penn's all-time record for hits over the weekend, have matching .375 averages to lead the team.
The Quakers' offense in general has been more productive going into this series than it was a year ago. Over its last nine games, Penn has scored nearly nine runs a game. In the eight games before last year's Princeton series, Penn averaged a little over four runs per game.
That trend lasted through the pivotal series, with the Quakers scoring only 13 runs during the four-game set.
Penn's stars failed to shine in the series. McCreery struggled to a 4-for-17 while Moffie went a dreadful 1-for-10.
Italiano was 7-for-15 but did not have nearly enough help.
So Penn can reverse years of torment at the hands of Princeton -- the Tigers have won the Ivy League's Lou Gehrig division each year since 1996 -- this weekend. The talent is there at the plate to overcome Princeton's pitchers.
It is simply a matter of that talent performing to its ability.
This is the chance the Quakers' star seniors -- McCreery, Italiano and Steve Glass have been waiting for four years. Once again, they have the Tigers potentially under their heels.
This time, they cannot let up.
Because, unlike last season, for these seniors, there is no next time to take advantage of.
