After a weekend which not only saw the Penn baseball team lose three of four to arch-rival Princeton, but also control of its own destiny atop the Ivy League's Lou Gehrig Division, the Quakers will take a much-needed break from Ancient Eight play.
This afternoon Penn will host Lehigh, trying to put memories of their weekend debacle behind them.
"I was taught as a kid that when you lose, you shake the opponent's hand and act like a gracious loser," Penn senior Andrew McCreery said. "It's disappointing that we could have controlled our own fate, but I've always been one who's preached, 'Don't look back.'"
Penn senior Steve Glass agrees that this game, which has no Ancient Eight implications, will be an almost therapeutic way to recover.
"The good thing about baseball is that there's always more games to play," he said.
Lehigh figures to be a much weaker opponent than the Tigers.
The Quakers have already defeated the Engineers this season, shutting them out, 4-0, on March 25 in the program's first ever win at the Liberty Bell Classic at Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium.
Since this game really has no meaning for Penn, the Quakers will start several players who would not normally get a chance to play.
Penn coach Bob Seddon feels that this is an important way for his team to develop young talent.
"You have to use guys in the game that haven't got a chance, especially pitchers," he said. "This is how your [Remington] Chins and [Josh] Appells got where they are today."
One such player who will get a rare start is sophomore pitcher Dan Finklestein, who will start on the mound.
Finklestein earned his first collegiate win in Penn's previous game against the Engineers.
While Lehigh lacks the depth of the Quakers' lineup, they have several offensive players who will give Finklestein a challenge.
One such player is Jesse Novalis.
Novalis leads the Engineers in a whopping ten statistical categories -- hitting (.362), doubles (11), hits, (42), runs (28), home runs (9), runs batted in (34), slugging percentage (.707), walks (21), stolen bases (7), and on-base percentage (.468).
Shortstop Eric Hoffman -- who sat out against Penn in the first game due to injury -- will also give Penn pitchers trouble.
"Hoffman and Novalis are both good players," Seddon said. "They swing the bat well."
The Quakers can swing the bat well also, with five players batting over .340 -- Nick Italiano, Glass, Mike Goldblatt, Nate Moffie, and Brian Winings.
While Penn's offense should produce, the Quakers' hurlers could be the key to winning.
"It all depends on our pitching," McCreery said. "Our offense can score runs on them. What we need to do is stop them from scoring runs on us."
McCreery added that while he thinks the pitching will be able to step up for another victory, another shutout is unlikely.
"It's hard to do that two times in a row," he said.
While the Quakers are trying to get back to their winning ways, some admit that they are still thinking about the weekend.
"The problem is that we don't control our own destiny," Glass said. "We need help from Cornell and Columbia. That's tough knowing that if we can win all four [remaining Ivy] games, we could still not make it."
Nevertheless, Glass is adamant that he will at least temporarily forget the Princeton games tomorrow.
"Once you step out on the field," he said, "you're focused on that game."
