Early four-run deficit dooms Quakers

Last week, Penn baseball senior Andrew McCreery divulged the Quakers' strategy for winning games this season.

To win games, "we need to practice D.C. -- damage control," he said on April 18. "We need to limit runs scored in an inning. We can give up one or two runs, but we must eliminate the big inning."

Penn did not stick to its strategy yesterday at Drexel, falling 7-6.

The Dragons' big inning came in their first at-bat, scoring four runs off of Penn starting pitcher Brian Cirri.

Cirri -- a freshman making his second collegiate start -- walked leadoff batter Jeff Lamb. Shortstop Harry Ley subsequently drove Lamb home on a double.

The next batter, catcher Brent Heaberlin, continued Drexel's rally -- singling up the middle to drive Ley home.

And the Dragons weren't finished.

Designated hitter Josh Yocum also singled, advancing Heaberlin to third.

This was followed by yet another single -- still before a single out was recorded -- this time by center fielder Josh Brandt, driving in Heaberlin.

Drexel's final run of the first inning came off a ground out by right fielder Jason Bailey to second base, driving in Brandt from third.

Cirri would settle down and pitch a scoreless second inning, but this 4-0 deficit would prove to be too much for the Quakers.

"That's what killed us," Penn coach Bob Seddon said. "We lost it because we gave up those four runs."

Penn battled back, however, eventually taking a 6-5 lead in the seventh inning.

But again, the Quakers gave up a multiple-run inning, this time in the bottom of the eighth.

With freshman Joe Wilamowski on the mound, the Quakers allowed two runs off three hits.

After a leadoff single by Drexel first baseman John Tredinnick, Wilamowski threw a wild pitch, allowing Tredinnick's pinch runner -- Kyle Martin -- to advance to second.

The next batter, pinch hitter Steve Johnson, reached first on a fielder's choice, which caught Martin out at third.

This was followed by a single up the middle by left fielder Craig Mirsky, moving Johnson to third.

After a Mirsky steal, Drexel scored its first run of the inning off a sacrifice fly to center by Lamb -- driving in Johnson.

Ley followed this with a single to center, scoring Mirsky with what proved to be the game winning run.

After beaning his next batter, Heaberlin, Wilamowski was replaced by sophomore pitcher Billy Kirk, who got the third out.

But the damage had been done and Penn would not recover.

"Wilamowski was just wild in the eighth," Seddon said. "He pitched good in the seventh inning. Kirk came in one batter too late."

As both teams had an equal number of hits at 11, Seddon believes it was pitching which cost his team the victory.

"We scored enough runs to win," he said. "But the pitching didn't hold."

Some might argue that this loss is not indicative of Penn's normal talent, as many freshmen were given the start in order to rest the regulars for this weekend's Ivy showdown at Cornell.

However, Seddon believes this is a poor excuse.

"It's a disappointing loss to me," he said. "True, we had a young team on the field. We pitched four freshmen. But we played everybody. We were just one batter away. We lost it late."

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