After suffering a pair of defeats to local rivals this week, the Penn baseball team looks to extend its early lead in the Lou Gehrig Division of the Ivy league in a pair of doubleheaders this weekend. Previous to the setbacks to Temple and La Salle, Penn had won nine of ten.
After taking three out of four at Columbia last weekend to open their league schedule, the Quakers (11-9, 3-1 Ivy) will face their first Red Rolfe Division opponents of the season. Harvard comes to town for two against the Red and Blue tomorrow. The Dartmouth Big Green visit on Sunday.
For their outstanding performances in New York during the opening weekend of league play, two Quakers garnered league honors for the week of April 1.
Outfielder Nate Moffie was named Ivy League Player of the Week. The sophomore batted a blistering .545 during the week, perpetuating a hitting streak that has since reached 11 games.
In the first game of Monday doubleheader at Columbia, Moffie was five-for-five with a home run and two stolen bases. At one point over the weekend, he recorded an incredible eight hits in eight consecutive at-bats.
Senior co-captain Andrew McCreery, who turned in a complete game, five-hitter in Monday's second game, won Ivy League Pitcher of the Week. The California native became the second Quakers pitcher to receive the Ivy League honor this season, after teammate Russ Brocato won the previous week.
Harvard and Dartmouth will both be beginning their Ivy League schedules when they visit Murphy Field.
The Crimson will begin their defense of the 2002 Ivy League championship against a Penn team that figures to challenge it for this year's crown.
Since falling to No. 18 Miami in extra innings on March 26 -- the final game of a six-game losing streak -- the Crimson (5-9) have won two of three.
Trey Hendricks, who paces coach Joe Walsh's Crimson with a blistering .448 batting average, has been a mainstay on the mound so far. His 22.1 innings pitched is another team high, and his 2.42 earned run average is tops among Harvard's starters.
In Sunday's 9-3 win over Southeastern, the junior went 3-for-5 with a home run, while scattering eight hits over eight innings. He made the Ivy Honor Roll for his performance last week.
The Crimson boast a number of dangerous hitters in their lineup. Hendricks, for one, flirts with a .700 slugging percentage. Catcher Brian Lentz, whose .431 batting average is good for second on the team, has also come on strong as of late.
Dartmouth also begins its Ivy League schedule this weekend with a doubleheader at Columbia on Saturday before coming to Philadelphia.
The Big Green (6-7, 0-0) dropped a 13-10 decision at Quinnipiac on Wednesday afternoon, surrendering a 9-0 lead in the process. Junior outfielder Scott Shirrell slapped a pair of base hits to extend a 12-game hitting streak.
The Big Green pitching has struggled at times, but has shown steady improvement.
Junior Patrick Dowling notched his fourth career complete game against Pace in the first game of a doubleheader. In the nightcap, junior Tim Grant recorded a career-high 10 strikeouts in a losing effort.
As prohibitive favorites in their division, the Quakers can expect stiff competition from both Ancient Eight rivals.
The first game begins at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow. Sunday's action begins at noon.
