Baseball blown away in Easton

The Penn baseball team played its first game since returning from Florida on its spring break trip, as it traveled to Easton, Pa., to face off against a Lafayette team that just returned from a West Coast trip in which it won just one ball game.

Despite the Quakers' return north, their play seemed to have gone south, as the Leopards pounded Penn, 17-3, in just eight innings of play.

"We just didn't play very well at all," Penn head coach Bob Seddon said. "We didn't play well at any stage of the game. I think the layoff affected us, we haven't played in 10 days and they just came off a trip.

"I don't like to make excuses, but I do think that the long time between games did play a factor."

The lone bright spot for the Red and Blue was the play of junior outfielder Nate Moffie. Moffie led Penn's offensive attack, contributing three of the team's nine hits on the afternoon.

Moffie's performance was anything from unusual. He is currently the team leader in seven offensive categories including home runs (4), total bases (39), slugging percentage (.848), runs batted in (14), on-base percentage (.537), runs (13) and is tied for the team lead in hits with senior Mike Goldblatt at 21.

The Leopards were able to get off to a fast start against Penn starting pitcher Brian Winings.

Lafayette posted a pair of two-run innings to start the game off and stake themselves a 4-0 lead that it would never relinquish.

"We came out flat, no doubt about that," Seddon said. "We didn't hit, we didn't pitch, we didn't make good plays and we were unlucky."

"We really need games and we need chances to play, once we get that I think we should come together."

The Red and Blue were unable to make a dent in the Leopards' lead, and in the fifth inning, four unearned runs pushed it to 8-0.

Penn did its best to mount a comeback the next time it grabbed the bats, scoring three runs of its own in the top of the sixth. The scoring spurt put the Quakers back in the game, but it would not last long.

Lafayette countered with two more runs in the bottom of the sixth and completely put the game out of reach by scoring seven runs in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Senior centerfielder Jason Boyd led the Leopards charge, going 3-for-4 while knocking in five runs and scoring another three. Two of Boyd's hits went for home runs, as the Leopards finished the day with a total of three longballs.

One Penn player who did not have such a good afternoon was junior first baseman Kasey Adler, as he continued with his early season struggles.

Last year, Adler started 36 games en route to hitting .320, one of the best averages of any of the returning players.

Despite Adler's early season difficulties, Seddon is convinced that things will come around for the Portland, Ore., native as the season progresses.

"Kasey started off slowly last season as well and then once we got into the Ivy League he really started to hit the ball well," Seddon said. "He's just a slow starter, so I'm not concerned. He's a proven hitter."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.