The Penn baseball team started its Ivy League season just as it hoped to, with a 5-3 win over Columbia at Murphy Field.
But the Lions exploded for 39 runs in the following three games, and the Quakers now find themselves in an early hole in the Ancient Eight standings.
"There's three ingredients in baseball that you need to win a game -- fielding, hitting and pitching," Penn coach Bob Seddon said. "If you don't have two of the three, you're not going to win many games.
"We're not doing two out of three. At times, we don't have any of the three."
In Saturday's first game, Penn (5-11, 1-3 Ivy) was led by steady pitching from junior Josh Appell, who had a no-hitter going into the sixth inning.
While Appell would not surrender a hit all game, he was pulled in the sixth frame after walking four batters and giving up three earned runs to Columbia (5-12, 3-1 Ivy), cutting the score to 5-3.
But the Lions would get no closer, thanks to the relief pitching of sophomore Brian Cirri, who allowed no runs and just two hits in one-and-two-thirds innings.
Game two saw Columbia's bats come alive, as the Lions pounded the Quakers, 19-9, at Murphy Field.
"That second game was a slugfest," Seddon said.
Penn junior pitcher Billy Kirk gave up seven hits and six runs in 4.1 innings of work.
Columbia's first four batters hit .565 while driving in 13 runs in this game alone.
"It was a long game and we just got outhit and outscored," Seddon said.
A change of venues from Philadelphia to New York could not slow down the powerful Columbia bats.
"When they got home, they were a much more boisterous and chippy team," Seddon said.
In yesterday's first game at Coakley Field, all but one Lions starter got a hit.
The Quakers were also stymied by Columbia pitcher Jessen Grant.
An All-Ivy honorable mention a year ago, Grant pitched a complete game six-hitter to lead his Lions to an 8-4 victory.
Penn starter Remington Chin also went the distance in the game, giving up 10 hits in six innings to fall to 0-2 on the season.
Seddon praised Chin's endurance, but noted that his accuracy was "hot and cold."
Columbia pounced on Penn early in the final game of the series, scoring six runs in the first inning en route to a 12-2 blowout.
While the Lions jumped out to an early lead, Seddon noted that the game could have been a lot closer, as only one of the Lions' first six hits reached the outfield.
While Penn starter Brian Winings settled down in the remaining six innings -- allowing just two hits and no runs -- the Quakers' offense was unable to put any sort of comeback together. Penn had a batting average of .188 in the game.
"The offense was sporadic, no consistency," Seddon said.
Overall, Seddon said that Penn's "Achilles heel" this weekend was its pitching.
"They just banged our pitching," he said.
Still, Seddon vowed that this young team will rebound from its shaky start with experience.
"We're capable of playing better," he said.
