Josh Appell struck out 13 batters, Kyle Armeny bashed his first career home run and hit a game-winning double, Andy Console threw one and two-thirds scoreless innings to pick up two saves and Alex Blagojevich picked up eight hits on the weekend.
With all of these outstanding individual performances, Penn's baseball team (6-10, 3-1 Ivy) came together to win three out of four games against Columbia (3-13, 1-3) this past weekend to open Ivy League play.
Coach Bob Seddon expressed his delight with the Quakers' performance, comparing it to last year when the team lost three of four in the same series.
"This was a very good start to the Ivy League season," Seddon said. "That's mainly because we were playing when no one else was and were able jump out ahead with three wins."
Getting a good jump on the competition was the story of Friday's games at Murphy Field, as the Quakers quickly scored four runs in the opening innings of the first game, which they went on to win, 7-2.
Taking part in the slugfest was outfielder Alex Blagojevich, who crossed the plate after singling in the first and finished the game with three base knocks.
Nate Moffie also joined in the fun, bringing in two runs with his third home run of the season.
The real story of the first game was not the offense, however, but rather the superb pitching of the southpaw Josh Appell.
The senior threw a complete game to pick up his first win of the year, allowing only two runs on four hits.
Most impressive were his career-high 13 strikeouts, which prevented the Lions from going on any substantial scoring run as the Quakers coasted to the easy win.
The second game of the day began much like the first, as Penn started off the game by scoring three runs in the bottom of the first.
Starting pitcher Brian Cirri continued the exceptional pitching, striking out a career-high seven batters as the Quakers jumped out to an 11-2 lead.
The Lions came roaring back in the top of the seventh as Cirri began to lose some juice. Columbia picked up five runs to drastically close the gap and make it a game again.
But the Quakers were able to hold on for an 11-9 win, even as the Lions threatened in the top of the ninth.
Freshman pitcher Andy Console came through with the save after taking over with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth. Console got Ray Waters to hit into a fielder's choice, then allowed a single which brought the score to 11-9. He then caught the Lions' Mike Malfettone looking to end the game and preserve the victory.
Seddon praised the rookie's performance under pressure as well as the freshman class as a whole.
"You can see how important our freshmen are to this team," Seddon said. "Their pitching, for one, was exceptional."When the competition shifted north to New York's Andy Coakley Field on Saturday, the Quakers did not carry over their outstanding play.
Instead,Columbia pounced on starter Bill Kirk by getting out to a two run lead on catcher Mike Defazio's RBI double.
The Red and Blue did not have such a good performance at the plate, collecting only four hits.
It looked like the Quakers might stage a comeback after scoring one in the fifth to cut the Lions' lead in half, but Columbia responded with another two-run inning to put the game away, eventually winning 4-2.
In the final game, the Quakers started off slowly but got the bats going in the third inning to jump ahead, 6-3.
Freshman Nick Francona pitched an excellent game, keeping the Lions in check for the majority of the game after letting up three in the second inning.
The southpaw retired 14 straight batters from that point on to freeze the Lions in their tracks.
The Quakers' domination ended in the bottom of the eighth as Francona gave up four runs, including a three-run homer to first baseman Tighe Holden, to allow Columbia to regain the lead, 7-6.
A last inning rally, capped off by Kyle Armeny's two-RBI single, carried the Quakers to a 9-7 victory in the final game of the series.
"The team showed a lot of grit and determination when they came from behind," Seddon said. "I hope it gives us some momentum going into a tough week."
