Errors prove costly as Baseball falls in Classic semis

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa. -- Sometimes the fate of a baseball game hinges on a costly mistake.

The Penn baseball team suffered several of those mistakes yesterday as a defensive collapse in the seventh allowed Villanova to capitalize with a big inning -- a problem that plagued the Quakers early in the season. The defensive debacle put the Wildcats ahead, and Penn was unable to recover late in the game as Villanova went on to a 3-1 victory in the semifinals of the Liberty Bell Classic.

In the pitchers' duel, Penn outhit Villanova seven to four, but the deciding factor in the game turned out to be Penn's erratic defense.

"Close games are decided by defense," Penn coach Bob Seddon said. "And we just broke down."

The Red and Blue played a very solid game except for that one fateful inning, in which Villanova picked up all three of their runs. Up until that point, the Penn pitchers were near perfect.

The solid pitching seemed as if it would continue, as seldom-used Joe Thornton came into the game to start the bottom half of the seventh with Penn leading, 1-0.

The sophomore, on the mound for just the third time this season, began the inning by throwing out Alex Bardequez at first. He then plunked the Wildcats' Mark Cardillo in the ensuing at bat. But after forcing Robert Parks to ground into a fielder's choice, Thornton seemed to have the inning in the bag.

Then things started to get ugly. Villanova centerfielder Kris Molloy smacked one right back at Thornton, who was unable to hold on to the hot liner.

Thornton quickly picked up the ball and whipped it over to first, but it sailed right over first baseman Sean Abate's head. The error allowed the runner on second to score the tying run, and Molloy advanced to second as the go-ahead run.

Molloy reached the plate after a ground ball got under third baseman Kyle Armeny's glove on the next at-bat.

But that was not the end of the Quakers' defensive woes. Two passed balls and a walk left Penn facing a first-and-third situation with the Wildcats' Angelo Petracca at the plate.

Hard-throwing senior Josh Appell, last week's Ivy League pitcher of the week, came in to clean the mess up, and he came out firing.

A pitch in the dirt got away from catcher Hank Watson, who had come into the game for Matt Horn in the bottom the sixth. The runner from third was able to reach home safely putting the Wildcats up, 3-1.

Still, the Quakers had a chance to get back into the game. Penn loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the ninth on singles by Sean Abate and Armeny and a walk to Evan Sobel.

But the rally stopped there as Andrew Bechta grounded into a fielder's choice to end the game.

Despite the loss, pitching was a positive for the Quakers as they held a Wildcats team that had been averaging more than six runs a game to just three.

Penn starter Steven Schwartz pitched beautifully for four innings, striking out five batters, walking none and allowing no runs.

"I was throwing a lot of first pitch strikes and I think they only put a bat on one of my 20-or-so curveballs," he said. "The team just played great defense behind me."

Remington Chin also pitched well for the Quakers, allowing only one base runner in his two innings.

The Wildcats, however, came out with some stellar pitching of their own, as starter Nick Allen, coming off of a recent no-hitter, allowed just one hit in three innings of work.

"We faced very good pitching today" Seddon said. "But the pitching that we'll face this weekend should be better."

As the Quakers prepare for consecutive doubleheaders against Harvard and Dartmouth on Friday and Saturday at Murphy Field, they will have to focus on hitting well on a consistent basis.

Penn's offense has been sporadic lately, and the team will have to come up with some firepower against Ivy League opponents whom Seddon believes are tougher competition than Villanova.

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