Dartmouth and Harvard have combined to win the last 10 Rolfe Division pennants. Consequently, the Penn baseball team's performance against the Big Green and Crimson this weekend could go a long way in determining the course of its season.
Penn freshman southpaw Nick Francona and senior righty Bill Kirk will start Saturday against Dartmouth and the Quakers will take on Harvard Sunday. Both afternoons will be doubleheaders at Murphy Field.
Coach Bob Seddon expects several low-scoring contests, in part because of the recent dominance of Penn's pitchers.
"The pitching is as good as we've had in the past several years," he said.
Wednesday in the semifinals of the Liberty Bell Classic against Villanova, a quartet of Quakers' pitchers -- Steven Schwartz, Remington Chin, Joe Thornton and Josh Appell -- held the Wildcats to no earned runs. However, two errors in the seventh inning led to three runs, which was too much for the Quakers to overcome.
"We're better defensively than that," Seddon said, referring to the sloppy play in the seventh.
Appell agreed, citing the recurring nature of miscues.
"Errors just build up on each other," he said. "But I really have confidence in our defense."
Seddon said it was crucial for Penn to sure up its fielding, as runs may be difficult to come by against a talented Big Green pitching staff.
Leading the way for Dartmouth is junior righty Josh Faiola, the staff's ace, whose 53 strikeouts last season were good enough for third in the Ivy League and earned him a spot on the All-Ivy first team. Completing his resume is a playoff co-MVP award from the elite Cape Cod League this past summer.
However, Penn's bats sprung to life last weekend against Columbia, led by left fielder Alex Blagojevich. The Tampa, Fla., native hit .444 for the weekend, earning Ivy League Player of the Week honors.
Despite the impressive output, Seddon emphasized the need for more consistency. The Quakers scored 29 runs in four games, but they were not spaced out evenly. Seddon pointed out that Penn managed only four hits in Saturday's first game while accumulating nine in the second.
One area of concern for the Quakers' offense is second base, where J.T. Hutchinson, Andrew Bechta, James Dunning and Ken-Ichi Hino have all started.
The platoon is hitting .176 for the season and Seddon hopes to get more production during the Ivy League campaign.
Appell, however, was pleased to get off to a 3-1 start in the league and believes the team is brimming with confidence -- especially at home, where the Quakers boast a 5-1 record.
"These are two very good ballclubs that we're playing," he said. "But if we come to play we're going to win."
