Penn coach Bob Seddon said after playing Harvard that the Crimson's Steffan Wilson "could be the best player in the league."
And the kid is only a freshman.
Seddon certainly had reason to be impressed -- both with Wilson's bat and with his arm -- after the Crimson (11-7, 4-0 Ivy) swept a doubleheader Tuesday at Murphy Field.
Wilson, a third baseman, collected three hits on the afternoon, including a three-run home run that put game 1 out of reach for the Quakers.
But it was Wilson the pitcher who truly showed his versatility.
With one out in the sixth inning, the State College, Pa., native made the short walk from third base to the pitcher's mound with the Crimson clinging to a one-run lead.
He threw 1 and two-thirds hitless innings to preserve the victory and pick up the save.
Wilson is second on the team with a .362 average and tops the Crimson with an impressive .710 slugging percentage.
In three relief appearances, the righty has given up only one run in four innings.
Going to a smaller ball
Ivy League basketball fans certainly know this name.
Princeton outfielder Will Venable -- yes, that Will Venable -- is tearing up Ivy League pitching with his .431 batting average and his .487 on-base percentage.
The Tigers are 9-12 overall, but are 4-0 in the Ivy League and are a game ahead of Penn for first place in the Lou Gehrig division.
Princeton visits Dartmouth tomorrow and finishes the weekend playing at Harvard on Sunday.
Venable was named second-team All-Ivy in basketball this year for the Tigers, who finished under .500 in league play for the first time ever.
But Venable's real strength lies on the diamond.
The Baltimore Orioles drafted the 6-foot-2 left-hander in the 15th round with the 439th pick of the 2004 Major League Baseball draft.
His father Max Venable played 12 seasons as a Major League outfielder as a member of the Giants, Reds, Expos and Angels.
Complete dominance
For his week at the plate, Penn's Sean Abate captured Ivy League Player of the Week honors, but he'll have to share the award with somebody who put up some incredible numbers of his own.
Dartmouth senior first baseman Jeff Speights took home the other co-Player of the Week spot by hitting .619 over the Big Green's last five games.
The San Diego native added seven doubles and 10 RBIs for the Big Green (5-9, 2-2 Ivy). Included in the week's performance was a stretch of 11 at-bats that would make any pitcher wince.
Speights went 10-for-11 with five runs and nine RBIs, and six of the 10 hits were doubles. In Monday's doubleheader against the Quakers, in which Dartmouth was swept, the cleanup hitter went 7-for-8.
