In their first game since picking up a single win Saturday in Florida, the Quakers hoped all the pieces would fall into place against Temple.
And though senior Sean Abate's home run and ninth-inning RBI led Penn's offensive efforts yesterday, he still couldn't lift the Quakers past host Temple, which emerged with a 5-2 victory over Penn (1-8).
All the elements didn't fit together as nicely as hoped, but one piece -- pitching -- seemed at least to be able to do its part.
Starter Brian Cirri and his slew of relievers demonstrated tremendous improvement, giving up just four hits in nine innings at Ambler, Pa.
"Our pitching staff did a real nice job," Abate said. "They kept [Temple] to four hits and kept us in the game."
Outstanding efforts from the mound placed the Quakers in position to capture the season's second win.
So what went wrong?
Temple managed only four hits off of the Red and Blue. But in the end, defensive errors and missed offensive opportunities overshadowed the effective pitching.
"We can't put all three phases of the game together," Penn coach John Cole said. "There isn't one phase to blame necessarily."
And the Quakers can see that even with stellar pitching they can't expect any easy wins without the offense and defense to match.
"Four hits in nine innings is really a great performance. There is no way we should lose a game like that," Abate said.
"We have to put the pressure on offense from the get-go."
Penn managed only four hits off the Owls -- the same exact number that they allowed; defensive weaknesses and errors seemed to be the cause of the final 5-2 result.
"We had a bunch of errors again," Abate said. "If you are getting the ball on the ground, that's great, but you have to make the plays behind it to execute."
Cole points to another specific void in the Quakers' defensive game that cannot continue its costly toll.
"Our failure to turn double plays is starting to haunt us," Cole said.
And, even in the face of yesterday's encouraging pitching performance, the coach is quick to point out work to be done in that aspect of the game, too.
"We pitched better today, but it wasn't enough," Cole said. "There was some improvement, but we still have a ways to go on the mound."
With a four-game series against Lehigh -- including a double-header on Saturday at Meiklejohn Stadium -- approaching this weekend, Penn is still working to build a comfortable foundation for the upcoming season.
"Within the team, they are looking around for a leader," Cole said. "We need someone to stand up and take charge, someone that we can attach ourselves to."
As they look to find a leader on the field and in practice, the Quakers hope to look past a dim record with the knowledge that, one of these days, all the elements of their game might just fall into place.
"Obviously, we are not happy with the record right now, but we aren't down," Abate said. "We are prepared, so it is all about execution now. Just playing good baseball."
