Michael Gibbons took the ball to the mound to start yesterday's game against Saint Joseph's knowing exactly what he was up against.
Gibbons was one of eight Quakers pitchers who were collectively shelled by the Hawks in last week's 20-9 loss.
Nine innings later, Gibbons walked off the mound yesterday with a 13-1 victory in hand and an eight-game losing streak for Penn (7-18) long gone. And he knew exactly what he had done right.
He just kept the ball down.
"I focused on that all day, starting in the bullpen," Gibbons said.
The result was a complete game and seven-strikeout performance, in which the senior allowed just one unearned run. It was the first win by a Penn starting pitcher since Steven Schwartz beat Lehigh on March 19, a span of 13 games.
Of course, a little offense from the Penn bats didn't hurt.
Leadoff man Joey Boaen upped his average to .333 with a 5-for-6 night, which featured doubles to right and left and one over the center fielder's head.
But thanks to the performance of the bottom of the order, he didn't have to play the typical leadoff role.
After his at-bat to lead off the game, Boaen came up his next five times with at least one runner on base, thanks to a 3-for-5 day out of both shortstop Scott Graham in the eight spot and second baseman Jim Farrell at the bottom of the order.
Even Sean Abate, who went 0-for-2 in the seven spot to drop his average to .097, reached base on three walks and scored all three times.
And while Graham and Farrell combined for six singles, it was the heart of the order that brought the big bats to Mieklejohn Stadium.
Josh Corn homered on the second pitch from reliever Don Werner to give Penn a 3-1 lead in the fifth inning.
And third baseman Alex Nwaka capped the scoring with his two-run blast that provided him with his third and fourth RBIs of the game.
The key to the barrage, at least to Boaen, was taking what the five Hawks hurlers threw them.
"Today, we stayed disciplined at the plate and just hit it where it was pitched," Boaen said.
Despite the final score, the few Penn fans who made it out to the ballpark for the Liberty Bell Classic consolation game had to hold their breath for a while.
The Quakers, designated as the road team, had left six runners on in the first four innings, and the bottom of the fourth was looking like a typical Penn fourth inning. It resembled the 12-run fourth for the Hawks (11-21) last week or Villanova's seven-run barrage the day before.
But this time, the breaks went the Quakers' way.
A leadoff single by St. Joe's designated hitter Matt Godusky was erased when Gibbons picked him off. And after catcher Greg Mason singled on the next pitch, he was put out at second when Nwaka knocked down a hard-hit ball that ricocheted right to Graham, who flipped it to Farrell.
From there on, despite tiring late, it was clear sailing for Gibbons, who hasn't been a part of the rotation for Ivy League games.
"We needed to stretch him," coach John Cole said. "We needed to save the weekend guys."
Today, Penn will get another chance to avenge a blowout loss when it faces Villanova at Mieklejohn Stadium.
The Wildcats (12-13) defeated Penn 15-6 in the first round of the Liberty Bell Classic last week.
