Baseball: Against Yale, it's the hot bats vs. the strong arms

Just over halfway through the 2007 season, the Quakers have ridden their revamped pitching staff to the best overall record in the Ivy League.

Yet this weekend, their young arms will face their biggest test yet.

During day one of its first Ivy road trip to Yale (7-16, 1-3 Ivy) and Brown (7-13, 2-2), Penn (10-12, 4-4) will take on the league's most potent offense.

Yale outfielder and catcher Ryan Lavarnway is in the midst of an Ivy League record 25-game hitting streak. He has raised his average to a league-best .478, and also sits atop the leaderboard with seven home runs and 31 runs batted in.

Penn coach John Cole said he was confident his staff can handle it.

"We pitch like we did last weekend, we're going to be in the game," he said. "That's the bottom line."

Lavarnway is hardly a one-man show, however. Three Elis are in the league's top four in total bases, and collectively Yale has hit 13 percentage points better than the next best team.

Cole singled out Marc Sawyer, who hits in front of Lavarnway, as another key threat.

"We have to keep guys off the bases so we can get those two," he said. "Solo home runs won't hurt you."

Penn freshman Todd Roth will probably not get a chance to strut his stuff against the elite offense. Cole said he is "leaning on" starting Roth against Brown on Sunday. He has not decided on the exact rotation for the weekend, but he indicated that it would be the same four as last weekend.

Those included Doug Brown, who last year was the Quakers' top reliever. This year, however, the closer has struggled, and after his fourth blown save in five chances, Cole moved him to the rotation.

Brown dazzled in his only start last weekend, striking out ten over eight innings for the win.

And while Cole said that "as of now" Brown is part of the rotation, he did not rule out him serving as occasional stopper.

If healthy, freshman William Gordon will become the closer, but Cole said he may "float Brown in a game or two, if we have a chance to win it."

The Quakers' bats will go against an Elis pitching staff with the worst earned run average in the league, at 8.26. Yet Cole said they have the "hardest-throwing staff," with pitchers whose fastballs can reach the low 90's on the radar gun.

To succeed this weekend, Cole said, the Quakers need to play with the lead. He indicated that he might use more small-ball techniques in the early innings, since he said his team lacks the firepower to come back from larger deficits.

When Penn travels to Providence, R.I. Sunday, it will face a more balanced team. Brown ranks in the middle of the conference offensively and defensively. That's not necessarily a good thing for the Quakers.

"They're probably the most talented team in the league," Cole said. "They have a lot of experience."

Junior Jarron Smith, whose hot hands have earned him the leadoff spot, disagreed with his coach.

"I'd say we're the most talented team in the league," he argued.

And his confidence extended to this weekend.

"We should win all four games," he predicted.

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