Baseball not done proving its mettle

After being picked to finish dead last in the Ivy League in Baseball America's preseason poll, the Quakers felt they had a lot to show to an audience that was convinced Penn wouldn't improve from last season.

But if any doubts remained about the team's talent, they should be silenced after this weekend.

The Quakers catapulted themselves to the top of the League with a sweep over Cornell on Saturday, by scores of 4-2 and 5-4.

"We knew we were a better team than most people thought and we felt we had something to prove all season," junior Kyle Armeny said. "I feel like as the season has gone on that we've gotten better as a team and now we're really excited about where we're at."

The wins place Penn two games ahead of Cornell in the Gehrig Division and give the Quakers (15-14, 9-5 Ivy) the best record in the league.

Penn was scheduled to face off with the Big Red (14-14, 5-5) for a second doubleheader yesterday, but a forecast of snow in Ithaca stopped the games.

Freshman shortstop William Gordon led the way with a solid performance, swatting timely hits to help the Quakers leapfrog Cornell in the standings.

With the score tied at two in game one, Gordon's two-run single gave Penn the offense it needed to pull ahead.

Gordon carried his momentum into game two, crushing a solo shot in his first at-bat of the game to give Penn the early lead.

He accumulated three runs batted in and three hits on the day.

Once again, the dominant freshman pitching duo of Todd Roth and Jim Birmingham proved crucial to the team's success, as the starters demonstrated their prowess on the mound.

Roth struck out seven Big Red batters in game one, throwing a complete game for the fifth time this year.

The freshman conceded no walks while allowing two earned runs and just five hits over the seven innings.

Birmingham struggled with his control, giving up five walks, but struck out six and allowed only five hits and two earned runs in five innings of work in game two.

"They were pretty big wins to get on the road and both [Roth and Birmingham] did a great job handling themselves in a pressure environment," coach John Cole said.

Senior Doug Brown came in to relieve Birmingham, but two eighth-inning errors in the field resulted in two unearned runs that put the pressure on closer Andy Console to turn in a perfect performance.

But Console delivered, throwing hit-less eighth and nine innings to secure the sweep.

"Andy Console did a heck of a job this weekend," Cole said. "He really pitched out of a jam in the eighth . and made quality pitch after quality pitch to give us the chance to win."

But even though the team is enjoying their time atop the standings, there is still much work to be done, with home games against Princeton looming.

"We have a long way to go yet," Cole said. "We have six important games left but we've put ourselves in a good position to take care of business."

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