Big Green walk way to wins

Facing a Dartmouth team hitting over .320 on the season, the Quakers knew that keeping the ball off their opponent's sweet spot would have to be a high priority.

But when you hand out 16 free passes in two contests, winning the hits column of the box score usually isn't enough.

Yesterday was no exception.

Freshmen Jeremy Maas and Paul Cusick got the starts on the hill. The Quakers out-hit the Big Green 18-9 on the day, but dropped a pair of key conference showdowns, 5-1 and 4-3, at Dartmouth's Red Rolfe Field.

"Walked too many guys," Penn coach John Cole said. "Freshmen sometimes show you great things and then the next day don't have their best stuff, [but] there's no magical thing that can make a kid have control."

Despite three walks and three hit batters, Maas kept the Red and Blue (9-11, 1-4 Ivy) alive in game one, surrendering only two runs and three hits over his first five innings of work.

But a three-run sixth - aided by a wild pitch, a passed ball and an error from shortstop Dan Williams - propelled the Big Green (12-8, 6-0 Ivy) to victory in the opener.

"He didn't have his best stuff, but he battled," Cole said. "He just didn't have a good sixth inning where they didn't get the ball out of the infield."

Cusick, the game two starter, had far stronger allergies to the strike zone. He allowed just one hit in two innings of work, but tallied as many walks as outs.

In the second inning, the Big Green pushed three runs across behind five walks and a hit batter. No one recorded a hit.

Yet, in spite of themselves, the Quakers had their chances in both contests, jumping out to two first-inning leads in nearly identical fashion. On both occasions, second baseman Steve Gable led off the game with a single and was subsequently driven in on a knock by third baseman William Gordon. Gable - who was 2-for-4 in each game yesterday - raised his average to a gaudy .462 on the year.

And even after Cusick's implosion in game two, Dartmouth's big bats were unable to put the Quakers away. Long reliever Robbie Seymour - with a 24.43 earned run average entering yesterday's contests - tossed six innings of two-hit ball, allowing only one unearned run.

In the eighth, Penn pushed the tying run into scoring position with one out, but neither Adrian Lorenzo nor Jeff Cellucci could keep the rally alive.

With the Quakers down to their final out an inning later, sophomore Tom Grandieri poked a single into left, but was stranded after Dartmouth's Ryan Smith struck out Gordon.

The second loss of the day left the Quakers with just one win in their first three Ivy doubleheaders, with today's rescheduled Harvard games pending.

"We have to respond. Don't have a choice," Cole said. "They've gotta get back up off the floor tomorrow."

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