The Quakers are three and a half games back of Gehrig Division-leading Columbia, with 12 conference games to go. They have as good a chance as they could ask for to shoot up the standings when Cornell visits Meiklejohn Stadium this weekend for four of those contests.
Penn coach John Cole said that Cornell (7-16, 1-7 Ivy) is likely better than its record. But the Big Red have lost eight of their last nine, and that lone win was against Harvard, which has by far the worst record in the conference.
The Big Red sport a decent offensive punch, led by catcher/third baseman Nathan Ford. Ford is best known in Ivy League circles for the 1,902 yards he threw as Cornell's quarterback this season, but he is just as valuable to the baseball team. He leads Cornell in hits, extra-base hits, runs batted in and batting average.
The Quakers (11-12, 3-4), though, will likely have a chance to match Ford hit for hit, considering the quality of Cornell's staff. Though its one-two punch of Corey Pappel and Matt Hill, who have started roughly half of the Big Red's games, is respectable, its staff has gotten beaten up on the year, with opponents hitting well over .300.
The Quakers have struggled at times to manufacture runs and move base-runners this season, but Cole said he has seen steady improvement in that regard. He said that the second game of Monday's doubleheader against Harvard, which Penn won 10-0, was the best all-around offensive performance of the season.
On the mound, Penn's four-man starting rotation seems to have crystallized into freshmen Paul Cusick, Jeremy Maas and Sam Gilbert and sophomore Todd Roth, and there is little reason to suspect that will change this weekend.
Three freshmen in the rotation? Surprising, perhaps?
"Surprised isn't the right word," Cole said of his reaction to the young hurlers' success. "They've still got a lot of work to do, but they've been giving us a chance."
Four chances, actually, if they hold their form this weekend.
