Near-miracle needed for Baseball

It's been a hard-luck kind of season for Penn. It lost its number-two starter, two of its everyday outfielders from last year and countless games that could have gone its way.

But if the baseball gods have any mercy, they will send some good fortune the Quakers' way this weekend when they face Columbia in their final games.

The Red and Blue are certainly going to need it.

Penn sits 4.5 games behind the Lions in the Gehrig Division, and would need to sweep both doubleheaders - one in New York and one at Meiklejohn Stadium - to stay in the race. But to lock up the division, the Quakers would also need Cornell to take two out of four from Princeton this weekend.

And if all of this falls into place, Penn would still need to beat Yale to finish up a suspended contest from the end of March.

The Quakers know the scenario, but scoreboard-watching doesn't figure into their plans.

"We can't let games that we're not playing play into our minds," said freshman left fielder Adrian Thomas, who will likely bat leadoff this weekend.

And coach John Cole knows his job will be to keep his team from getting ahead of itself.

"It's going to be a slow, methodical process for us if we're going to make a run at this," he said.

Despite its cushion in the Gehrig Division, Columbia was never a great bet to have a championship-caliber season. The Lions labored through their non-conference schedule and have won several close games since the onset of league play - five of their 11 wins have come by two runs or fewer.

And while they don't boast any especially formidable power hitters, the Lions have a pesky offensive approach that can be tough to stop.

"They're gonna bring a lot of speed at the top of the order," Cole said. "We've gotta keep one and two off the bases."

Columbia leadoff man Nick Cox has been an all-around terror this season - he is hitting .362 and has 21 stolen bases to his name. The Lions have swiped 75 bags at an incredible clip of 79 percent.

On the mound, however, Columbia leaves something to be desired. It has many efficient relievers and spot-starters - like Henry Perkins, whose 2.22 earned run average goes nicely with his .363 average that he accrued as the starting second baseman.

However, its core rotation is unimpressive. The Lions' three leaders in innings pitched have combined for a fat 7.20 ERA.

Penn's rotation is a tad uncertain, but sophomore captain Todd Roth is pegged to start game one, and freshmen Sam Gilbert and Paul Cusick figure to see a start each.

With their backs to the wall, the Quakers will try to match Columbia's assertive offensive approach. Because at this point, they certainly have nothing to lose.

"I think we're just gonna play as aggressive as possible and see how things fall," Roth said.

"Just to be overly-aggressive, even . that's our mindset. And then whatever happens, happens.

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