The Quakers are in the middle of a thoroughly tiring week. They will face Saint Joseph's at 3 p.m. today, and again tomorrow, after already playing four games totaling 36 innings the last three days.
The Hawks (9-16, 2-4 Atlantic 10) are not in much better shape, though. They have played five games in the past week, losing four.
Both teams are mired in the loser's bracket of the Liberty Baseball Classic; Penn (7-9, 1-2 Ivy) lost to Lafayette in the first round last week and St. Joe's fell to Delaware, 17-2.
The Hawks pitching staff isn't as bad as that crooked number would indicate, but their collective 6.86 earned run average makes the Quakers staff (5.09) look like fireballers. St. Joe's has given up eight or more runs in six of its last seven games.
It looks to be a welcome change for a Penn team that has hit for a good average but has sometimes struggled to manufacture runs early in games.
"We're just not making good swings right now," head coach John Cole said in response to this weekend's effort.
"It's putting us in very defensive situations of trying to contain with our pitching, and until you get offensive pressure, we're going to be on the short side."
The Hawks don't have a lineup full of potent hitters, but they do sport a table-setter and playmaker at the top of the lineup.
Senior outfielder Jeremy Jakubowski appears to be St. Joe's biggest offensive weapon. He leads the Hawks in both runs (18) and runs batted in (19) from the leadoff spot, an unusual and difficult feat. He's also a base-stealing threat, having been successful on 12 of 14 attempts this year.
No.-2 hitter David Valesente has 16 RBI, although he's hitting just .244, and St. Joe's best hitter, the redshirt freshman outfielder Ryan McDonald, has not played since the Hawks' debacle against Delaware. He is batting .441 and slugging an absurd .794 in 10 starts.
The task of facing them will likely fall to a cocktail of hurlers, Cole's preferred method of dealing with bothersome midweek outings.
The Quakers may be tired from the long weekend, but they do have the momentum that comes from ending it well.
After senior John D'Agostini was chased after less than an inning in game two on Sunday, Sam Gilbert and Tom Grandieri combined to hold Brown scoreless for seven innings. The Quakers pulled out a 6-4 victory.
"[Brown] is one of the better teams in the Ivy League, so we know we can compete with anyone," senior centerfielder Mike Gatti said.
Competing with St. Joe's won't be as tall an order.
