Baseball | Hoyas look to rain on Penn's opener

Todd Roth has experienced a great deal of success as Penn's top pitcher. As a freshman, the ace was Big 5 Pitcher of the Year, first team All-Ivy and a freshman All-American.

Still, all that success does not stop the junior captain from feeling nervous for tomorrow's season opener against Georgetown at La Salle's Hank DeVincent Field.

"There's nothing like game one," Roth said. "Nothing like it."

Originally, Penn was scheduled to travel to North Carolina today to play host Davidson and Georgetown tomorrow and then face Cincinnati and Davidson again Sunday. However, due to an inclement weather forecast, Penn has decided that it will host Georgetown (1-3) for a doubleheader tomorrow.

The last time the Quakers and Hoyas shared a diamond was in a doubleheader two years ago in Washington. Penn won the first game, 8-0, and then lost the second game, 3-2, in 11 innings. Roth threw a complete game shutout in the Quakers' 8-0 victory.

"It was the coldest game of my life, and I was running sprints between innings to stay warm," Roth said. "Since it was hard for players to hit, I ended up having a pretty good game."

The long length of time since those games makes it impossible to draw any conclusions as tomorrow's games approach, especially given the turnover of Georgetown's roster in the last two years.

"Georgetown is a young Big East team that is maturing," Penn coach John Cole said. "They will be a good matchup for us."

But the Quakers are also a relatively young team that includes just one senior and five juniors on the squad. Cole asserted, however, that the team will rely less on its freshmen than it did in the past.

"We have good leadership with more sophomores and juniors who have played in the past," Cole said. "The novelty of being a college baseball player has worn off by now."

Cole and Roth both made note of the high level of team chemistry on this year's roster. The team has bonded off the field and hopes that camaraderie could transfer to the field itself.

"I like the team chemistry on this team," Cole said. "They hang out together all the time."

As pleased as Cole has been with the team in practice, it is difficult to judge the Quakers' progress without any actual game experience.

"The team has practiced well," Cole said. "But now we need to play to see where we are."

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