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Baseball vs. Princeton - DH Mike Mariano

Spending spring break in the Sunshine State has inspired Penn baseball coach John Cole to look on the bright side of his team’s season-opening road trip.

Despite compiling a 2-5 record during the Rollins College Baseball Week in Winter Park, Fla., Cole believes Penn can take more good than bad from its first week of action.

For one, the Quakers played Georgetown, Maine and Rollins, three teams that began their seasons in February and thus are “more polished” at this point in the year.

Penn shook off the rust in an opening win against Georgetown (7-6), as the Quakers scored 13 runs to begin the trip. The Red and Blue quickly got a dose of reality, however, against Maine, a team that Cole said was “as good as anyone we’ll play all year.” The Black Bears (7-7) pounded the Quakers, outscoring them 35-16 in the teams’ back-to-back meetings.

Perhaps the highlight of the past week for the Red and Blue was their rematch with the Hoyas, which went 10 innings but finally resulted in a 7-5 Penn victory.

Freshman Emilio Pastor, whom Cole praised for his ability to get on base out of the leadoff spot (.429 on-base percentage over six games), sparked the extra inning rally after reaching on an error and scoring on a Mike Mariano single.

But more than anything, Cole was pleased with the progress his pitchers made over the course of the trip.

Following the dramatic victory over Georgetown, Penn dropped a 3-2 pitchers’ duel to Division II powerhouse Rollins (17-8) yesterday, after recovering from a 10-3 defeat four days earlier.

“Our pitching really improved on the second half of the trip,” Cole said, emphasizing control of the inner half of the plate as the secret to the turnaround. “It was very good to see the team perform and then get to adjust.”

Yet crucial mistakes led to the Quakers’ close loss to the Tars, including a slip by Mariano while rounding third base and a botched pitch-out. Penn also chased balls out of the strike zone with runners in scoring position on several occasions.

Cole feels that mishaps like those in Winter Park will provide his players with a learning experience that they will benefit from in the long run. The coach stressed that his team needs to execute the minor details of the game that they constantly work on in practice.

“Good teams do not beat themselves and that’s the key to baseball,” Cole said.

Another key to fielding a winning team is a bullpen with clearly defined roles, which began to take shape for Penn over the past week.

“Establishing a role [for each pitcher] is what’s critical,” Cole said. “For the first time since I’ve been here, I have a bullpen.”

Having roles in the bullpen is only the first step in the process, though. The results over break weren’t pretty for the Quakers’ pitching staff, which posted an 8.56 earned run average.

Despite strong starts from righthanders Paul Cusick yesterday and Vince Voiro in his two appearances, Cole said that he has yet to find “a solid four- or five-man starting rotation.”

As the squad returns to Philadelphia to host Temple and Mount St. Mary’s this week, the coach is hoping for the continued progression of his pitching staff, as well as an offensive boost from senior sluggers Tom Grandieri and William Gordon. Penn was out-homered 11-3 during its first seven games.

All in all, the trip was mostly about competing in “close games against some good teams,” Cole said.

“That’s what you need,” the coach added. “You need to be able to play under pressure.”

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