Two months and 37 games after the Penn baseball team opened its season, the Gehrig Division title is sitting right in front of the Quakers’ faces.
Trailing first-place Columbia by two games heading into the final weekend of Ivy play, Penn must win three of four against the Lions in order to close the gap.
But the Quakers have other ideas.
“Our expectation is take all four and not even mess around,” senior pitcher Todd Roth said.
Still, the Red and Blue (20-17, 9-7 Ivy) are simply thankful to have a winner-take-all scenario at the end of the season.
“It makes [the hard work] worth it,” said Roth. “You can really see the fruit of your labor.”
But so can the Lions, who some would say aren’t even supposed to be in this position. Columbia (22-18, 11-5 Ivy) won the division in 2008 but finished with a league-worst 11-32 overall record last season.
This year, however, the Lions may be the only Ivy team that can go toe-to-toe with the Penn offense.
The teams that will take the field at the two most hitter-friendly parks in the league this weekend — Meiklejohn Stadium tomorrow and Robertson Field Saturday — lead the Ivies in both home runs and stolen bases.
“You’re looking at two similar teams, really,” Penn coach John Cole said. “[We] play kind of the same style of ball — very aggressive on the bases.”
Despite the 37 home runs Columbia has hit this season — over half of which have come from sophomore Alexander Aurrichio and freshman Dario Pizzano — Roth called the Lions “a real small ball team.”
“They scrap a little bit so there are gonna be some tough outs,” he said. “But there’s not really anyone in their lineup that we’re afraid of.”
Roth is hoping his confidence rubs off on the trio of young pitchers that will be on the hill for Penn this weekend.
Sophomores Vince Voiro and Chris McNulty and freshman John Beasley will start games one, three and four, respectively, according to Cole.
“All those guys have already proven themselves,” Roth said. “They shouldn’t have any problems with this [series].”
The team that comes out on top, Cole said, will be the team that best limits the “freebies” — walks, hit batters, errors — and “creates pressure” on the basepaths.
That victor will advance to the Ivy League playoffs to take on the winner of the Rolfe Division, where Dartmouth and Brown are currently tied at the top.
Roth and Cole were in a similar position three years ago, when a late-season victory sent them to the championship against Brown. Penn was swept in two games that year, but Roth insists things are different this time around.
“Last time, we weren’t really expecting [to contend for the title],” the pitcher said. “This year, it was the gameplan from the get-go.”
