It’s the top of the second, with a man on second and no outs, and Penn freshman Rick Brebner is up to bat.
He digs into the batter’s box, stares out at Dartmouth’s junior ace Kyle Hendricks…
And squares around to bunt.
Brebner gets it down a few feet in front of the catcher. A few seconds later, he gets thrown out at first while junior Derek Vigoa takes third.
Mission accomplished.
When the NCAA announced before this season that the size of the barrel of regulation bats — the ‘sweet spot’ — would decrease, the necessity to find creative ways to manufacture runs increased.
Facing an ace in Hendricks (2.12 earned run average) two weekends ago, the Quakers knew that runs would be at a premium. They handed the hurler his second loss of the season, 3-2, by scoring the deciding runs on a bunt single and a sacrifice fly.
Today, when Penn (15-12, 6-2 Ivy) takes on La Salle (18-13), the Quakers may have to return to small ball if they want to avenge their 6-4 loss to the Explorers earlier this season.
In that contest, the Red and Blue stranded 13 baserunners and couldn’t climb out of a 5-0 hole due to the strength of the back end of La Salle’s bullpen.
To avoid that same fate, the Quakers will have to methodically advance runners, especially late in the game. The Explorers’ closer, Pat Christensen has allowed just five runs in his 25.1 innings pitched.
“If you’re facing a good arm, you have to have a way to beat him,” coach John Cole said.
Recently, the Red and Blue’s offensive versatility has allowed them to do just that — Penn has gone 6-2 since that loss to La Salle. While they lead the Ivy League in home runs, what differentiates the Quakers is their ability to focus on the game’s details.
Penn is at the top of the league in walks, hit by pitches and stolen bases. The Quakers are also second in sacrifice bunts.
“The structure of our offense is to have enough bullets for every occasion,” Cole said.
Power hitter Jeremy Maas, one of the focal points of the offense, leads the league in home runs and is third in batting average. Due to the respect teams must give Maas as a hitter, it allows him to bunt for hits.
“Sometimes, you have one strike and the third baseman backs up, and you know you’re good to go,” Maas explained. “I’ll do whatever it takes to get on base. A hit’s a hit.”
Maas has six bunt-singles on the year, tied for the team lead with freshman Brandon Englehardt.
“Very few teams have a guy like Maas who can hurt you out of the ballpark and in the ballpark,” Cole said. “He can run. He can bunt. And he can take you out.”
And for senior Adrian Lorenzo, who leads the league in sacrifices with eight, ego doesn’t get in the way of the team.
“It’s not hard at all to give up an at-bat, not even a little bit,” Lorenzo said. “None of that matters to me as long as we get wins.”
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