It’s personal for Penn baseball this weekend.
Though the Quakers have been virtually eliminated from Ivy title contention, they have a lot to play for in a home-and-home set of doubleheaders against Columbia.
“We’re still trying to have a winning season, a winning season in conference,” coach John Cole said. “You handle yourself with class when things go wrong, so hopefully here down the stretch, we still got four games left, we’re prepared to play well.”
Penn is also still stinging after dropping three of four to the Lions in the final weekend last year, a stretch that spoiled the Red and Blue’s chances of taking the title.
“[We have] a little bad blood with them from last year — it was a very chippy series,” senior Will Davis said. “They have a lot of guys back from last year, we have a lot of guys who still remember last year, so I think we’re going to go out there and kind of try and respond to what happened last season.
“We still have a point to prove,” he added.
Penn currently sits second in the Lou Gehrig Division, four games behind Princeton. The Quakers would need to sweep Columbia and have last-place Cornell pull off an improbable sweep of the Tigers in order to catch them in the standings.
Two Quakers have chances to reach personal milestones this weekend, as well.
Senior Dan Williams, who recently broke Penn’s career hits record, is three hits shy of becoming the first Penn player to reach 200 career hits.
“Anytime a guy puts up numbers over four years, you know he’s had a good career. He’s been a stellar and steady performer for us over at third base,” Cole said.
Davis needs just two more home runs to tie the Penn career record of 26. Tom Olszak has held the record for over thirty years.
Davis entered the series last season tied for Penn’s single-season home run record but could not take advantage of Columbia’s short centerfield porch.
“I was trying to put one out [at Columbia]. It ended up not helping my swing,” Davis said. “It’s something that if it happens, then so be it. But it’s not something I’m going to go out there and think about while we’re playing this weekend.”
This series games will also most likely be the last time Penn’s seniors take the field for the Red and Blue.
“The seniors have got a lot of playing time. They’ve stuck together as a group,” Cole said. “We’d just like to send them out on the right note.”
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