The only thing nice was the weather

The above headline pretty much tells the story of the weekend for Penn baseball. Any chance of making noise in a pretty weak Lou Gehrig division was shattered with four losses in 48 hours to drop the Quakers to 2-6 in the Ivy League.

Don't look now, but Columbia's riding high at 4-4 in the Gehrig. Cornell is just 1-3, but expect that to change as soon as they make the swing through Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Now that the first week of interleague play is in the books, here's how the divisions stack up: Red Rolfe teams won 13 of the 16 games this weekend, with only Cornell (1) and Columbia (2) picking up victories. Rolfe teams outscored their opponents 138-73 in those 16 games. Even Brown (3-13 overall) would be in first place in the Gehrig with a 3-1 Ivy mark.

Back at Murphy Field, Penn's pitching and fielding woes have been evident for some time. Now the bug has struck the hitters, too. The Quakers lineup was anemic this weekend.

Saturday's line looked like this:
Joey Boaen: 5-9, 3 RBI
Josh Corn: 4-7, 4 RBI
Rest of team: 9-51, 4 RBI

When Boaen and Corn couldn't carry the load on Sunday (3-17, 0 RBI combined) the team was hopelessly lost save for Alex Nwaka's 5-8 and 3 RBI.

If this team wants to get back in the race (if such a thing is possible) more than just one or two hitters are going to have to produce with any kind of consistency.

Cup of coffee: Needless to say, the team's performance didn't impress Bill Meiklejohn (who bought the naming rights to Murphy Field) who came for the end of the first game against Brown and was presented with a commemorative jersey and bat between games by Athletic Director Steve Bilsky. University President Amy Gutmann made an appearance to give Meiklejohn a certificate of appreciation (and for some reason felt the need to read it aloud in its entirety like she was talking to a 4-year-old). Fortunately for the three of them, they didn't stay for game two.

Also worth noting was the very respectable spread put on by the Athletic Department on Saturday. Maybe if this were a staple at Penn doubleheaders more people would come. But then maybe only this reporter is easily swayed by potato salad.