Baseball, Softball swept in ILCS

Yesterday was not a good day for the Quakers, as both bat and ball sports were swept from Ivy League title contention.

Baseball, at Brown, lost Game 1 in a 1-0 heartbreak, as Penn was three-hit by Jeff Dietz. Ace Todd Roth was very good for the Quakers, but he allowed an unearned run in the eighth off a sacrifice fly to the second baseman in foul territory. I wasn't there, but I question catching a ball in foul territory in that spot unless you know you can throw the man out.

In Game 2, Ace No. 2 Jim Birmingham just didn't have it. He lasted just 1.2 innings, allowing a grand slam in each of the first two innings. Penn was down 11-0 after three, and never had a chance in a 20-6 loss. The Quakers end the season in disappointing fashion, at 20-19. Brown advances to the NCAA Tournament at 24-18.

Softball was at Harvard, and its trouble was offense. In Game 1, the Quakers were no-hit by the Crimson's Shelly Madick, and lost 4-0.

Penn fell behind Harvard 2-0 in Game 2, tied the score in the third, but then immediately gave up two more runs in the fourth. The Quakers had a few more chances to score, but couldn't, and lost 4-2.

The silver lining for Penn is that it finished at 23-19, the most wins in program history, and it was the first winning season since 1982.

For full coverage of this weekend's events, check out the graduation issue of the DP.