Ilario Huober

Boy, did I get gypped. The Daily Pennsylvanian, like most other campus student organizations, is of the hierarchical sort. You put in the time, you make the commitment, you work your way up and then the perks start rolling in. Well, I put in the time. I made the commitment - half the guys in my fraternity didn't even know me by the time my term as sports editor had finished.

Yesterday's early triumph in the resumed game saw the visiting Cornell Big Red undergo a visible transformation in the second doubleheader. All of a sudden, a team that hadn't been hitting hit. A team that hadn't been pitching pitched. And most importantly, a Cornell team that hadn't been winning grabbed a pair of convincing victories - 8-1 and 16-5 - to leave the Quakers stunned at Meiklejohn Stadium.

If, as Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine so eloquently put it over a decade ago, chicks dig the long ball, then the Penn baseball team will be going stag this spring. The Quakers have struggled in the power department, making runs hard to come by despite several players batting well over .

This early in the season, the mound is no place for freshmen. Tell that to the trio of young right-handers who stifled Penn's opponents this weekend. Freshmen Jeremy Maas, Paul Cusick and Sam Gilbert combined to pitch 20 innings over three games and gave up zero earned runs - one unearned run on Maas against Yale the only blemish.

Midway through yesterday afternoon at Meiklejohn Stadium, the Penn baseball team was staring a completely fruitless weekend dead in the face. Having lost and tied in their two Saturday games against Yale - the nightcap was suspended due to darkness in extra innings - the Quakers had started off the Sunday twinbill with yet another loss to Brown.

There's nothing like opening day in the springtime. Soon enough, the baseball team will be soaking up the rays on its annual trip to the Sunshine State to kick off the season. But before that happens, the Quakers will play their first game right here in Philadelphia, when West Chester makes the short trip to Meiklejohn Stadium.

Last year, a Penn team picked by Baseball America to finish last in the Gehrig Division rode a remarkable season on the mound from Rookie of the Year Todd Roth to prove the pundits wrong. The Quakers played themselves to the brink of NCAA Tournament qualification, winning their division before falling in the Ivy playoff to Rolfe Division champion, Brown.

Penn may be guilty of its share of faults this season, but it can't be accused of lacking intensity during Ivy play. This weekend's two games at the Palestra were no exception. Coming off last Tuesday's foul-fest of a win against Princeton - in which the teams combined for 52 fouls and four technicals - Penn's game lost none of its physical character.

When Brown came into the Palestra on Friday, 3,642 people witnessed something they hadn't seen in a long time: an Ivy loss for the Quakers in their home gym. The Bears escaped with a 66-61 win, withstanding a furious Penn comeback despite not scoring a field goal in the game's final eight minutes.

ITHACA, N.Y.- As Penn slogged through its non-conference schedule, Glen Miller and his players expressed similar sentiments after some of the rougher blowouts. Wait 'til the Ivy League, they'd say. That's where the real season begins, that's where the NCAA berth lies, that's where our season can take a positive turn.