A day after an extra-inning thriller, Penn made things a little easier yesterday in Lawrenceville, N.J.

The Quakers scored four runs in the first inning and never looked back, thrashing Rider 13-5.

Junior Kyle Armeny led the offensive charge for Penn (17-14), with his team-leading seventh home run, a solo shot in the third, as well as an RBI groundout in the first.

The homer came in the middle of an eight-batter inning against Broncs starter Brian Herman (0-1), which started with walks to Jarron Smith and Joey Boaen. After Smith was picked off second, shortstop William Gordon hit an RBI double, advanced to third on the play, and crossed the plate after Armeny's grounder to second.

After that, singles by Alex Nwaka and Josh Corn set up a double steal where Nwaka swiped the plate for Penn's third run. Finally, Matt Toffaletti singled home Corn and the Quakers never looked back.

Penn coach John Cole used his two best pitchers, freshmen Jim Birmingham and Todd Roth, for two innings apiece in this game; they hadn't pitched since sweeping Cornell last Saturday.

"It was their midweek bullpen session," Cole said of using the pair of aces in a non-league game.

Since Ivy play started, Birmingham has thrown one inning in the Quakers' midweek non-conference games, and Roth has not pitched at all.

Reid Terry (2-2) relieved Birmingham in the third, after he had allowed a run on two hits and pitched three scoreless, one-hit innings for the win.

"He did a great job," Cole said of the freshman, who is now second among Penn pitchers with 12 appearances on the season.

The only area Cole was upset about after the game was the ninth inning, where Rider (10-18) scored four times on a pair of homers allowed by Andy Console.

Otherwise, the Quakers' pitching was solid. Robbie Seymour pitched a scoreless frame, and Roth allowed one hit and no walks while striking out three in his two innings of work.

After the Broncs scored one in the bottom of the first, Penn scored single runs in the third and fourth to up the lead to 6-1. After another run in the seventh, the Quakers broke the game open in the eighth, scoring five more times.

Again, Penn preyed on Rider's miscues, with a bases-loaded walk by Corn and an error by the leftfielder among them. Penn had seven free passes on the day, and the Broncs committed two errors, with Olson grabbing the other.

The Quakers have now won four straight, their longest winning streak of the season. They look to continue that Saturday and Sunday with doubleheaders against Gehrig Division rival Princeton.