(Penn: 2-2 over weekend)
The Penn men's baseball team found the complete team game it had been looking for all season on Friday.
But by Saturday it looked as if the Quakers (9-21, 4-8 Ivy League) forgot what they had learned.
After an offensive explosion earned the Quakers two league victories against Harvard, Penn stumbled to drop two to Dartmouth the following day.
"This weekend we found out that we can play with anyone in our league," Penn junior Steve Glass said. "It is just a matter of putting pitching, hitting and fielding together and coming out and executing it."
Penn's opener against Harvard featured what became one of the most dramatic rallies in Red and Blue history.
Down 10-4 and seemingly out of the game in the seventh and final inning, Penn senior Jim Mullen and juniors Nick Italiano and Andrew McCreery hit three consecutive home runs to bring the Quakers within two runs.
Four batters later Penn freshman outfielder Nate Moffie hit the fourth home run of the inning, with one runner on, to knot the ball game at 10 runs apiece.
In the top of the ninth, with the score now tied at 11, freshman Alex Blagojevic went deep to put the Quakers ahead for good. Penn continued to pile on the runs as Italiano hit his second four-bagger of the game with the bases full as Penn finished off a 19-11 victory.
Glass collected four hits as the leadoff hitter, scoring five times and plating four runs for the Quakers. The shortstop hit in every game of the weekend, finishing 11 for 16 with seven runs and five RBIs.
"I think people were working good counts and seeing the ball well," Glass said. "It was one of those days when everything just clicked offensively."
Senior Dan Fitzgerald and freshman Bill Kirk combined for 4 2/3 innings in relief of Penn senior starter Mike Mattern. Kirk earned his second win of the season.
The second game of the doubleheader was in stark contrast to the extra-innings barn-burner.
McCreery took the hill for the tail end of the twinbill and dominated the Crimson lineup, allowing only two unearned runs to cross the plate. He struck out eight batters and allowed five hits in eight innings of work.
"Andrew threw really well. This was probably the best he has thrown all year," Glass said. "He had a lot of jump on his fastball and was hitting his spots well."
The right hander went 2-for-3 at the plate and scored twice to aid his cause on the mound. Blagojevic's two-run double in the eighth put Penn up 6-1, and the Quakers would go on to sweep the doubleheader with a 6-2 win.
The thunderous offense that Penn displayed against Harvard deserted them during their two games at Dartmouth on Saturday.
Penn sophomore Russ Brocato, who entered the game sporting an unsightly 8.61 ERA, went the distance and allowed only two earned runs. Unfortunately, for Brocato and the Quakers, Dartmouth senior John Veslosky also threw a complete game in the 3-1 Big Green victory.
The Quakers could only muster one run on six hits against the righthander. He fanned 12 batters in seven innings of work.
Blagojevic was again a big part of the Penn offense. He reached base in all three plate appearances and scored the Red and Blue's lone run in the seventh to break the shutout.
Penn's luck only got worse in its second game against the Big Green.
Every batter in the Red and Blue lineup managed at least one hit, but the 10 hits only produced two runs.
McCreery and sophomore right fielder Bryan Graves contributed the RBIs for Penn in the third inning.
Dartmouth tagged Penn junior starter Ben Krantz for six runs in 7 1/3 innings of work and finished the game with a 9-2 victory.
"It wasn't a poor hitting performance on our part," Glass said. "Dartmouth played good defense, and the pitchers were keeping guys off balance and locating their pitches well."
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