Baseball: Meltdown in sixth dooms Penn

A sixth inning collapse at Murphy Field yesterday led to the Penn baseball team's first home loss of the season.

The Quakers (11-9, 3-1 Ivy) led La Salle, 6-1, after five innings but then fell victim to an eight-run explosion by the Explorers (6-11). La Salle ultimately won, 10-8.

"We should've won the game," Penn coach Bob Seddon said. "We had a 6-1 lead in the sixth inning.

"We should've put the game away off the first pitcher [Harold Grant] who was not good. We managed to score six runs but could've scored more. However, we had enough runs to win the game."

After a leadoff home run by La Salle's Ryan Parfitt to start the contest, the Red and Blue countered at the bottom of the inning.

Back-to-back singles by Penn captain Steve Glass and sophomore Nate Moffie sparked the Quakers' rally. Senior Andrew McCreery reached base on a walk to load the bases for junior Kasey Adler.

Adler responded with a single to put two runs on the board. He and McCreery later crossed home on sophomore Evan Sobel's single, completing the four-run inning.

In the bottom of the second, Glass and Moffie reached base on walks. Senior captain Nick Italiano's single to left brought Glass home to put the Quakers up, 5-1.

Penn's sixth run came two innings later when Glass again singled. He advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a base hit by McCreery.

"It's just one of those things where I feel good at the plate and things are going right," Glass said of his hot streak. He finished the game 3-for-5 with three runs scored and a walk, after going 4-for-5 against Temple on Tuesday.

After a scoreless fifth inning, La Salle made its move. The Explorers' Mike Essery opened things up with a single to center and scored on a wild pitch.

Later in the inning, La Salle's Dan Kern, a .143 hitter, roped a ball into left field to tie the game at six.

"The big hit was Kern -- the eight hitter," Seddon said. "The count was 3-2 on him, and it was two outs, bases loaded, and he singled into the hole in left field.

"He's not a good hitter -- that was a big hit."

After allowing three more runs, the Quakers rebounded in the bottom of the inning. Moffie scored on an error by La Salle third baseman Scott Gehringer to make the score 9-7.

Back-to-back doubles by Penn's Matt Horn and Coba Canales gave the Quakers their eighth and final run. Canales tried to score on a Glass single but was tagged out at home.

"The wheels came off the wagon, so to speak, and then it was a matter of being behind and coming back," Seddon said. "They had a lefty throwing [Jim Fuchs]; they brought him in -- he's decent.

"We didn't do a bad job against him. We got a run here and got a run here, [but] we were looking for the big hit and it didn't happen."

La Salle added its final run in the ninth inning.

The Quakers conceded that although they outhit their opponents 13-10, nothing should be taken away from the Explorers.

"I have to give credit to La Salle," Italiano said.

"Our performance was kind of mixed. Guys hit the ball well [but] we left, again, a decent amount of runners on base."

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