Baseball | Lorenzo leads Renaissance

Two teams, 36 innings. That's more than your typical meet-and-greet.

Fortunately, familiarity seems to favor Penn's baseball team; after dropping its first game to Georgetown several weeks ago by a double digit margin, the team rebounded to win four of the remaining five games against the Hoyas.

This is an auspicious omen leading into Penn's four-game series against Mount St. Mary's (3-7), now that the Quakers have a more veteran-laden lineup.

"We're a year wiser," Penn coach John Cole said. "We had a bunch of young people on the field and now they're sophomores. There's a big jump from freshman to sophomore year."

That's an understatement. The team's two strongest batters, sophomores Jeremy Maas (.524 average) and Adrian Lorenzo (.438), have come seemingly out of nowhere. Last year, Lorenzo batted .267, and Maas - who is currently being used as a designated hitter - was a pitcher. So much for a "sophomore slump."

"They learn. They're stronger. They know what to expect," Cole said. "We're not striking out much, and we're putting the ball in play. We're hitting it hard. When you've got an offensive team that's what you do."

Considering that Mt. St. Mary's surrendered a humiliating 22 runs Wednesday against Bucknell, the Quakers' young, high-flying offense could be the key to victory.

"I saw that," coach Cole said about the 22 runs. Cole, however, he does not place too much emphasis on a single performance, particularly because the available pitchers change from game-to-game.

Against Georgetown, the Red and Blue's ability to adapt to the unexpected yielded success. Cole is hoping to continue molding the flexibility of the team as variable changes emerge.

"You do a lot of charting and scouting," Cole said. "You keep track of a team's tendencies and scouting."

Merely staying focused and cohesive through 36 innings of baseball is an entirely separate challenge that the Red and Blue must overcome.

"It just becomes a test of wills," Cole said. "You gotta keep winning every inning. That's what we preach."

Despite the Quakers' acumen for adapting, Cole stressed that his team focus on its own strengths and not be overly concerned with other teams' strategies.

Especially when the team is undergoing an offensive renaissance, that is an encouraging sign for the 2009 season.

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