Baseball | Surprisingly swept to start Ivy season

The baseball team was in no mood to stretch.

It was the top of the seventh inning, and the Quakers led Dartmouth, 8-3, and were seemingly cruising on their way to victory over an inferior opponent. Then the Big Green rallied for five runs, including a three-run homer, and the Penn players sat disheartened in their dugout in the middle of the inning.

But that was only the beginning. The Big Green then went on to score six more runs, prevailing 14-8.

And even though Dartmouth only came into the weekend with one win, the Big Green again found themselves the victor over the recently clicking Penn squad in the nightcap of the doubleheader, winning 9-6.

For the Quakers (10-9, 0-2), this sweep was not what was expected in their first Ivy weekend, and now they find themselves in an early hole they hope is not insurmountable.

The collapse in game one was largely a result of a pitching breakdown by starter Todd Roth, who had given up only three runs in the first six innings. After surrendering five runs, he was replaced by junior William Gordon, who finally ended Dartmouth's hot streak at the plate.

However, the Quakers let up an additional six runs in the eighth while failing to put up a run of their own in the remainder of the game.

In game two, Penn had four more hits than Dartmouth - which also swept Columbia this weekend to open its Ivy season 4-0 - but failed to convert this statistical advantage into more runs.

Starter Paul Cusick, whose lean 2.84 earned run average was best among Penn's starters entering the weekend, surrendered an uncharacteristic six runs in seven innings before being replaced by freshman reliever Chris McNulty, who gave two home runs in the eighth inning that sent the Big Green (5-9, 4-0) home with the sweep.

The Red and Blue were also scheduled to play Harvard yesterday in a doubleheader, but those games were postponed to today at noon due to poor weather and resulting shoddy field conditions at Meiklejohn Stadium.

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