Baseball's future is now

Welcome to college baseball, boys.

Shortstop Derek Vigoa and pitcher Chris McNulty have officially been collegiate athletes for under a month, but they played beyond their years yesterday, leading Penn to an 11-6 win over Temple in Ambler, Pa.

Vigoa went 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles and an RBI bunt single, keeping the Quakers' offensive outburst rolling.

Meanwhile, McNulty didn't show a shred of nerves as he inherited a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the fourth inning - he quelled a potential Owls rally by inducing a groundout and a 1-2-3 double play. The left-hander also shouldered most of the load for Penn's staff, going 3.1 innings and preserving a victory for starter Paul Cusick.

Precocious? Maybe. But if you ask the freshmen, the keys may just be a steep learning curve and a back-to-basics approach.

"After you get those games in you in Florida [over spring break], you're just a ballplayer, you don't have butterflies anymore," Vigoa said. "The first couple games I played I was a little nervous, but now it's just baseball."

This sense of calm is pervading the Quakers' dugout. If McNulty's gut-clenching performance wasn't evidence enough, six of Penn's runs came across with two outs, and the lineup - from top to bottom - hit with confidence.

Sophomore right fielder Jeremy Maas continued his hot streak, going 3-for-5 with a run batted in and a stolen base, and junior designated hitter Tom Grandieri (who also pitched a scoreless ninth inning) drove in three runs on two hits.

The Quakers got to the Owls' bullpen early, chasing right-hander Kyle Monahan after plating five runs in four innings. From there, they knocked around reliever Mike Click for another five scores in just 2.2 innings.

"They didn't throw too many first-pitch strikes so we got in a bunch of hitter's counts," Grandieri said. "We kind of made them pay early on."

And, according to coach John Cole, when the hits are coming, it can be infectious - especially with such a youthful team.

"Some of these sophomores are really producing and taking some of the pressure off the young freshmen," he said.

Perhaps as impressive as the Quakers' hot bats, however, were their soft hands in the field. Now that they're back up north where the air is cool and the turf is slow, putting forth a solid defensive effort becomes a less imposing task.

Penn's three double plays -- all in the first four innings - took the wind out of Temple's sails.

"That was critical," Cole said.

Vigoa and McNulty, fittingly enough, were the primary catalysts of these defensive plays. And they probably know that efforts like yesterday's aren't going to go unappreciated.

"The freshmen aren't exactly playing like freshmen, and that's always a good thing," Grandieri said. "They're only gonna get better."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.