Two-faced Baseball sees mixed results

At its best, Penn baseball is a team with hitters who can knock the ball out of the park and pitchers with special stuff.

At their worst, the Quakers are an immature team prone to inconsistency at the plate and on the mound.

During its first four-game series of the season, both sides showed up. The Red and Blue split two doubleheaders against Mount Saint Mary's in Emmittsburg, Md., this weekend - they fell 4-3 and won 8-1 Saturday, and came home with an 11-4 win and a 7-1 loss yesterday.

Over the four-game set, the Quakers went just about as far as their power took them. Their two victories saw dominant pitching performances - a masterful outing by Reid Terry Saturday and an overpowering victory for Paul Cusick yesterday - with big bats to match.

With outfielders Jeremy Maas and Adrian Lorenzo out with injuries, Penn couldn't put together a consistent doubleheader at the plate. The Quakers hit .347 in their two wins, compared to a .192 average in their losses.

Coach John Cole said that he is going to err on the side of caution with Maas and Lorenzo, in hopes of getting them completely healthy for conference play.

First baseman William Gordon homered in both Penn victories (and added another in yesterday's loss), while catcher Will Davis and third baseman Dan Williams each went deep once.

But without Maas and Lorenzo - Penn's trusty slugger and table-setter, respectively - the round-trippers simply weren't enough.

"It was a tough weekend for us. We had a lot of guys injured; it hurt our lineup," Cole said. "We just didn't have a real good offensive approach."

Both losses were tough for the Quakers to swallow. In its 7-1 victory yesterday, the Mount was spurred by a two-run homer in the fourth inning by first baseman Josh Winters - a one-out blast on a hit-and-run that broke the game open.

And Saturday, junior Tom Grandieri gave up the go-ahead run in the bottom of the ninth on a single by catcher Alex Andrews.

But overall, there were some encouraging signs from Penn's pitching staff.

On Saturday, Terry gave up just one run on four hits in a seven-inning complete game. And junior captain Todd Roth, who has struggled thus far this season, gave up just three runs in seven and two-thirds innings.

And while Cusick gave up four runs in his seven innings yesterday, Cole called his nine-strikeout performance "electric."

"I was able to throw my breaking balls for strikes," said Cusick, who consistently hit 90 and 91 mph with his fastball. "When you can throw more than one pitch over for strikes, it definitely makes it a lot easier."

As the starting pitching rounds into midseason form and the outfield starts to nurse its wounds, the Quakers hope that the consistency they're capable of comes around as well.

Because being a two-faced team isn't something they're interested in.

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