Baseball falls out of first

It was the bottom of the tenth inning in the fourth and final game of Penn baseball’s weekend doubleheaders against Princeton when sophomore Spencer Branigan stepped up to the plate with his team down, 4-2.

A win for the Quakers, who had lost two of the three previous games, would place Penn in a tie with the Tigers for first place in the Lou Gehrig Division; a loss, and the Red and Blue would fall a full two games back.

Branigan, facing a two-strike count with a man on second and two outs, hit a bomb to right-center field. Going, going … caught.

On the warning track just in front of the 345-foot mark, the ball fell harmlessly into a Princeton glove, sealing the Quakers’ loss.

The missed opportunity at the dish seemed to sum up the day’s double dip.

“Any time you give up seven [total] runs in a doubleheader, you should win,” coach John Cole said of Sunday’s games — Princeton won the first of the afternoon despite scoring just three runs. “[But] we didn’t get it done offensively, [and] we made some baserunning mistakes which cost us.”

But Cole was also willing to give credit where it was due.

“[The Tigers] pitched well, they didn’t give us anything defensively, and they beat us,” he said.

The loss wasted another strong pitching outing from the Penn rotation. Junior Vince Voiro threw a complete game in the first game of the doubleheader, allowing just three runs on eight hits. Sophomore John Beasley gave up just two runs and four hits over seven innings in the second.

With such consistent starters, the Quakers (16-15, 7-5 Ivy) have been able to keep games close all season. However, the team has not been able to put enough pressure on opposing teams on the offensive side, which could stem from struggles at the top of the order.

“We’re not getting our leadoff guy on,” Cole said. “We’re not allowing ourselves to create pressure on the other teams.”

In Friday’s first game, Penn scored 12 runs and defeated the Tigers (15-16, 9-3) quite easily, 12-4. Sophomore transfer Greg Zebrack led the Quakers’ offensive attack with a home run, four runs batted in and three runs scored.

The second game was a similar story to Sunday’s games, as the Quakers could not hold onto a lead late in the game. Princeton scored three unearned runs in the top of the eighth inning thanks to three Quakers’ errors and defeated Penn, 6-5.

With just two weekends left in the season, the Quakers’ trio of losses means they have some work to do to catch the now first-place Tigers.

“Our room for error now is pretty slim,” Cole said. “We need to get it right quickly these last two weekends.”

Penn will travel to Ithaca, N.Y., next weekend to face Gehrig division opponent Cornell, which could just be the opportunity the Quakers need — the Big Red have lost five of their last six.

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