Penn Named Big 5 Team of the Year

The Penn Quakers were named the Big 5 Team of the Year. They finished the season with an overall record of 20-19 and lost in the Ivy League Playoffs to Brown. The Quakers also had three members of the team were honored with Todd Roth picking up three awards including Big 5 Co-Pitcher of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and All-Big 5. Joey Boaen earned Academic Big 5 honors while Penn Head Coach John Cole was named the Big 5 Coach of the Year. Full Release available here.

The CBB heads to Ivy League Championship

The College Baseball Blog headed down to Providence to check out the Ivy League Championship between the Pennsylvania and Brown.

In Game 1, The story of the game was the starting pitching. Penn freshman ace Todd Roth pitched a complete game by letting up an unearned run in the eighth inning but Brown starter Jeff Dietz was better by pitching a complete game shutout while only giving up three Quaker hits to give the Bears the 1-0 victory. Dietz also drove in the winning run in the bottom of the eighth by hitting a sacrifice fly to second baseman Steve Gable in foul territory but Gable made a poor throw to the plate allowing Steve Daniels to score the winning run. This was the CBB first time seeing each team and came away impressed by freshman Todd Roth who has a plus curveball but an average fastball. Dietz kept the Quaker hitters on the defensive by throwing a solid slider that was getting the outside corner from home plate umpire Joe Cacciatore. Penn coach John Cole also got into a heated argument around the sixth inning with second base umpire Nick Zebilli over an issue that was not obvious to the fans or myself.

In Game 2, The Brown Bears jumped all over Penn starter Jim Birmingham for five runs in the first inning including a grand slam from Robert Papenhause. He would finish the day with three hits and six RBI. The second inning did not get better for Birmingham as the Brown Bears picked up another four runs on a Devin Thomas grand slam. Thomas finished the day with four hits in seven at-bats and seven RBI. The Bears would cruise to the 20-6 victory to win the Ivy League Championship for the first time in the school's history. Brown is now scheduled to have a few weeks off until they head to the NCAA Tourney.

Brown Recap
Penn Recap

Ivy League Championship Series Preview

The Penn Quakers will head to Providence RI to take on the Brown University Bears in the Ivy League Championship series (Best of three). The winner of the series will punch the first ticket to the NCAA Tournament.

The Quakers won the Gehrig Division title last weekend after Princeton lost their final game of the year against Cornell in extra innings. Penn is led by second year head coach John Cole. He led the Quakers to a second place finish in 2006 in the Gehrig Division and won the Division title in only his second season. He had a ton of success at the Division 3 level at Rowan College where he compiled a 229-73 record. Cole has been receiving outstanding pitching from freshman pitcher Todd Roth who enters the weekend with a outstanding 6-1 record and an ERA of 2.25. He has thrown six consecutive complete game compiling a 1.50 ERA and 32 strikeouts while only walking six batters. Roth picked up a 5-3 victory over Brown on April 9th. He is expected to start Game 1 for the Quakers on Saturday. In Game 2, Penn is expected to send another freshman to the hill in Jim Birmingham who has a 4-1 record and a 3.30 ERA. The top hitter for the Quakers is Kyle Armeny who leads the team with a .326 average and eight homers.

The Brown Bears will be taking part in their first Ivy League playoff series in the 15 years of the playoff format. The Bears are led by Jeff Dietz who is tied in wins at 6 with Todd Roth of Penn. Dietz has had some outstanding performances throughout the season on the mound with a 6-3 overall record and an ERA of 3.57. He is expected to start Game 1 against Roth in a battle of aces. Dietz is also a solid hitter for the Bears as he plays first base when he is not pitching and has a .352 average with seven homers and 48 RBI in 39 games. Devin Thomas who is the starting catch for Brown has a very strong average of .372 and has hit 14 homers on the season.

The College Baseball Blog will be making the road trip down to Providence to check out the first two games of the series on Saturday and will provide a full report on Saturday evening.

Brown Game Notes
Penn Game Notes
John Cole Preseason interview with CBB
Baseball America Preview of series

Princeton sweeps Penn

The Penn Quakers could have clinched the Gehrig Division title with a doubleheader sweep of Princeton but instead the Tigers took both games by scores of 7-3 (10 innings) and 10-6. Doug Brown started Game 1 for the Quakers and pitched into the 10th inning in his final home start while giving up four runs on twelve hits. He picks up the loss to drop his record to 2-5. Princeton starter David Hale allowed three runs in five innings and was relieved by Brad Gemberling who also went five innings to up his record to 2-0. After the marathon game, The Penn Quakers scored three runs in the bottom of the first but Princeton starter Eric Walz settled down to pitch the complete game and gave up six runs to get his third win on the season. William Gordon came in to close the game in the eighth inning but the Tigers were able to scratch across six runs to take the lead and cruise to the 10-6 victory.

Penn Recap
Princeton Recap

Penn cruises pass Rider

The Penn Quakers scored four runs in the first inning as they cruised to a 13-5 victory over Rider on Wednesday. Kyle Armeny hit his seventh homer of the season while William Gordon and Matt Toffaletti each had three hits as they led the Quakers attack. Reid Terry got the win in relief by giving the Quakers three strong innings while only allowing one hit. His record goes to 2-2. Brian Herman gets the loss for Rider to drop his record to 0-1. Penn will be back in action on Saturday when they host Princeton for their final Ivy League series while Rider will head to Siena for a three game set.

Penn Recap
Rider Recap

Penn edges Lehigh

The Penn Quakers slipped by Lehigh on Tuesday by a score of 6-5 in ten innings. Freshman Matt Toffaletti hit a line drive through the infield with the bases loaded to drive home Kyle Armeny with the winning run. Armeny also led the offense by going 4-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored in the victory. Penn relief pitcher William Gordon gets the victory to up his record up to 2-0 while Rob Russell gets the loss to even his record at 1-1. Penn will be back in action on Wednesday when they head to Rider while Lehigh is off until this weekend when they head to Lafayette.

Penn Recap
Lehigh Recap

La Salle slides by Penn

Rich Prall hit a two run homer and John Rickards had two hits as they led the Explorers to a 6-3 victory over city rivals Penn. Christian Schulz gave up one run in his two innings of work to get his first win of the year. Bret Wallace got the loss for the Quakers by giving up two runs in 0.1 innings of work. Wallace's record drops to 0-1 on the season. Josh Corn and William Gordon each had a hit and an RBI for the Quakers in the losing effort. No Quaker had multiple hits in the game as they were stymied by the pitching of the Explorers. La Salle will be back in action this weekend when they head to St. Joseph's while Penn travels to Cornell.

La Salle Recap
Penn Recap

Penn and Brown split a doubleheader

The Penn Quakers finished off a four game weekend by splitting a doubleheader on Monday afternoon with Brown. The Quakers took Game 1 by a score of 5-3 and lost Game 2 in a shootout by a score of 15-12.

The Quakers in Game 1 received a seven inning complete game from Todd Roth in which he only gave up three runs. His record now is 4-1 on the season. William Gordon led the Quakers offense by recording three RBIs in the victory. Brown starter Will Weidig picked up the loss in his 6.2 innings while giving up five runs. The loss drops his record to 2-2 on the season.

The Brown Bears used a 16 hit attack to handle the Quakers in a 15-12 game. The Brown Bears were led on offense by Bryan Tews who went 4-5 including a home run and three RBI in the win. Devin Thomas also chipped in with a 2-4 day with a homer and four RBIs. Brown starter Alex Silverman picked up his first win of the year by working the first five innings. Rob Hallberg picked up a rocky save by working the final 2.0 innings while giving up five runs. Doug Brown got the loss for the Quakers by giving up eight runs in 2.2 innings of work. The loss drops his overall record to a tough 2-4.

Brown Recap
Penn Recap

Liberty Bell Classic Semifinal Results

The Lafayette Leopards and Lehigh Mountain Hawks both picked up victories in the semifinals of the Liberty Bell Classic to qualify for the final on April 10th at Citizens Bank Park home of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Lafayette used a ten hit attack to knock off the Penn Quakers by a score of 10-2. The Leopards got a strong start from Brad Woodfield who went six innings while giving up two unearned runs. Jeff Butler led the offense by going 3-4 with two doubles and two RBIs. Kevin Leasure also had a strong game by going 2-3 and two RBIs. The Quakers top hitter for the game was Williams Gordon who went 2-3. The Quakers starter Robbie Seymour gave up eight runs on six hits and two walks in 4.1 innings. Penn will be back in action on Wednesday at 6pm when they visit Lehigh. Lafayette will head to NJIT for a 6pm game also.

Lafayette Recap
Penn Recap

The Lehigh Mountain Hawks got ten runs in the first inning to cruise to a 14-4 victory over Temple to advance to the Liberty Bell Classic final next Tuesday at Citizen Bank Park. Joe Ercolano and Liam O'Connor each scored two runs in the first inning to lead the Hawks to the ten run inning. Lehigh starter Joe Matteo pitched four scoreless innings to get his first win of the year against three losses. Temple starter Rob Chamra only lasted 1/3 of an inning while letting up nine runs (one earned) to put his record at 0-2 for the season. Temple will be back in action Friday when they head to Dayton while Lehigh will face Penn at Limeport Stadium.

Lehigh Recap
Temple Recap

Lafayette edges Penn

The Lafayette Leopards pulled out a 2-1 victory over the Penn Quakers in ten innings. Dave Dreshsel drove in Kevin Leasure with a one out single in the top of the tenth. John Fugett pitched a perfect ninth and tenth to get his second victory of the year. Penn's Doug Brown got the loss by giving up two runs over his three innings of work.

Penn Recap
Lafayette Recap

Penn knocks off Temple

The Penn Quakers picked up a 5-1 victory over Temple in non conference action on Wednesday afternoon. Josh Corn led the Quaker offense with a 3-4 day with two RBI. The Quakers used nine different pitchers in the game all lasting one inning except for Bret Wallace who went 0.2 innings and Todd Roth who went 1.1 innings. Reid Terry ended up with the win credited to him while Rob Chamra got the loss for Temple. Penn heads to Georgetown for a pair of doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday. Temple will be back in action Friday with a visit from Binghamton for a single game.

Penn Recap
Temple Recap

Article about John Cole

The Daily Pennsylvanian writer Eric Karlan checks in with an article previewing the Penn-Temple game on Wednesday. It is the home opener for the Quakers as they return from Florida with a 3-5 record including a great walk-off victory over Boston College. The full article is available here.

The College Baseball Blog had an interview with Coach Cole before the season which is available here.

Penn loses final game

The Penn Quakers lost the final game of their Florida Trip by a score of 13-6 to Fordham. Javier Martinez pitched 6.0 innings for the Rams whilke giving up three runs on six hits to get his first victory of the season. Mike Mobbs led the Rams offense with a 3-3 game with two homers and five RBI. Penn's Alex Nwaka had two hits for the only multiple hit game for the Quakers.

Fordham Recap
Penn Recap

Penn walks off

The Boston College Eagles have continued to struggle early in the season with another one run loss this time to the Penn Quakers. Kyle Armeny hit the first pitch of the bottom of the ninth over the right field wall to give the Quakers the 7-6 victory. Johnny Ayers went 3-5 to lead the Eagles on offense while the Quakers were led by Alex Nwaka who went 3-4 in the victory. The Quakers will be off on Tuesday and will play St. Bonaventure on Wednesday while BC heads to FIU for a Tuesday night game.

This was Dan Houston's third loss of the young season and hopefully the end of the experiment of him closing out game. I believe that Houston needs to head back into the rotation and switch with Adam Crabtree in the starter's role. It makes sense since neither player is getting their current jobs done on the field.

Boston College Recap
Penn Recap

Interview with John Cole

The College Baseball Blog is continuing the series of interviews this week talking with Penn Head Coach John Cole. He is entering his second season with the Quakers. He comes from Division 3 power Rowan where he was the head coach for seven season including making the tournament in five seasons. His record was an outstanding 229-73. We would like to thank Coach Cole for doing this interview and hope that his Quakers have a great season in the Ivy League.

1) The Penn program is coming off a rough 12-27 overall record and a 7-13 record in the Gehrig Division of the Ivy League. The good part is that you guys return seven starters from the team including Joey Boaen (.349 average in 2006) and Josh Corn (.346 average in 2006). Do you expect any of the newcomers to make a major impact in 2007?

We have an excellent freshman class highlighted by lefthander Jim Birmingham (24th round Washington Nationals). They are an athletic group made up mostly of pitchers and middle infielders. These freshmen will have to mature quickly, as many will see time in the field and a large quantity of our innings on the mound will come from this group.

2) Penn Baseball finished in 2nd place in the Gehrig Division in 2006 behind Princeton. What is a logical expectation for your team and the Ancient eight conference?

Our expectations this year are high; however we know several teams are much more experienced at key positions. The advantage this year is going through the league once gives you a realistic view of what to expect from your team and the other teams in the league.

3) The uniform start date goes into effect next season, How will that affect your team in the future? Also, What are your thoughts on the rule change?

The uniform date will have no effect on our team or on our league. Our league rules prevent us from practicing before February 1st and playing before March 1st. We will hopefully have a little more equality with the good weather teams as far as the number of games played before our spring trip.

4) John, You were named the head coach of Penn on March 30th 2005. What is the biggest challenge you have faced with the move from Division 3 Rowan University to Division 1 Penn?

The biggest challenge in the Ivy League is to accommodate so many different schedules. The time requirements for classes and exams can really compress the day. You really have to be able to adjust and try to accommodate as many variables as possible. The four game weekends also put pressure on a pitching staff. You must be really deep on the mound or you can be in trouble by the end of the weekend.

5) What player or coach have you enjoyed working with the most during your career?

I have enjoyed working with many players and all the coaches that I have come into contact during my career. The passion for the game, a strong work ethic and great people skills seems to be the kind of people I really enjoy working with. I am really looking forward to the beginning of the 2007 season!

Grover Powell

I know that you might not know who Grover Powell was but he is one of the best pitchers ever for the University of Pennsylvania (1966 grad). He is a interesting character because in his sophomore season which was 1962, he went 4-0 with 166 strikeouts which led the nation that season. He was kicked off the team before his junior season by future NBA player/coach/GM Jack McCloskey for basically being an odd character. He ended up turning pro with the New York Mets. He had one tremendous start against the Phillies and in his next appearance was struck int he face by a line drive off a bat. He recovered but never won another game. He died in 1985 after being diagnosed with acute leukemia. A very nice article abotu him is available here.