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

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

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

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.

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

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

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!

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.