April 5, 2011

Baseball Weekly Release - Week 6

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Ivy League action got underway last week with all eight teams playing four cross division contests. Penn and Princeton were the lone two squads to exit the weekend unscathed, both going 4-0. The Quakers swept Harvard and defending Ivy champ Dartmouth while the Tigers took two games each from Brown and Yale. Penn and Princeton now sit atop the Gehrig Division standings, followed by Columbia at 2-2 and Cornell at 1-3.

In the Rolfe Division, the Big Green swept a pair of games against Columbia – it's rival in the 2010 Ivy League Championship Tournament Series. Yale also went 2-2 on the weekend with wins over Cornell. Brown split it's double header with Cornell and dropped a pair to Princeton to sit at 1-3. The lone squad still in search of an Ivy win is Harvard, whcih dropped four games by a combined score of 35-10.

This weekend the Ancient Eight wrap up cross division play before heading into four-game series with their division rivals the following week.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Jeremy Maas (Alpharetta, Ga.) picks up the Quakers’ first Player of the Week honor of the 2011 season after a standout performance as Ivy play got underway. The senior outfielder led Penn’s offense to a 4-1 week, including a weekend sweep of Harvard and Dartmouth for the first time since April of 2003. Maas had four multi-hit games and a team-high six RBIs while striking out just once in 21 at-bats. He went 2-for-4 with two runs in the Quakers’ 8-1 win over Harvard, then matched a career high with four hits, including a two-run homer in the eighth inning of Penn’s come-from-behind 14-10 victory over reigning Ivy League champion Dartmouth.

Maas’ Weekly Statistics
5 GP, .571 AVG (12-for-21), .857 SLG%, 5 Runs, 3 2B, 1 HR, 1 BB, 6 RBIs, Team: 4-1

PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Paul Cusick (Wilmington, Del.) set the tone for Penn in the team’s opening Ivy League game, tossing a complete-game five-hitter against Harvard on Saturday to earn Pitcher of the Week honors. The senior righty gave up just one unearned run and stuck out a career-high 12 batters in seven complete innings of work. He issued one walk and gave up just one extra base hit, a double. The 12 strikeouts are the most for a Quaker since Josh Appell had 15 in 2005. Cusick’s 12 strikeouts also moved him into seventh place on the school’s all-time strikeout list with 162.

Cusick’s Weekly Statistics
1 APP, 1 GS, 1 CG, 7.0 IP, 12 K, 5 Hits, 1 BB, 0.00 ERA, 1-0

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Princeton’s Mike Ford (Belle Mead, N.J.) turned in a stellar week at the plate, on the mound and in the field to earn his first Rookie of the Week award and the first for a Tiger since the 2009 season.

The freshman hit safely in four of five games last week, helping the Tigers to five consecutive wins, including a 4-0 start in Ivy League play. His best games were the double header against Brown when we collected two hits in each game, including a triple and two RBI’s in the opener. The two-way player then took to the mound in the first of two games against Yale, fanning five while walking just one and scattering six hits in the 7-1 Princeton win. Ford also collected an RBI double in the game.

Ford’s Weekly Statistics
5 GP, .316 AVG (6-for-19), .474 SLG%, 4 Runs, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 BB, 4 RBIs, Team: 5-0
1 APP, 1 GS, 1 CG, 7.0 IP, 5 K, 6 Hits, 1 BB, 1.29 ERA, 1-0

HONOR ROLL
Nick Cox, Columbia, Sr., OF (Lake Mary, Fla.)
5 GP, .444 AVG (8-for-18), .611 SLG%, 7 Runs, 3 2B, 1 BB, 1 RBI, Team: 2-3

Chris Cruz, Cornell, Fr., OF (Bay Shore, N.Y.)
1 GP, .400 AVG (6-for-15), .600 SLG%, 2 Runs, 3 2B, 3 BB, 4 RBIs, Team: 1-4

Vinny Lally, Yale, Sr., LHP (Tampa, Fla.)
2 APP, 1 GS, 1 CG, 1 CBO, 8.0 IP, 10 K, 3 BB, 8 Hits, 2.25 ERA, 1-0

Andy Megee, Yale, Sr., 3B (Los Angeles)
5 GP, .400 AVG (8-for-20), .500 SLG%, 5 Runs, 2 2B, 2 SB, 6 RBIs, Team: 3-2

Joe Sclafani, Dartmouth, Jr., SS (Palm City, Fla.)
5 GP, .364 AVG (8-for-22), .636 SLG%, 7 Runs, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 2 BB, 4 RBIs, Team: 3-2

Cole Sulser, Dartmouth, Jr., RHP (Santa Ysabel, Calif.)
1 APP, 1 GS, 7.2 IP, 7 K, 1 BB, 4 Hits, 0.00 ERA, 1-0

Cody Thomson, Penn, Fr., RHP (Thousand Oaks, Calif.)
3 APP, 3.1 IP, 5 K, 1 BB, 2 Hits, 0.00 ERA, 1 SV, 1-0

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Tuesday, April 5
Princeton at Rutgers, 3:30 pm

Wednesday, April 6
Brown at Siena (dh), 2 pm
Cornel at Binghamton, 2 pm
Dartmouth at Quinnipiac, 3 pm
Keystone College at Penn, 3 pm
Yale at Sacred Heart, 3:30 pm
Columbia at Rutgers, 3:30 pm

Thursday, April 7
Harvard at Bryant, 3:30 pm

Saturday, April 9
*Penn at Yale (dh), Noon
*Columbia at Brown (dh), Noon
*Cornell at Dartmouth (dh), Noon
*Princeton at Harvard (dh), Noon

Sunday, April 10
*Penn at Brown (dh), Noon
*Cornell at Harvard (dh), Noon
*Columbia at Yale (dh), Noon
*Princeton at Dartmouth (dh), 1 pm

*Ivy League Contest