SP OR TS
THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN
THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 2014 PAGE B3
THE BUZZ: THREE UP THREE DOWN
Penn baseball hits the road vs. Villanova BY STEVEN TYDINGS From The Daily Pennsylvanian’s sports blog, THE BUZZ A f t e r P e n n b a s e b a l l ’s matchup at Villanova was postponed on March 19, the Quakers will play the resch edul ed gam e with th e Wildcats on Thursday. With just two games until the start of Ivy play, the Red and Blue (5-10) look to maintain the momentum they picked up af te r d e feating Lafayet te three times last weekend. Meanwhile, Villanova (7-14) lost two of three in a series with Northwestern. Without further ado, here is a three up, three down for the Thursday matchup. Three Up Jake Cousins — The freshman starting pitcher is the probable pitcher for Penn on Thursday and would be making his second career start. In four appearances this year, Cousins has a 1.23 earned run average, allowing just 10 baserunners in seven and onethird innings pitched. In his first start against Delaware State on March 11, he was able to work himself out of early trouble and should be
Borden knows development will take time SOFTBALL from page B1 with floppy ears that wiggled in the brisk wind. “My grandma bought it,” Borden said w ith a proud laugh. “The coach doesn’t like it though because she doesn’t think I’m being serious, so I
more steady five appearances into his career. Gary Tesch — The sophomore outfielder was impressive last weekend against the Leopards, garnering accolades as the Iv y League Player of the Week. He had six hits, including a home run, and stole two bases. Expect Tesch to keep up the offense while playing well in center field for the Red and Blue. Michael Vilardo — After the sophomore second baseman had just three hits in t hree ga mes to st a r t last weekend, he exploded to the tune of four hits in four at-bats in the latter half of Penn’s road doubleheader vs. Lafayette. Vilardo came around to score four times as well, which helped the Quakers score 11 runs, their secondbest offensive output of the year. After a strong freshman year, this may be a sign that Sichao Wang/Staff Photographer Vilardo is avoiding a sophomore slump. Sophomore centerfielder Gary Tesch had a great weekend vs. Lafayette, notching six hits which included a home run. That performance earned him Ivy League Three Down Player of the Week and he’ll look to continue that success vs. the Wildcats. The Quakers play at Villanova on Thursday afternoon at 3:15 p.m. Jeff Courter — The junior pitcher for Villanova is the on his first start of the year, a get a heavy dose of Ivy play Hartman set vs. Lafayette, record at Meiklejohn Stadium. expected starter on Thurs- 7-2 loss vs. Miami at Alex Ro- with Yale and Brown com- the Quakers w ill be ready Villanova is the last non-Ivy day. So far in the season, he driguez Park in Coral Gables, ing to town for doublehead- for those key Ancient Eight team that the Red and Blue has struggled to the tune of Fla. ers on Saturday and Sunday. matchups. play on the road, so if there is an 8.56 ERA, allowing 20 hits Nonconference play — With Penn getting its rotation Road woes — The Quak- any time to start getting used and six walks in 13.2 innings. After the Red and Blue face of Connor Cuff, Dan Gautei- ers are just 3-8 on the road to being the away team, this Courter will look to improve ‘Nova on Thursday, they will ri, Ronnie Glenn and Jack this year while sporting a 2-0 would be it.
had to keep the ears covered all day.” Even after earning accolade upon accolade, Borden remains grounded. “There’s always a new day, and you can’t look at things in a negative light,” she said. Borden says that staying positive was the biggest lesson she learned from last year’s NCAA Tournament experience. The Red and Blue had a tumultuous postseason experience in 2013. In their first game at College Station, the Quakers fell to Texas A&M, 12-0.
“I got beat up pretty badly,” she recalled. “But you just have to learn to let things go.” The next day the Quakers came back and almost pulled off a victory over Arizona, before falling 3-2, a feat Borden considers “crazy.” In the game against the Wildcats, Borden pitched with ferocity, allowing only two runs and issuing no walks. This season, though, Borden knows that her role on the team has changed. “Now that the team is so young, it is even more impor-
tant for the people that were sophomores last year to play more of a leader role,” she said. Borden is patient, knowing that it will take time to develop the same chemistry as the 2013 squad. On the diamond she misses the backup from her biggest role models, shortstop Steph Caso C’13 and secondbaseman Sam Erosa C’13. “I always felt so comfortable out on the field with them,” Borden said. “[The freshmen] are all so raw and so athletic. Right now it doesn’t seem like we’re too good, but we are talented.
“It’ll get there.” In the meantime, the team is looking ahead to the Ivy League season, which opens with a doubleheader against Yale at Penn Park on Friday. Borden is taking an unorthodox approach to preparing for Friday’s game. “For Ivy League games I write a quote on a piece of tape and wrap it around my hand.... It’s a special thing,” she said. When asked what the quote is for the Yale games, Borden admitted, “I don’t know yet. “But I have a list going.”
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