Penn Baseball Readying For Division Title Showdown Saturday

By Matt Leon

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- For the second straight year, the University of Pennsylvania baseball team is getting ready for a one-game playoff with the championship of the Ivy League's Gehrig Division at stake.

On Saturday, the Quakers will visit Columbia looking for that division title.

"This is what you play your whole season for," Penn head coach John Yurkow tells KYW Newsradio. "And for it to come down to a one-game playoff against Columbia is extremely exciting. Guys have played really well up to this point and we're just really looking forward to this Saturday."

Listen to the entire interview with Penn's John Yurkow

Penn is 22-14 and they went 16-4 in Ivy League play during the regular season. Yurkow breaks down what has allowed the Quakers to have this success.

"Our starting pitching, it has been great up to this point," Yurkow says. "We have a big group of seniors, ten seniors total who have all contributed this year. It's been nice as a head coach to lean on our older players. They've come through in some clutch situations for us."

That starting pitching has been impressive for the Quakers. The balanced rotation features sophomore left-hander Mike Reitcheck, who is 5-2 with a 1.71 ERA. Sophomore right-hander Jake Cousins is 5-1 with a 2.22 ERA. Senior lefty Ronnie Glenn is 4-3 with a 2.84 ERA while senior right-hander Connor Cuff brings a 4-1 record and 3.00 ERA to the table.

Yurkow says they haven't decided as of yet on a starter for Saturday, but that it will probably be one of the two lefties, Reitcheck or Glenn.

Now last year's one-game playoff for the Gehrig Division title for Penn was also against Columbia, the only difference being that game was played on Penn's home field. Columbia won that match-up, 4-0. But Yurkow thinks that experience will pay big dividends for his team this time around.

"I think it's a huge advantage," Yurkow says. "Last year it was uncharted waters for us going into that one-game playoff. Having that experience, our players, just knowing what to expect in a big game. Just this past weekend, all the games, they were extremely exciting, there was a lot of pressure and we performed well. So it's a little more comforting knowing that we've been there before and I think the guys are really confident going into this weekend. We've played well up at Columbia and I like our match-up up there this weekend."

The winner of Penn and Columbia will move on to face Dartmouth in the Ivy League championship series. The Big Green won the Rolfe Division for an eighth straight year.

First pitch on Saturday is set for 1:00pm.

You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.