Philadelphia college baseball notebook
It's still extremely early in the college baseball season, but the brightest storyline involving the Philadelphia D-I scene involves the impact of the overall freshmen class.

Villanova has Nick Lorusso hitting .378 with a homer and 10 RBIs. La Salle has Aidan Frye who pieced together a masterful performance on the mound last week with a complete-game shutout, plus catcher Matt Rivera hitting .409 with a pair of homers and two doubles in seven games.

The latest freshmen headlines though belong to Penn where newcomers Tommy Courtney and Craig Larsen both played pivotal roles in leading the Quakers to a two-game series sweep of No. 22 Duke. Tuesday's win came in extras as Courtney drove in the game-winner while Wednesday's victory came via a Larsen ninth inning RBI-double. Oh yeah, freshmen hurler Seth DeVries tossed two scoreless frames on Tuesday to secure the win.

"It was a great series win against a nationally ranked program," said Penn head coach John Yukrow. "It's awesome to see our first-year players contribute on the mound and at the plate. Hoping we can keep the momentum going against Winthrop."

Gwynedd Mercy back in the win column
The Griffins lost their first five contests to open the season, but pieced together a strong spring break trip in central Florida winning four of five to get back to within a game of .500.

Senior Dave Tatoian carried the offense, hitting .556 (10-for-18) with six runs and six RBIs in five games. He also contributed on the mound, tossing an inning while collecting three strikeouts and a save.

The Griffins resume play on Saturday with a doubleheader at Saint Mary's College of Maryland.

Cabrini rolling thanks to strong pitching
Sophomore Andrew Corso has put together three solid starts for the Cavs and enters the weekend with a 2.81 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP.

Cabrini travels to Maryland for a doubleheader with Stevenson on Saturday before hosting Hilbert in their home opener on Sunday.

A bright spot for USciences
The Devils are off to a 1-8 start to open the season and are hitting just .221 as a team, but a bright spot is junior Nate Steele who is hitting .414 with two homers and 10 RBIs. He twice has been named Philadelphia Baseball Review's D-II Hitter of the Week.

Swarthmore finally set to open season
The weather has played havoc on the schedules for many Philadelphia teams, but perhaps none other than No. 5 Swarthmore. The Garnet have had to postpone or cancel seven games and have yet to take the field this season. They are one of only five teams ranked in the D3baseball.com Top 25 that has yet to play a contest.

The club will spend the next week down in Florida and is scheduled to face Heidelberg on Saturday morning and Scranton in the afternoon as part of a doubleheader.
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Follow Patrick on Twitter: @PGordonPBR

BY PATRICK GORDON
Managing Editor
pgordon@philadelphiabaseballreview.com

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