Game 1 Box

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla - The University of Pennsylvania baseball team picked up its first win of the 2017 season Saturday, taking the first game of the doubleheader against Fairfield 6-3 before falling game two, 7-5. Jake Cousins notched his first win on the mound, tossing six and two-thirds innings of one-run ball, while third baseman Matt McGeagh right fielder Tim Graul sparked the offense with third inning home runs.

GAME 1:
Fairfield 3, Penn 6
WP: Jake Cousins (1-1)
LP: John Signore (0-2)

GAME 2:
Fairfield 7, Penn 5
WP: Gavin Wallace (2-1)
LP: Billy Lescher (0-1)
SV: Peter Horn (1)

BY THE NUMBERS
*3 - First baseman Sean Phelan and second baseman Chris Adams both recorded their third multi-hit game of the season in game one.
*4 - Penn totaled just four strikeouts as a team in game one, their lowest mark of the season.
*7 - Between the two games, Penn scored seven of their 11 runs with two outs. As a team, the Quakers batted .350 (7-20) with runners in scoring position and had five two-out hits in each game.
*11 - The Quakers' lineup produced 11 hits in the game one victory, including a team and season-high four from second baseman Chris Adams. Since Adams has moved to the top spot in the order, he's batting .300 (6-20) with an on-base percentage of .417.
*12 - Tim Graul hit his first home run of the season - and 12th of his career -  with a two-run shot to left in the third inning to give Penn the lead.
*56 - With Graul's two-run home run in the third inning, the Quakers took their first lead in 56 innings this season.

HOW IT HAPPENED
GAME 1
Jake Cousins took the mound for his second start of the season and was dominant for Penn. His only blemish came in the third inning when Fairfield's Tim Zeng led off with a double and moved to third on a wild pitch. The Stags attempted a safety squeeze play to get Zeng across and succeeded when the ball was thrown wide and past catcher Matt O'Neill, giving Fairfield an early lead. However, the senior right-hander settled in from there, finishing with a line of six and two-third innings pitched, five hits, four strikeouts and no earned runs to put himself in line for the win.

The Quakers responded in the bottom of the third when Matt McGeagh lifted a towering solo home run to lead off the inning and tie the game at one. Following a Chris Adams single, Tim Graul sent an offering from John Signore over the left field fence for a two-run homer - giving the Quakers a 3-1 advantage - and their first lead of the season.

Penn added all the insurance runs they would need in the fourth inning with back-to-back two-out RBI singles from Andrew Murnane and Adams to extend the lead to five. John Alan Kendrick and Grant Guillory combined to throw two and one-third innings out of the bullpen, allowing two unearned runs, to seal the win for the Quakers and snap the losing streak to open the season.

GAME 2
The Stags jumped out to an early lead in game two, totaling three runs on seven hits in the first three innings. It was quite the opposite for Penn in the early going, as the lineup was just 2-for-11 in the first three innings, but the fourth inning proved to be the turning point yet again.

Sean Phelan worked a walk to lead off the fourth, and although two consecutive strikeouts followed, the Quakers strung together four-straight two-out hits to take a one-run lead. Murnane's two-run single dropped in between three Stag defenders in the outfield to cap off the four-run fourth.

Fairfield tied the game with a single tally in the fifth, then added two more in the sixth on a run-scoring double from Jake Gethings to take a two-run lead in the late innings. Despite a RBI double into the left field corner from Holden Morris in the sixth to cut the deficit to one, Fairfield reliever Peter Horn came on and recorded two perfect innings out of the bullpen to get the save and secure the game two victory for the Stags.

WHAT'S NEXT
The Quakers wrap up the three-game series with Fairfield - and the week in Port St. Lucie - tomorrow at 10am from First Data Field. Mike Reitcheck (0-0, 0.00 ERA) gets the start for Penn opposite Fairfield's Kyle Dube.