Box Score (PDF)

EASTON, Pa. - The University of Pennsylvania baseball team won its seventh-straight game Wednesday, taking down Lafayette 9-8 at Kamine Stadium in Easton, Pa., due in large part to a six-run first inning. The victory marks the seventh in a row over Lafayette - and 14th of the last 17 against the Leopards - as the Quakers advance in the Liberty Bell Classic, matching up with Villanova in the semifinals next Tuesday.

Lafayette 8, Penn 9
WP: Billy Lescher (1-1) LP: Kyle Johnson (0-1) SV: Jake Nelson (3)

BY THE NUMBERS
*1 - Wednesday's 9-8 victory marks the first road win of the 2017 season for Penn, as well as their first win in the Navy/Gray/Gray uniform combination.
*5 - Penn improves to a perfect 5-0 in games this season when scoring first.
*6 - The Quakers erupted for six runs in the first inning of Wednesday's 9-8 win over Lafayette. Entering Wednesday's game, the Quakers had scored just two runs combined in the first inning of the first 17 games this season.
*7 - Penn extended its current win streak to seven in the midweek win, matching the highest win streak since March 30 - April 4, 2015. The last time the Quakers won this many consecutive games under Coach John Yurkow was in 2014, when Penn ripped off 11 wins in a row.
*9 - After stranding three more inherited runners Wednesday, Billy Lescher has now stranded all nine runners he's inherited this season in eight relief appearances.
*14 - With two more hits today, Andrew Murnane extended his team-leading hit streak to seven, while also picking up his sixth multi-hit game during that stretch. Murnane is batting .467 (14-30) during this seven-game stretch with ten runs scored and 12 RBIs.


HOW IT HAPPENED
Penn raced out to an early six-run lead in the first inning of Wednesday's Liberty Bell Classic opener, as the Quakers batted around thanks to seven hits in the frame against Lafayette starter Brendan Ball. Andrew Murnane led off the game with a single on the first pitch, and moved to third after Chris Adams reached on an error. Tim Graul and Sean Phelan followed with consecutive run-scoring singles - and after an infield hit from Peter Matt - Matt McGeagh broke the inning open with a two-run double into the right field corner to give Penn a 4-0 lead. Following an RBI ground out from Thomas Pellis, Matt Tola capped the inning off with a base hit back through the middle to bring in McGeagh with the sixth run of the inning.

Lafayette (2-23) did not go away quietly, however, as the Leopards responded with four runs of their own in the bottom of the second. After a leadoff walk to Spencer Rouse, the Leopards strung together five-straight singles to cut the deficit to two after two full innings. Lafayette also added a single tally in the third on an infield error to make it a one-run game.

Following their six-run outburst in the first inning, the Quakers were held hitless for the next three frames until McGeagh drove a double to the gap in right-center, setting up second and third with one out. Tola came through with his second run-scoring knock of the day to put the Quakers back up 7-5 in the fifth. Lafayette rallied with two of their own in the bottom half to tie the game at seven and threatened to take the lead after loading the bases with one out, forcing Coach Yurkow to summon Billy Lescher from the bullpen. Lescher wasted no time getting Penn out of the jam, as he induced a 4-6-3 double play on the first batter he faced to strand all three inherited runners.

The Quakers carried that momentum into the top half of the sixth, as Adams walked to start the inning before advancing to second on a Graul ground out. Phelan followed with his team-leading 24th hit - an opposite-field single to left - to bring Adams across as Penn regained the lead, 8-7.

Penn made it a two-run game in the seventh after Tola crossed the plate following a wild pitch with two outs, but Lafayette put itself in position to mount another comeback. After Jack Hartman tossed a perfect seventh inning, the Leopards loaded the bases with two outs against reliever Grant Guillory, eventually pushing across a run on a bases-loaded walk to make it a one-run game. Guillory rebounded to get the next batter to line out to Phelan to leave the bases loaded, and Jake Nelson put together a hitless ninth inning for his third save of the season to seal the Quakers' seventh-straight win.

WHAT'S NEXT
The Quakers (9-9) return home to Meiklejohn Stadium this weekend to open Ivy League play, hosting Dartmouth (Sat.) and Harvard (Sun.) in doubleheaders both days. The Big Green (10-6) and Crimson (10-8) currently sit atop the Red Rolfe Division heading into the first Ivy weekend of the 2017 season.

#FightOnPenn