Box Score

NEWARK, Del. - The University of Pennsylvania baseball team scored seven unanswered runs between the fifth and sixth innings Wednesday after falling behind six runs in the first, but ultimately fell late to Delaware, 10-9. Four Quakers had multi-hit games leading to seven extra-base hits on the day, led by two from Matt O'Neill - including a two-out grand slam in the fifth inning.

GAME 28
Penn 9, Delaware 10
WP: Cole Benjamin (1-0) LP: Grant Guillory (1-1) SV: Burk FitzPatrick (1)

BY THE NUMBERS
*1 - Three Quakers had career-firsts in Wednesday's action at Delaware: Matt O'Neill hit his first-career grand slam, Tommy Pellis hit his first-career home run and Christian Scafidi tossed three scoreless innings in relief - marking the freshman's longest outing to date.
*3 - After starting the season a perfect 11-0 when leading after six innings, the Quakers have now their last three when holding a lead after six.
*4 - O'Neill set a new career-high in RBIs in a single game with four, thanks to his first-career grand slam in the fifth inning Wednesday.
*13 - O'Neill threw out two more runners attempting to steal Wednesday, raising his total to 13 on the season. The sophomore has thwarted 48% (13-27) of stolen base attempts by the opposition in 2017.
*16 - Despite his hit streak ending at 13 in the loss, Matt McGeagh extended his on-base streak to 16 after reaching via a hit by pitch twice.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Quakers had a chance to get on the board in the opening frame after Tim Graul singled and Sean Phelan was hit by a pitch with one out before both advanced into scoring position after a wild pitch. With the contact play on, Graul was thrown out at the plate on a ground ball to first for the second out, and Delaware stranded Phelan on a ground out to third to end the inning.

The Blue Hens (17-14) capitalized on the Quakers' inability to score in the home half, putting up six runs on six hits as the first four batters came around to score before an out could be recorded. Delaware sent a total of 11 men to the plate in the inning to take the early advantage.

Penn began its comeback effort in the third when Matt Tola lined a leadoff double into the left field corner and later scored on Phelan's sacrifice fly to left. After Delaware answered with a run in the bottom half, the Quakers loaded the bases with two outs for Matt O'Neill in the top of the fifth. The sophomore backstop wasted no time getting Penn back in the game, driving a grand slam to right-center to get the Quakers within two.

The Quakers carried that momentum into the sixth, scoring two runs on three hits to complete the comeback and tie the game at seven. Holden Morris, Chris Adams and Graul all doubled in the frame, as Graul's two-bagger to right-center brought in the tying run in Adams. Graul later came in to score on a wild pitch - Penn's seventh unanswered run - to give the Quakers an 8-7 lead.

Despite battling all the way back to take the lead, the Quakers saw themselves relinquish the lead in the late innings as three errors led to three unearned runs in the seventh - allowing the Blue Hens to regain a 10-8 advantage. Tommy Pellis came off the bench in the ninth and delivered a solo home run to right - the first of his career - to make it a one-run game, but Penn could not bring in the tying run with the bases loaded as Delaware escaped with a 10-9 victory.

WHAT'S NEXT
The Quakers (14-14, 4-4 Ivy) return to Ivy League action this weekend at Meiklejohn Stadium, hosting Princeton (9-18, 5-3 Ivy) in a pair of critical doubleheaders both Saturday and Sunday. The Tigers currently hold a one game lead over Penn for first place in the Lou Gehrig Division with three weeks remaining in the season.