Game 1 Box Score

Game 2 Box Score

PHILADELPHIA -  The University of Pennsylvania baseball team swept Princeton Saturday, 5-4 and 3-1, to take over sole possession of first-place in the Ivy League Gehrig Division standings. Tim Graul's ninth-inning, walk-off single lifted the Quakers to the game one win before Adam Bleday turned in a complete-game effort on the mound - including seven and two-thirds scoreless innings - to lead Penn to the game two victory and doubleheader sweep.

GAME 1 (FINAL/9)
Princeton 4, Penn 5

WP: Billy Lescher (2-1) LP: Eli Kimbell (1-1)

GAME 2

Princeton 1, Penn 3

WP: Adam Bleday (2-2) LP: Ryan Smith (1-1)

BY THE NUMBERS

*6 - With the doubleheader sweep of Princeton Saturday, Penn has now won six consecutive games over the Tigers at Meiklejohn Stadium dating back to 2015.

*7 - Jake Cousins turned in his seventh straight start of at least six innings on the mound in the game one win, despite allowing more than two earned runs for the first time all season.

*20 - Tim Graul extended his team-leading on-base streak to 20 in Saturday's sweep of Princeton, collecting two hits in each game

*56 - Adam Bleday was a strikeout shy of a career-high with 11 strikeouts in the game two, complete-game win, increasing his season total to 56 which leads the Ivy League. Bleday punched out just 33 batters in 43 innings of work last season.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Game One

Princeton got off to a quick start offensively in the top of the first, as the Tigers picked up three hits in the opening frame to take a 1-0 lead - capped off by Nick Hernandez's RBI single through the left side.

After recording just one hit through the first three innings, the Quakers finally broke through with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. Sean Phelan lined a double into the left field corner followed by a single from Thomas Pellis and a walk to Daniel Halevy to load the bases. Andrew Murnane then stepped up and delivered the big hit - a three-run triple to left center - to break up the shutout and give the Quakers a 3-1 lead heading into the fifth.

The Tigers answered right back in the top of the fifth, tacking on two runs behind a run-scoring single to left-center off the bat of Asher Lee-Tyson before Zack Belski tied the game at three with a sacrifice fly to center.

Penn and Princeton remained tied at three heading into the bottom of the sixth when Pellis laced a one-out single to left for his third hit of the game. Halevy followed with a knock through the right side to set up first and third with two outs for Matt Tola. The sophomore shortstop came up big for the Quakers, delivering a two-strike, two-out single to right to bring in the go-ahead run in Pellis as Penn took a 4-3 lead into the final frame.

The Tigers would not go away quietly in the bottom of the seventh, as Jesper Horsted sacrificed David Harding into scoring position after a leadoff walk. With two outs in the inning, Princeton brought in the tying run on a two-out error to send the game to extra innings.

Following a scoreless eighth from both sides, Tola led off the bottom of the ninth with a single to center and stole second before Chris Adams' infield hit set up first and third with no outs. With the winning run 90 feet away, Tim Graul added to his league-leading RBI total with a base hit through the left side to score Tola for the 5-4 walk-off win.

Pellis had a team-high three hits in the series opener, while Billy Lescher tossed three scoreless innings of one-hit ball in relief for his second win of the season.

Game Two

Penn carried the momentum from the walk-off win into Saturday's nightcap, loading the bases with one out in the top of the first after base hits from Graul and Phelan. Matt McGeagh followed with a fielder's choice ground out to third to score Graul, giving the Quakers an early 1-0 advantage.

Adam Bleday made his seventh start of the season in game two and had to navigate around traffic on the base paths in the first two innings, but ultimately stranded runners at third in both frames to maintain the one-run lead. The senior was dominant all day, tossing seven scoreless innings - including a stretch of retiring 17 of 20 he faced in the middle innings - while striking out 11 on the day to increase his Ivy League-leading total to 56 on the season.

Despite Bleday's dominance, the Tigers broke through in the top of the eighth to tie the game after a leadoff walk came around to score on a two-out, RBI triple off the wall in right-center from Nick Hernandez.

After being held scoreless since the first inning, the Quaker offense finally came back to life in the bottom of the eighth when Graul singled to left-center to move Adams to third with one out. With the Princeton infield playing in, Phelan grounded a ball to second and Adams raced home and slid just under the tag at the plate to give Penn a 2-1 lead. Matt O'Neill followed with a perfectly-executed squeeze play to score Graul as the Quakers took a 3-1 advantage into the final frame.

Bleday returned to the mound for the ninth with the lead once again, striking out his eleventh batter of the day en route to the first complete-game victory of his career. Graul, McGeagh and Murnane each had two hits apiece in the game two, 3-1 win.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Quakers (16-14, 6-4 Ivy) return to action Sunday at Meikejohn Stadium to wrap up the four-game series with Princeton (9-20, 5-5 Ivy). First pitch is scheduled for noon, with lefties Gabe Kleiman (1-0, 5.16 ERA) and Mike Reitcheck (2-3, 3.27 ERA) set to start on the mound for Penn.

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