Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score
NEW YORK, N.Y. - The University of Pennsylvania baseball team took another step closer to claiming the Ivy League Gehrig Division title Friday at Columbia with a doubleheader split. The Quakers rode a five-run first inning in game one - highlighted by Matt O'Neill's three-run home run - to take down the Lions 7-6 before falling in the nightcap, 12-7, despite two long balls from Thomas Pellis. With Friday's game one win, Penn guarantees at least a one-game playoff for the Gehrig Division title, and a win Saturday clinches a spot in the Ivy League Championship Series.
GAME 1
Penn 7, Columbia 6
WP: Jake Cousins (6-1) LP: Josh Simpson (4-2) SV: Billy Lescher (4)
Game 2
Penn 7, Columbia 12
WP: Ty Wiest (2-3) LP: Adam Bleday (2-4)
BY THE NUMBERS
*2 - Thomas Pellis belted two home runs in game two today, marking the second multi-home run game this season for the Quakers (Daniel Halevy, April 8 at Brown). Penn produced five long balls in Friday's nightcap, the most in a single game this season.
*5 - Matt O'Neill homered in each game Friday to push his season total to five - setting a new single-season career-high.
*11 - Over his last 11 appearances, Billy Lescher has been nothing short of dominant on the mound, allowing just one run in 20 and two-thirds innings pitched while striking out 28. The right-hander has struck out at least two in nine of those relief appearances on the mound.
*19 - Jake Cousins secured his 19th career win in the series opener Friday, moving him into a three-way tie for third on Penn's all-time wins list.
*41 - Tim Graul's two doubles in game one were the 40th and 41st of his career, moving him into sole possession of third on Penn's all-time doubles list. Graul has at least one double in six of his last ten games.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game One: Penn 7, Columbia 6
The Quakers put all of their recent offensive struggles behind them in a hurry Friday with a five-run on seven hits in the first inning, giving the Ivy League's ERA leader, Jake Cousins, plenty of run support from the onset. Tim Graul started things off with a one-out double before Sean Phelan drove in the senior with a single to center for the game's first run.
Penn was just getting started, however, as Matt McGeagh followed with a base knock setting up two on and one out for Matt O'Neill. O'Neill came through with a towering three-run home run to right-center - his fourth of the season - and Matt Tola's RBI double to left provided the fifth run to cap off the opening frame.
Columbia put a single tally on the board in the third on sacrifice fly to left-center from Ben Porter to make it a 5-1 game, but Graul put the Quakers back ahead by five in the top of the fourth with a double to right-center - his second of the game - to score Chris Adams all the way from first.
The Lions kept the pressure on the Quakers heading into the late innings with a four-run fifth inning to get within one, powered by home runs from Julian Bury and Kyle Bartelman. Bury continued his solid day at the plate in the sixth with a two-out, RBI double to left-center to bring in the tying run as Penn and Columbia remained deadlocked at six heading into the final frame.
Graul added to his torrid season at the plate in Ivy League play with a leadoff triple to right to start the seventh, standing as the go-ahead run just 90 feet away. Following a ground out, Columbia went to its bullpen for the first time and the first pitch from reliever Brett Gannaway sailed over the head of the catcher, allowing Graul to race home with the eventual go-ahead run.
Billy Lescher came on to work the seventh and was lights out, striking out the final two batters to pick up his fourth save of the season. Cousins tossed six innings and struck out six to pick up his team-leading sixth win of the season and the 19th of his career, moving him into a tie for fourth on the program's all-time wins list. O'Neill and Andrew Murnane each recorded two hits for the Quakers and Graul paced the offense with three extra-base hits in the game one win.
Game Two: Penn 7, Columbia 12
The Quaker offense relied solely on the long ball in Friday's game two, as Halevy got things started with a third-inning solo shot to left-center for his fourth of the season. O'Neill followed suit in the fourth with a solo shot of his own to left on a full-count offering, extending the lead to two while also setting a single-season career-high for the sophomore backstop. Pellis made it three consecutive innings with a Penn home run, this time going deep to right-center as the Quakers held on to a 3-0 lead.
Besides the power surge from the middle of the Penn lineup, the Quakers struggled to get anything going offensively as the three solo shots served as the only hits through eight innings. Columbia took advantage of the quiet Penn bats in the middle innings by pushing across four runs on four hits in the fifth to take a 4-3 lead. The Lions carried that momentum into the sixth, bringing around three runs in the frame before home runs from Bartelman and Chandler Bengston highlighted a five-run eighth to break the game open.
Penn did not go down without a fight in the ninth, as Phelan pulled a two-run home run to right followed by Pellis' two-run line drive blast to left to cut the deficit to five. However, the Lions would eventually hold on in the end to escape with a 12-5 win to keep their title hopes alive.
Willy Thomas picked up his first collegiate hit with a double down the right field line in the ninth inning and later came around to score on Pellis' homer. Pellis led the offense with two hits and three driven in, while Grant Guillory put together a scoreless appearance in relief.
WHAT'S NEXT
Penn (22-18, 12-6 Ivy) returns home to Meiklejohn Stadium Saturday to conclude regular season play in the final two games of the series with Columbia (16-22, 10-8 Ivy) with the Ivy League Gehrig Division title on the line. The Quakers will also hold Senior Day Saturday by recognizing the program's six seniors prior to first pitch of game one, scheduled for 1 p.m.
