Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The University of Pennsylvania baseball team returned to the Ivy League Championship Series for the first time in ten seasons and in search of its first title since 1995, but came up short of Yale in the first two games of the best-of-three series, 5-0 and 11-7. The Quakers finish the season with the fifth-most wins in program history with 23 and the program's first Ivy League Gehrig Division title since the 2007 season.

Ivy League Championship Series: Game 1
Penn 0, Yale 5
WP: Scott Politz (9-2) LP: Jake Cousins (7-2)

Ivy League Championship Series: Game 2
Yale 11, Penn 7
WP: Eric Brodkowitz (5-2) LP: Adam Bleday (2-5)

BY THE NUMBERS

*23 - Penn finishes the 2017 campaign with 23 wins, tied for the fifth-most in program history (1974, 1990). This seasons win total is also the second highest under Head Coach John Yurkow.

*20 - Senior pitcher Jake Cousins finishes his career with 20 wins on the mound, which is good for third on Penn's all-time wins list. Cousins' 2.91 career ERA is good for sixth in the history of the program.

*41 - Senior Tim Graul caps off his Penn career with the 2017 Ivy League batting title (.468), as well as the fourth-most career doubles in program history with 41. Graul's 65 hits this season tie for fourth in the all-time single-season record books.

*74 - Adam Bleday finished off his 2017 season with 74 strikeouts, which now stands sixth all-time in a single season on the program's strikeout list.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Penn 0, Yale 5
Jake Cousins and Yale starter Scott Politz were locked into a pitcher's duel from the onset of the Ivy League Championship Series opener. Despite allowing the leadoff batter to reach in each of the first three innings, Cousins regrouped to strand runners in scoring position in both the first and third innings to hold Yale scoreless through three.

Politz was equally impressive against the Penn lineup, as the sophomore right-hander retired 16 in a row after allowing the first two batters to reach in the top of the first.

After getting the leadoff man on for the fourth consecutive inning, Yale broke the scoreless tie with a run in the bottom of the fourth. With runners on second and third and no outs after a Griffin Dey double, Alex Stiegler brought in the game's first run on a sacrifice fly to right Harrison White - who walked to start the frame. The Bulldogs kept the pressure on in the bottom of the fifth with two runs to extend the lead to three on a run-scoring knock to left from Richard Slenker followed by White's double into the right-center field gap to push across the second run of the frame.

After Yale posted another two-spot in the sixth - capped off by Tim DeGraw's sac fly to center - the Quakers looked poised to cut into the deficit in their half of the seventh. Sean Phelan and Matt O'Neill each lined consecutive one-out singles, but Penn could not find a way to bring either one home as Yale held on for a 5-0 victory.

Politz turned in a complete-game, five-hit shutout in the game one win to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 ILCS lead.

Chris Adams paced the Penn offense with two hits, both singles.

Yale 11, Penn 7
The Bulldog offense came out swinging early in game two, scoring four runs on four hits in the top of the first highlighted by Benny Wanger's two-run home run down the right field line. Yale later padded its lead in the top of the third as DeGraw lifted a two-out, three-run shot to left, forcing Penn to go to its bullpen far sooner than expected. Wanger deposited a three-run homer over the wall in center field - his second of the game - to cap off the six run frame.

Penn's lineup came to life in the bottom of the fifth with three runs on three hits to cut into the deficit. O'Neill reached on an error and Thomas Pellis bounced one back through the middle to start the frame, and following Matt Tola's single to left to load the bases, Adams drew a full count walk to force in a run. Andrew Murnane kept the line moving with a sacrifice fly to center before Tim Graul brought in the third and final run with a liner up the middle to score Tola from third.

Graul continued Penn's efforts to chip away at Yale's lead in the bottom of the seventh, launching a long two-run home run to left to score Murnane, who doubled to lead off the frame. Daniel Halevy kept up the long ball trend in the eighth, leading off the bottom of the frame with a lined shot off the bottom of the foul pole in left. Although it was originally ruled off the fence and in play, a meeting of the four umpires was called to discuss the call - and eventually overturn it - to credit Halevy with the solo homer. Tola followed with a double down the left field line and later came around to score on a double play to make it an 11-7 game.

Despite scoring seven unanswered runs from the fifth inning on, the Quakers could not complete the comeback as Yale (30-16, 16-4 Ivy) captured its sixth Ivy League title in the game two, 11-7 win.

Mike Reitcheck tossed two scoreless innings in relief for Penn, while Graul, Halevy and Tola paced the offense with three hits each.

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