PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania baseball program welcomed fans to Meiklejohn Stadium for the first time this season, and rewarded fans with a pair of wins and 26 runs for the Red and Blue in Saturday's doubleheader against Fairleigh Dickinson.
 
Penn won the first game, 8-4, in seven innings. The Quakers then scored 18 unanswered runs to storm back from an early 5-0 deficit to win 18-5.
 
NOTES
*Penn's seven-run seventh inning marked a season-high for runs scored in an inning.
 
*The Quakers have reached double digits in runs scored in four of their last six games.
 
*Penn has tallied at least ten hits in five of its last six games.
 
*Craig Larsen has gone yard in four-consecutive games—the longest home run streak since the Ivy League conference restructure in 1993. Two of Larsen's four home runs were grand slams. He now leads the Quakers with 17 RBI. Over the two games, Larsen tallied seven RBI on four hits.
 
*Over the two games played, Penn scored 26 runs on 27 hits.
 
*Kevin Eaise threw 4.1 innings of scoreless relief. The freshman earned his second victory of the season after surrendering just two hits, and fanning one. In his last three appearances, Eaise has not allowed a run in 9.1 innings pitched.
 
*Tim Miller made his first appearance of the season, pitching the final inning for Penn. He allowed two hits but retired the side without allowing a run.
 
*Peter Matt has registered a hit in all 11 of Penn's games so far this season. Today, he went 5-of-8 with five RBI.
 
*Hood had a perfect day at the plate in game two of the doubleheader. He went 3-of-3 with two doubles and four RBI. He became the first Penn player to post a perfect single-game average with three or more at-bats since Tim Graul went 4-of-4 against St. Peters on April 9, 2014.
 
*Matt, Larsen, and Josh Hood all registered four RBI in the second game of the doubleheader.
 
*Christian Scafidi moved to 2-0 on the season after three starts. Today, he pitched six innings and fanned six batters. The junior captain has pitched 18.6 innings this season while striking out 14 batters and posting an ERA of 3.86.
 
*Tommy Courtney hit his first collegiate home run in game one—a solo shot over the right field wall.
 
*Sean Phelan knocked his second homer of the season, crushing a ball over the center field wall. According to FlightScope, the ball traveled 409 feet with an exit velocity of 100.9 mph and a launch angle of 10.4 degrees.
 
*Jackson Petersen got his first hit of the season in game one of the doubleheader, then drove in his first RBI of the season in the second game.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: GAME 1
Penn jumped out to an early lead as O'Neill hit an RBI single in the bottom of the first to plate Malinowski. Fairleigh Dickinson tied the game in the top of the second, but an RBI single for Matt reestablished Penn's lead to make it 2-1.
 
Larsen hit his third home run in three-consecutive games with a three-run shot to left center to extend the Quakers' lead in the third inning.
 
Courtney hit a leadoff solo home run—the first of his collegiate career—over the right field wall to start the fourth inning for Penn. O'Neill got his second RBI of the game later in the inning to give Penn a 7-1 lead.
 
The Knights cut into Penn's lead with a two-run home run in the fifth inning. Eduardo Malinowski brought in the Quakers' eighth run of the game with a sac fly to right field. Fairleigh Dickinson added one more run in the seventh inning, but any chance of a comeback was stifled as Jacob Sadowitz came in for the final inning and retired the side.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: GAME 2
Fairleigh Dickinson jumped out to a quick lead in the second game of the doubleheader. The Knights took the lead on a sac fly in the first inning and added a second run in the second inning as an RBI single made it 2-0. A three-run fourth inning—with FDU scoring on two hits—extended the lead to 5-0.
 
From this point on, the Quakers' offense clicked. Penn scored 18-unanswered runs over four innings, with seven players tallying at least one RBI and all nine starters registering a run.
 
Hood started the scoring for Penn with an RBI single to center in the fourth. Matt drove in two runners to make it 5-3 with another single to center in the fourth inning. The Quakers clawed back to make it a one-run game later in the inning as Courtney scored on a passed ball.
 
Phelan tied the game in the fifth after punishing a ball over the batter's eye in center field. His solo shot traveled 409 feet with an exit velocity of 100.9 mph and a launch angle of 10.4 degrees. Penn took a 6-5 lead later in the inning on a bases-loaded walk.
 
The Quakers continued to pile on the runs in the sixth inning. Larsen hit his second grand slam of the week and fourth home run in consecutive games to give Penn a five-run lead. Hood hit an RBI double later in the inning, plating Malinowski, to make it 11-5.
 
Penn capped off an incredible offensive performance with seven runs in the seventh inning—the most runs the Quakers have tallied in a single inning this season.
 
Malinowski got it going with a bases-loaded RBI single past the third baseman. Hood brought in two more with a double to left field, making it 14-5 in favor of Penn.
 
McGeagh plated Malinowski to give the Quakers a 10-run lead with a single to right. Petersen tallied his first RBI of the season with a single to right. Matt capped off the scoring for Penn after a two-RBI double to right field gave the Quakers a 18-5 lead.
 
WHAT'S NEXT?
Penn travels to Teaneck, N.J. tomorrow for another doubleheader with Fairleigh Dickinson, with game one's first pitch coming at noon.