GREENSBORO – The University of Pennsylvania baseball program dropped a pair of close games in heartbreaking fashion in a season-opening doubleheader to the University of North Carolina-Greensboro (UNCG). 

The Quakers were tied heading into the bottom of the eighth in both games, but were edged by the Spartans on both occasions. Across the 22 total innings played, Penn tallied 22 hits and 14 strikeouts. 

GAME 1
UNCG 5, Penn 3
WP: Sykes (1-1) LP: Joe Miller (0-1)

NEWS AND NOTES: GAME 1
*Sean Phelan grabbed a pair of RBIs on two hits in four at bats.

*Freshman Tommy Courtney tallied two hits in his collegiate debut, including a hit in his first at bat. Both of Courtney's hits were doubles.

*Christian Scafidi pitched 5.2 innings in his season debut, allowing two earned runs and five hits. Scafidi fanned two batters, forced nine fly outs, and seven ground outs.

*Freshman Miller pitched 1.2 innings in his collegiate debut, allowing just one hit and striking out two.

HOW IT HAPPENED
UNCG jumped out to an early lead in the first inning, as a grounder to second scored the Spartans' runner on third.

The Quakers struck back in the top of the third. Freshman Tommy Courtney hit a double down the left field line. Peter Matt followed with a single to second to put runners on first and third before advancing to second on a wild pitch. Phelan then stepped up and smacked a single to right field, plating both runners and giving Penn a 2-1 lead.

UNCG tied the game on a sac fly to right in the bottom of the fifth, then moved in front with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the sixth.

In the top of the seventh, Courtney hit another double deep to left field. He advanced to third on a wild pitch, then scored on another wild pitch to tie the game at 3-3.

The Spartans loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth on a walk and two batters hit by pitch. They took the lead on an infield error, then extended the lead to 5-3 on a wild pitch.

In the top of the ninth, Josh Hood got to first with a leadoff walk. With two outs and Hood still on first, Matt swung with two strikes on a ball in the dirt. He took off to first and a bad throw saw him round to second, but the umpire saw the ball graze his shoulder before passing the UNCG first baseman and called the third out.
 
GAME TWO
UNCG 6, Penn 5 (13 inn.)
WP: Parsley (1-0) LP: Jacob Sadowitz (0-1)

NEWS AND NOTES: GAME 2
*O'Neill hit Penn's first home run of the season, a two-run shot to left field, and added two doubles in going 3-for-4.

*Courtney tallied his first collegiate RBI, a sacrifice fly to plate O'Neill in the second inning.

*John Alan Kendrick pitched five innings in relief, allowing no runs and just one hit while striking out five batters.

*Robby Cerulle also pitched five scoreless innings in relief. He surrendered two hits and fanned two.

*Four Quakers notched at least one RBI for the Quakers. and five players combined for six extra-base hits not including O'Neill's home run.

*This game was Penn's longest since a 13-inning game against Lehigh on March 8, 2008.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Spartans sprinted out to an early lead in the bottom of the first, scoring first on a bases-loaded walk. They extended the lead to three after a two-run single and added a fourth on an infield error.

O'Neill led off the second inning with a double deep to right field. Hood got on base with a walk and the runners both advanced to the next bag on a wild pitch. Courtney hit a sac fly to right, plating O'Neill and Matt ripped off a frozen rope to left center, scoring Hood and sliding in head first for a triple.

UNCG hit an RBI single to right in the bottom of the second to make it 5-2.

In the top of the third, McGeagh led off with a double to right. O'Neill let fly on the first pitch he saw, smacking a two-run homer deep to left field and making it a 5-4 game.

Following the third inning, both pitching staffs were lights out on the mound.

John Alan Kendrick replaced starter Josh Sidney in the bottom of the third and started to deal. In his first inning on the rubber he saw three batters, struck out two, and got the third on a pop fly to center. Over his five innings pitched Kendrick struck out five and allowed just one hit, throwing 54 strikes on 85 pitches.

Robby Cerulle replaced Kendrick in the bottom of the eighth, and in his first inning of work forced two pop-ups into the outfield and struck out the third batter. He ended up pitching five innings and allowing just two hits.

The Quakers looked to start the first extra frame with a quick run. With two outs, Adams singled through the gap between third base and shortstop. O'Neill walked to put runners on first and second. Hood stepped up and hit a fly ball to right center. The Spartans' center fielder sprinted to the spot and made the catch.

In the 11th and 12th innings, both teams combined for one hit.

Penn's best chance to steal a run came in the top of the 13th inning. O'Neill took ball four to get on first. Larsen hit a two out single through the infield to left. Both runners then advanced to second and third on a wild pitch, but Courtney hit a hard grounder to first to go into the bottom of the inning.

Jacob Sadowitz stepped up to the mound and struck out the first batter on three pitches. He got the second batter to a 1-2 count, but the fourth pitch was smacked high and over the left field wall to end the game.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Quakers' third game against UNCG has been moved to Monday due to an inclement weather forecast on Sunday. Details on first pitch time will be announced tomorrow.