PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania baseball team will begin Ivy League play as the Quakers welcome Harvard to Meiklejohn Stadium for a three-game series this weekend. Penn is white hot entering League play, riding a seven-game win streak and outscoring opponents 95-26 in those games.
 
The weekend's series will serve as a showdown between the Ivy League's top two teams at this point in the season. Penn (10-4) and Harvard (8-4) are the only two teams in the League with winning records, with the Crimson entering on a three-game winning streak. The first game of Saturday's twinbill will begin at 11:30, while Sunday's series finale will start at noon.
 
GAMES 15-17: PENN (10-4, 0-0) vs. HARVARD (8-4, 0-0)
March 23-24, 2019 | Meiklejohn Stadium | Live Stats: Game 1, Game 2, Game 3 | Watch: Game 1, Game 2, Game 3
 
PROJECTED STARTERS
Game 1: Christian Scafidi (2-0, 3.86 ERA, 18.2 IP, 14 K)
Game 2: Mitchell Holcomb (2-0, 4.15 ERA, 17.1 IP, 11 K)
Game 3: John Alan Kendrick (0-1, 4.50 ERA, 14.0 IP, 17 K)
 
THE MATCHUP
Game one will be the 192nd meeting between the Quakers and the Crimson. Harvard has the series advantage with a 117-73-1 record against Penn dating back to 1886. The Crimson won the three-game series against Penn last season, but the Quakers took the final game to avoid a sweep. Penn has done well against Harvard lately, winning 11 of the last 15 matchups and seven of the last eight home games.
 
NEWS AND NOTES: PENN
* The Quakers hot streak on offense has them ranked among the nation's best, statistically. After Penn's 13-2 win over Lehigh, the Red and Blue rank first nationally in doubles per game (3.14), fourth in scoring (9.6 runs per game), fifth in batting average (.326), fifth in on base percentage (.429), and ninth in slugging percentage (.492).
 
*Eight of Penn's starting nine now have a batting average above .300 this season. Sean Phelan leads the group (.379), followed by Matt O'Neill (.353), Josh Hood (.351), Eduardo Malinowski (.339), Craig Larsen (.333), Peter Matt (.324), Tommy Courtney (.321), and Matt McGeagh (.311).
 
*Malinowski has been dominating on offense during Penn's winning streak. Over the last seven games, he has gone 13-of-23 (.565) with 11 RBI, three doubles, three triples, and a home run. Last week, he was named Ivy League Player of the Week for the first time in his career. Malinowski is one of 12 NCAA Division I athletes with four or more triples this season and ranks first in triples per game (0.29).
 
*On Monday, Larsen was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week and Big 5 Player of the week for the second-consecutive week this season. Over the five-game stretch that earned him the honor, he went 8-of-20 with four home runs, including two grand slams.
 
*The Quakers have hit 44 doubles this season and rank first in the nation in doubles per game (3.14). 11 Penn players have doubled this year, while four have five or more: Hood (8), Phelan (7), Larsen (5), Courtney (5).
 
*Penn has gone yard 11 times this season, with six different players tallying a home run. Larsen leads Penn and the Ivy League with four. O'Neill and Phelan each have two, and Courtney, Malinowski, and McGeagh have each hit one dinger.
 
*Josh Hood leads the Quakers and the Ivy League with eight doubles this season and ranks 12th nationally with 0.57 doubles per game.
 
*Larsen leads the Ivy League with 21 RBI this season. He has 18 over his last seven games and ranks fourth nationally in RBI per game (1.62). Malinowski ranks second in the League (16), while Phelan is third (15).
 
PENN BY THE NUMBERS
.326 • Team batting average for Penn, fifth among all NCAA DI programs.
 
0 • Runs allowed by senior reliever Grant Guillory and sophomore Robby Cerulle through four appearances each.
 
3 • Freshman pitchers with a win this season: Seth DeVries, Kevin Eaise, and Joe Miller.
 
3.33 • Team ERA for the Quakers, lowest in the Ivy League.
 
4 • Home runs for Larsen this season, most among Ivy League players.
 
4 • Triples by Malinowski this season, tied for second-most in the nation.
 
5 • Players with four RBI in a single game this season: Hood, Larsen, Matt, McGeagh, and Phelan.
 
9 • Players with three or more hits in a game this season: Chris Adams, Courtney, Hood, Larsen, Malinowski, Matt, McGeagh, O'Neill, Phelan.
 
8 • Seems to be the magic number for Penn this season. The Quakers are 8-0 in games where they've scored eight or more runs.
 
17 • Runs scored by Larsen this season, most by any Ivy athlete.
 
19 • Strikeouts for Joe Miller this season—the leading number for Penn in the category.
 
21 • RBI for Larsen this season, most in the Ivy League.
 
22 • Hits for Phelan and Matt this season, the team's leading number in the category.
 
61 • Extra-base hits for Penn through eight games, the most by any school in the Ivy League.
 
115 • RBI for the Quakers in 2019, the most combined mark among all Ivy League teams and 40 more than the next-best (Yale, 75).
 
141 • Games played by Phelan, 20 shy of the most in program history.
 
.326 • Team batting average for the Quakers, the fifth-best in the nation.
 
.507 • On base percentage for O'Neill, the highest in the Ivy League.