PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania baseball team readies for its fifth Ivy League series of the season as the Quakers welcome Yale to Meiklejohn Stadium for a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 11:30 a.m. followed by the series finale on Sunday at noon.
 
Penn enters the matchup tied with Harvard for second place in the Ivy League standings and one game behind first place Columbia. Yale is tied with Dartmouth for fifth after being swept by Columbia in New Haven and now sees its season on the line with three series left to play.    
 
GAME 31-33: PENN (19-11, 8-4 Ivy) vs. YALE (11-21, 5-7 Ivy)
April 20-21, 2019 | Meiklejohn Stadium | Live Stats: Game 1, Game 2, Game 3 | ESPN+: Game 1, Game 2, Game 3
 
PROJECTED STARTERS
Game 1: Mitchell Holcomb (5-0, 3.89 ERA, 30 K)
Game 2: Christian Scafidi (4-1, 3.43 ERA, 40 K)
Game 3: John Alan Kendrick (0-1, 3.38 ERA, 35 K)
 
THE MATCHUP
Saturday's series opener will mark the 211th meeting between the Ivy League rivals, dating back to 1886. Yale won the first game, 13-3, and hold a 112-95-3 record against Penn. The Quakers have seen more success in the series as of late, winning two of three in New Haven last season and taking 14 of the last 21 games against the Bulldogs. Since 2010, Penn is undefeated at home against Yale, winning all eight games played at Meiklejohn.
 
NEWS AND NOTES: PENN
*Penn enters the weekend with the second-highest batting average in Division I baseball (.340). This is the third-consecutive week the Quakers have ranked second in batting average.
 
*The Quakers average more doubles per game than any other Division I program (2.87). Despite starting their season two weeks after most programs, the Quakers rank fifth in the nation with 86 doubles this season. The mark is seventh-most in a single season in Penn's 144-year history and 22 shy of the program record of 108.
 
*Having reached double digits in runs scored in 13 of their 30 games, the Quakers rank second in the nation in scoring, averaging 10 runs per game. The Red and Blue have scored 10+ more runs more times this season than they've scored five or fewer (8 games).
 
*The Quakers rank fourth in the nation with 414 hits through 30 games. This year, Penn has the seventh-most knocks in a single season in program history and is just 48 hits shy of the program record (462) set in 2010.
 
*The Red and Blue lead the Ivy League in walks, reaching base on balls 176 times this season—30 more than Dartmouth who ranks second at 146. Senior Matt O'Neill has one of the best commands of the batter's box in the nation, leading the Ivy League with 32 walks. He ranks eighth in the nation in both on-base percentage (.531) and walks per game (1.1). 
 
*Penn's offensive philosophy this season has been a major key to its frequent high-scoring contests. The Quakers rack up runs behind the nation's second-best on-base percentage (.436) spearheaded by their ability to hit the ball and reach base on balls.
 
*For the second time this season, Penn tripled three times in a game after Tommy Courtney, Josh Hood, and Matt McGeagh each knocked a three-bagger against La Salle last week. The Quakers have now tripled 18 times this season, good for fifth most among Division I teams. Penn averages 0.6 triples per game, the fourth-best average in the nation.
 
*Penn has 133 extra-base hits this season—the most among Ivy League schools. With more than a quarter of the Quakers hits counting as extra-base hits, Penn ranks fourth in the nation with a .512 slugging percentage.
 
*Freshman Craig Larsen is the Ivy League leader in RBI, driving in 42 runs on the season. He ranks fifth in the nation, averaging 1.45 RBI per game. Larsen also leads the league with 14 doubles and ranks 11th with 0.48 doubles per game.
 
PENN BY THE NUMBERS
2.73 • ERA for freshman Kevin Eaise, lowest on the team.
 
3 • Pitchers with at least four wins this season. Holcomb leads Penn with a 5-0 record while Christian Scafidi and Joe Miller are 4-1.
 
4 • Players with 30 or more RBI through 30 games. Larsen leads Penn with 42, followed by Josh Hood (33), O'Neill (31), and Sean Phelan (30).
 
5 • Triples by Peter Matt and Eduardo Malinowski. The pair are each one shy of tying the program record for triples in a season.
 
6 • Players with over 40 hits through 30 games played. Phelan leads the Quakers with 51, followed by Peter Matt (50), Larsen (49), Hood (47), O'Neill (45), and Courtney (41).
 
10 • Penn players with an average greater than .300 after 40 at-bats. O'Neill and Hernandez lead the team batting .395, followed by Phelan (.386), Chris Adams (.377), Larsen (.374), Hood (.351), Malinowski (.345), Matt (.333), Jackson Petersen (.309), and Courtney (.304).
 
40 • Strikeouts for Scafidi, most by a Penn pitcher this season.
 
42 • Career doubles for Phelan. He is tied with Dan Williams for third-most in program history.
 
55 • Strikeouts for Penn's five freshman pitchers this year. Joe Miller leads the class with 35.
 
85 • Doubles by the Quakers this season, fifth most in the nation.
 
156 • Career appearances for Phelan, four shy of tying the program record.
 
186 • Career hits for Phelan, fourth-most in program history.
 
262 • RBI for the Quakers this season, sixth most in a single season in program history.
 
404 • Hits for Penn this season, fifth-most in the nation and tied for seventh-most in program history.