PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania baseball team returned to winning ways after a trio of runs scored in the bottom of the eighth propelled Penn to a 5-2 victory over Seton Hall. The victory was Penn's first over the Pirates after three meetings.
 
The Quakers now move to 20-14 with seven games to play. Penn now has 24 20-win seasons and W. Joseph Blood Head Coach John Yurkow has reached at least 20 wins in four of his six seasons at the helm.
 
GAME 34: PENN 5, SETON HALL 2
WP: Jacob Sadowitz (1-2)
LP: Ryan McLinskey (0-2)
SV: Kevin Eaise (2)
 
NOTES
*With 13 hits on the day, the 2019 Quakers now have 456 hits on the season. The number is second-most in program history and just six shy of the program record with seven games to play.
 
*Penn has ten or more knocks in 26 games this season.
 
*After starting today's game, Sean Phelan has equaled Dan Williams' program record of 161 appearances for the Red and Blue. After a pair of doubles, he now sits third on the all-time hits list with 190 and 45 doubles.
 
*Peter Matt tripled for the sixth time this season, tying the program record for triples in a season. Matt O'Neill plated him on the next at-bat to give Matt 43 runs on the year, most in the Ivy League.
 
*O'Neill was perfect at the plate today, going 3-for-3 with two RBI and a walk. Behind the dish, he caught a Seton Hall baserunner stealing—his tenth time catching a runner stealing this season.
 
*Sadowitz earned his second-career collegiate victory after tossing 1.1 frames with no hits or runs allowed, one walk, and two strikeouts.
 
*Eaise earned his second save of the season after blanking the Pirates in the top of the ninth.
 
*Penn has now reached 20 wins for the 24th time in program history and the fourth time in Yurkow's six years as head coach of the Quakers.
 
*Four Penn players tallied multiple hits today. Matt and O'Neill each had three, while Phelan and Hood both had two.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Quakers struck first with a run in the fourth inning. After Phelan legged out a double dropped into shallow left field, Hood drove him home after tripling for the third time this season. Seton Hall responded in the next half inning, as a pair of unearned runs gave the Pirates a 2-1 lead.
 
A pair of scoreless innings followed, in part to strong pitching by both sides, but the Quakers eventually tied it up in the seventh. Matt turned up the wick to knock his record-tying sixth triple of the season and was plated after an O'Neill single up the middle.
 
The Quakers would go in front in the eighth as their bats continued to punish the Pirates. Phelan led off with his second double of the day. Kyle Cronk pinch ran to relieve the senior captain of his baserunning duties. Cronk advanced to third after Chris Adams hit a grounder to the short stop and scored as Hood hit a liner to left, giving Penn a 3-2 advantage.
 
Matt McGeagh reached after being plunked for the second time on the day, and Tommy Courtney singled up the right side to load the bases. Matt drew a bases-loaded walk then O'Neill drove in McGeagh with a sac fly to left, extending Penn's lead to 5-2.
 
Eaise entered the game and earned his second save of the season, shutting down Seton Hall in the final frame to give Penn its 20th win of the season.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Quakers make their final Ivy League away trip as Penn travels to Ithaca, N.Y. for a three-game set with Cornell. Every game is a must-win with two Ivy series to go, and the Quakers are within striking distance of Ivy League Championship Series contention—just two games behind second-place Harvard.