PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania baseball team completed a three-game sweep of Wagner College on Sunday afternoon with a 9-4 win at Meiklejohn Stadium, running its winning streak to six games.
 
Five players reached base at least three times, eight players recorded a hit, and three went deep for the Quakers, who received several strong performances on the mound en route to their eighth in their last nine games,
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Wagner (2-15) scored in each of the first two innings for an early 2-0 lead off Penn starter Brian Zeldin. The Seahawks were in position to add to their lead with two runners in scoring position in the second, but Joe Miller induced an inning-ending lineout to third after coming out of the bullpen.
 
In the bottom half of the inning, Craig Larsen led off with a single, and Cole Palis and Seth Werchan each followed with walks to load the bases with no one out for Penn (11-5). A double play ball brought home Larsen and left Palis at third with two out. After Asa Wilson was hit by a pitch, Tommy Courtney brought home Larsen with a single to center.
 
Wyatt Henseler stepped in next and launched a three-run bomb to left-center, his fourth home run in the last seven games. Wagner got a run back in the third on a solo home run, cutting its deficit to 5-3.
 
Neither team got a runner past second base until the top of the fifth when Wagner put two runners in scoring position with one out, but Miller got out of the jam with a strikeout and ground out.
 
Three walks and a hit batsman in the fifth put a run on the board for Penn without a ball being put in play. Ben Miller led off with a walk and advanced to second after Larsen was hit by a pitch. A walk to Palis loaded the bases and a walk to Werchan set the merry-go-round in motion, forcing home Miller.
 
After a quiet sixth, Wagner loaded the bases with one out in the seventh, sandwiching two walks around a single, knocking Miller out of the game. Danny Heintz came out of the bullpen and kept the Seahawks off the board with a pair of strikeouts. Heintz went back out for the eighth and proceeded to strike out the side, finishing his day with a perfect 1.2 innings.
 
Asa Wilson launched his first collegiate home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to tack another run onto Penn's lead. In the bottom of the eighth, Larsen sent a 2-0, one-out delivery over the fence in the eighth inning for his first homer of the season. With two out, Werchan tripled to center and scored on a base hit by Calvin Brown, putting Penn up six.
 
Wagner added a run in the ninth, but David Shoemaker struck out a pair of Seahawks to end the game and complete the sweep.
 
QUAKER NOTEMEAL
*Penn pitchers set a new season-high with 17 strikeouts, including the last 11 outs of the game.
 
*For the sixth time in the last eight games, Penn finished with at least 12 hits, including a season-high seven extra-base hits. Penn also scored five runs in an inning for the third time in its last four games.
 
*Miller set a new season-high and tied his career-high with eight strikeouts.
 
*Larsen extended his hitting streak to eight games, and his RBI streak to five games. The senior captain finished the weekend 6-for-13 with four RBI.
 
*Werchan finished 2-for-2, reaching base in all five of his plate appearances, raising his batting average more than 25 points and his on-base percentage more than 50 points.
 
UP NEXT
The Quakers host Lehigh University Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. before beginning Ivy League play next weekend.