Baseball Opens Liberty Bell Classic Against Lafayette

PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania and Lafayette College baseball teams open the 2022 Liberty Bell Classic on Tuesday afternoon with a 3:00 p.m. first pitch from Meiklejohn Stadium.

The Quakers come in winners of 11 of their last 13, averaging more than nine runs per game during that run.

Penn (14-6) vs. Lafayette (7-18)
Tuesday, March 29 | 3 p.m. | WATCH | LIVE STATS

The Series: Lafayette
This will mark the 127th meeting between the Quakers and Leopards, with Penn holding a 76-49-1 head-to-head record. The teams last met on March 12, 2019, with Penn winning in blowout fashion, 19-3, after scoring six in the first inning and 14 runs in the first five innings.

Congrats Coach
W. Joseph Blood Head Coach of Baseball John Yurkow picked up his 150th career victory on Sunday in Penn's 13-7 win over Columbia. Exactly half of Yurkow's wins at Penn have come in Ivy League play, where Yurkow has won just over 60 percent of the time.

Penn Power
The Quakers have hit home runs in five straight games for the first time since March 2019, when Penn went deep in each of the first five games of an eventual eight-game winning streak. Nine different players have homered for Penn this season, including five who have at least two homers each.

Pop at the Top
After going more than 110 at-bats without a home run dating back to last season, leadoff hitter Tommy Courtney went deep in consecutive at-bats on Sunday as part of a three RBI day, his first three RBI game of the season.

Flamethrowers
Penn pitchers have struck out at least nine batters in eight straight games, and have recorded 50 more strikeouts than their opponents this season. Owen Coady, Kevin Eaise, and Joe Miller have all recorded at least 30 strikeouts this season and currently rank 1st, 2nd, and 4th in the Ivy League, respectively.

Scouting Lafayette
The Leopards took three of four from Lehigh in Patriot League action over the weekend.

Pete Ciuffreda is the only everyday player hitting over .300 and comes into Tuesday on a seven-game hitting streak. Easton Brenner went 6-for-8 with four runs and three RBI in the three wins over Lehigh.

Luke Benneche turned in a fantastic outing against Lehigh on Saturday, going seven innings and striking out six, allowing just three hits and a single walk. Benneche, Nolan Morr, and Kyle Subers are all averaging a strikeout per inning.

About the Liberty Bell Classic
The Liberty Bell Classic was conceived in 1992 as a way for local Division I colleges to compete against each other in a tournament as well as an opportunity for the schools to play on the big league field of Veterans Stadium. The original eight schools were the University of Pennsylvania, University of Delaware, Saint Joseph's, Drexel, Villanova, Temple, West Chester, and LaSalle Universities. In the first championship game, the University of Delaware defeated Villanova University 6-2.

When West Chester University was reclassified as Division II, it was replaced by Rider University and Rider was then in turn replaced by Lehigh University. When Drexel's baseball program was dissolved after the 2003 season, Lafayette University joined the Liberty Bell Classic.

Originally all games were played at Veterans Stadium, but in 2004 the format was changed so games were played at local venues with the championship game being held at Citizens Bank Park.

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Players Mentioned

#19 Owen Coady: LHP; 6' 3"; Junior; R/L

#27 Tommy Courtney: OF; 5' 10"; Senior; L/R

#22 Kevin Eaise: RHP; 6' 2"; Senior; R/R

#33 Joe Miller: LHP; 5' 10"; Senior; L/L

Players Mentioned

#19 Owen Coady
: 6' 3"; Junior; R/L
: LHP

#27 Tommy Courtney
: 5' 10"; Senior; L/R
: OF

#22 Kevin Eaise
: 6' 2"; Senior; R/R
: RHP

#33 Joe Miller
: 5' 10"; Senior; L/L
: LHP