Columbia, S.C. – The University of Pennsylvania baseball team led #23 South Carolina in both the sixth and eighth innings, but the Gamecocks rallied late for a 6-5 in the finale of the Quakers' 2023 season-opening series.
QUAKER NOTEMEAL
*
Ryan Dromboski made his first career start on the mound, setting career-highs with three innings pitched and six strikeouts, equaling his total from six relief outings last year.
* Three freshmen started for Penn –
Ryan Taylor,
Jarrett Pokrovsky,
Davis Baker – with the trio finishing a combined 5-for-13 with three RBI. Taylor led off and recorded a hit in all three games of the series.
*
Cole McGonigal hit his second career home run for Penn, just the second HR allowed this year in eight games by the South Carolina staff.
* All six Penn pitchers recorded at least one strikeout, with the staff finishing the game with 13.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Dromboski recorded all three outs in the first via strikeout, matching the effort of
Cole Zaffiro on Saturday.
In the top of the third, Baker recorded his first hit as a Quaker and advanced to third after a sac bunt and a groundout, but Penn couldn't push him across.
Two runs, two hits, and an error led to two South Carolina runs in the bottom of the third, but Dromboski escaped further trouble, getting out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam with a strikeout and fly out.
Danny Heintz came on in relief for Dromboski in the fourth and, like Dromboski the inning prior, escaped a bases-loaded jam with a two-out strikeout.
Singles from
Nate Polo, Pokrovsky, and Baker opened the Penn fifth, with Polo coming home on Baker's knock. The Quakers had runners on the corners and no one out, but South Carolina starter Jack Mahoney worked his way out of further trouble, keeping the tying run off the board.
The bend-but-don't-break story of the game continued in the bottom of the fifth, when
Thomas Shurtleff came on in relief of Heintz, inheriting a two-on, no-out situation, then, after a sac bunt, stranded both runners in scoring position with a strikeout and fly out.
Walks to
Jackson Appel and McGonigal sandwiched around a
Ben Miller single loaded the bases with one out in the Penn sixth.
Nate Polo followed with a four-pitch walk, forcing home the tying run, and Pokrovsky followed with an RBI single. Baker made it 4-2 with an RBI fielder's choice, beating out a potential double play ball.
The Gamecocks pulled to within 4-3 on a solo shot in the sixth, and tied the game in the seventh, but McGonigal untied it in dramatic fashion with a no-doubt shot on the second pitch of the eighth inning.
Back-to-back homers in the bottom of the eighth flipped the game back in South Carolina's favor, but
Carson Ozmer struck out back-to-back batters with the bases loaded to end the inning.
Penn went down in order in the ninth, as the Gamecocks held on for their second straight one-run win.
Up Next
The Quakers are back on the road starting next weekend, kicking off an eight-game road trip against Lamar next Friday at 7 PM ET/6 PM CT.
#QuakeShow
#FightOnPenn
