PHILADELPHIA – After being held to just four hits in a 1-0 loss Friday afternoon, the University of Pennsylvania baseball team exploded for 28 runs and 31 hits in a doubleheader sweep of Massachusetts Saturday from Tommy Lasorda Field at Meiklejohn Stadium.
After a 9-3 win in Game 1, the Quakers took Game 2 in convincing fashion, winning 19-4 in seven innings, setting season-highs in runs and hits (18).
QUAKER NOTEMEAL
*
Cole Zaffiro turned in the best outing of his career in the first game of the day, striking out seven in a career-high seven shutout innings, scattering just two hits and two walks.
* Game 2 starter
Ryan Dromboski struck out a career-best nine Minutemen in just five innings of work, taking back the team lead for the season (28).
* In addition to some spectacular play in center field,
Seth Werchan launched Penn's first two home runs at home this season, ending his eventful day 5-for-6 with five runs and four RBI
* Starting consecutive games since the first two games of the season,
Cole Palis went 5-for-8 with four RBI and four runs scored.
*
Davis Baker finished the twin bill 4-for-8 with three extra-base hits, three runs and three RBI
*
Wyatt Henseler extended his hitting streak to eight games, finishing the day 4-for-9 with five RBI and three runs scored.
*
Ben Miller ended his day 3-for-9 with a home run, four RBI, and four runs scored, extending his hitting streak to 10 games.
HOW IT HAPPENED – Game 1
After a scoreless first inning-and-a-half with neither side putting a runner past first base, Penn broke through in the second.
Walks to Palis and Baker started the inning,
Calvin Brown following with a fly out, advancing Palis to third.
Jarrett Pokrovsky followed with a fielder's choice to second, scoring Palis and advancing Baker to third. Baker later scampered home on a passed ball, making it 2-0 Penn.
That score held through the top of the seventh, with Zaffiro striking out three in the third and retiring 11 in a row to finish his stellar day, thanks in part to a stellar catch in center by Henseler in the seventh.
In the Penn seventh, Werchan led off with a hustle triple inside the left field foul line and scored on an Appel single. Miller followed with a double to left, scoring Appel, and Henseler made it 5-0 with a Miller-scoring single to center.
After reliever
Will Tobin retired the Minutemen in order in the top of the eighth, Penn blew the game open in the bottom of the inning. The Quakers loaded the bases with nobody out without registering a hit after Pokrovsky and Appel were both hit by pitches and Werchan walked. Miller made it 6-0 with a sac fly to center and Henseler drew a walk to re-load the bases.
Palis followed with a two-run single to right-center.
Calvin Brown capped the four-run frame with a single through the left side.
With the game in hand for Penn, the Minutemen avoided the shutout with three in the ninth.
HOW IT HAPPENED – Game 2
UMass got to Dromboski early, going up 2-0 three batters into the game, but Dromboski settled in, retiring five straight to end the first and second innings.
Penn provided Dromboski ample run support in the bottom of the second. Baker led off with a double down the right field line, scoring on a one-out double by Henseler. After walks to
Ryan Taylor and Werchan to load the bases, Appel was hit with a pitch, forcing in Henseler with the tying run. Miller followed with a go-ahead infield single and Palis made it 5-2 with a two-run single to right. With Penn batting around, Baker tripled to right-center, scoring Miller and Palis.
Now with a five-run lead at his disposal, Dromboski turned in a dominant third inning, striking out the side and letting out a roar as he walked back to the dugout.
In the bottom of the third, the Quaker bats stayed hot, with Wilson and Taylor recording back-to-back one-out singles. Werchan followed with his first homer of the day, putting the Quakers up eight, 10-2.
Following another 1-2-3 inning for Dromboski in the top of the fourth, Baker notched his second RBI three-bagger of the day in the bottom of the inning, scoring Palis, who had reached on a single.
After Dromboski closed his day with three more strikeouts in the fifth, Penn blew the doors off with a second seven-run inning, six coming with two outs.
Werchan and Miller each went deep in a span of three batters, Miller taking the team lead with five. After Palis singles and Baker walked, Brown reached on an error, loading the bases and keeping the inning alive.
Henseler took advantage of the situation, driving in two with a single through the left side.
Asa Wilson followed with a double to left, scoring Brown and Taylor singled in Henseler and Brown.
Each side tacked on its final runs of the day in the bottom of the sixth and top of seventh respectively, with Penn picking up its second 10-run rule, seven-inning win of the week after its 15-5 win over Villanova on Wednesday.
Up Next
Penn heads north Wednesday for a midweek Keystone State showdown with Lehigh. First pitch from Bethlehem is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
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