PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania baseball team picked up its fourth straight win with a commanding 18-6 win over Saint Joseph's Wednesday afternoon from Hawk Hill in Liberty Bell Classic action.
Seven Quakers starters had at least one hit, one run, and one RBI, with all nine scoring at least one run.
QUAKER NOTEMEAL
* For the second time in three days, the Penn lineup went a combined 18-for-44 with four doubles, a triple, and a home run.
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Asa Wilson was hit by a pitch in four separate plate appearances, the most for any Quaker in a single game since Brandon Engelhardt was hit three times in Game 2 of a doubleheader against Princeton on April 19, 2014.
*
Cole Palis and
Jackson Appel, the team's leadoff and No. 2 hitters, each went 2-for-5, driving in a combined four runs and scoring five more.
* The No. 3 and No. 4 hitters,
Ben Miller and
Davis Baker, each had three hits and combined for six runs and five RBIs.
*
Wyatt Henseler finished with three hits, two runs and a season-high five RBIs.
*
John Cerwinski started for Penn and tossed three scoreless innings, yielding just one hit, lowering his season ERA nearly one full run.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Penn took control from the start, putting a five-spot on the board in the second inning.
Jarrett Pokrovsky and
Ryan Taylor each singled with one out, creating an RBI opportunity for
Seth Werchan, who doubled in Pokrovsky for the game's first run. After Wilson was hit by a pitch, Palis drove in Taylor with a fielder's choice. Fresh off a three-triple Sunday against Dartmouth, Appel recorded another three-bagger, plating Werchan and Palis and later came in to score on a single by Miller.
Saint Joe's was inches away from getting on the board in the second, but
Ryan Taylor made a remarkable, home-run robbing catch at the wall.
Following Taylor's stellar play, the score held until the fifth, when Baker manufactured a run without a ball being put in play. The reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Week walked, took second on a wild pitch, stole third, and scampered home on another wild pitch.
Saint Joe's got on the board with two runs in the fifth, but Penn added a pair of its own in the top of the sixth with a two-out rally. Appel and Baked sandwiches singles around a Miller hit by pitch, with Appel scoring on Baker's knock. Henseler followed with a double down the left field line, scoring Miller.
Those two runs proved a little more critical when Saint Joe's came right back with a three-spot in the bottom of the inning, cutting the lead to 8-5, but Penn put any doubt of a comeback to bed in the seventh.
Taylor led off with an infield single and moved up to second on Wilson's third HBP of the day. Palis followed with a Taylor-scoring single. After Palis stole second, a passed ball brought home Wilson and moved Palis up to third. After Appel walked and moved up to second on the second wild pitch of the inning, Miller brought in Palis and Appel with a two-run single to left. Back-to-back doubles from Baker (scoring Miller) and Henseler (scoring Baker) made it 14-5 and Taylor made it a 10-run game with a single up the middle. In all, Penn scored seven runs in the inning.
After the Hawks pushed a run across in the seventh, a leadoff walk to Miller, a single by Baker, and a three-run bomb off the bat of Henseler made it 18-6 in the ninth.
Up Next
Penn welcomes Ancient Eight archrival Princeton to University City for an Ivy League weekend series starting with a doubleheader on Saturday April 8, with first pitch scheduled for 11:30 a.m.
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