PHILADELPHIA – For the second straight season, the Ivy League postseason comes to the City of Brotherly Love as the outright regular-season champion University of Pennsylvania baseball team hosts the inaugural Ivy League Tournament (ILT) this weekend from Tommy Lasorda Field at Meiklejohn Stadium. The winner of the tournament will earn an automatic berth to the 2023 D1 Baseball Championship.
 
The Quakers shared the 2022 regular-season championship with Columbia and hosted the Lions in the Ivy League Playoff Series (ILPS).

Penn won this year's outright title on Sunday after completing a three-game sweep of the Lions, in conjunction with Harvard taking two of three from Yale (the Quakers and Crimson had been tied atop the conference standings going into the weekend).
 
Penn will open the tournament Friday afternoon with its fourth game in seven days against Columbia in the 1 v. 4 matchup, while the Crimson face Princeton Friday morning in the 2 v. 3 game.
 
The full schedule for the weekend is as follows:
 
Game 1: Friday, May 19, 11 AM – No. 2 Harvard v. No. 3 Princeton
Game 2: Friday, May 19, 3 PM – No. 1 Penn vs. No. 4 Columbia
 
Game 3: Saturday, May 20, 11 AM – Game 1 Loser v. Game 2 Loser (Elimination Game)
Game 4: Saturday, May 20, 3 PM – Game 1 Winner v. Game 2 Winner
 
Game 5: Sunday, May 21, 11 AM – Game 3 Winner v. Game 4 Loser (Elimination Game)
Game 6: Sunday, May 21, 3 PM – Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner
 
Game 7: Monday, May 22, 12 PM – (necessary only if Game 4 Winner loses Game 6)
 
TICKETS

Penn vs. Columbia – The Series
Following last weekend's series, the teams have faced one another 274 times since 1886, with Penn holding the series edge, 141-130, with three ties.
 
The Quakers are also 8-4 since the start of the 2019 season, and 86-58-1 all-time at home.

News, Notes and Numbers: PENN

0/0.00 • Eli Trop allowed zero hits in six appearances in Ivy games, totaling 6.1 innings. He also pitched to a 0.00 ERA in those appearances.
 
.353 • Wyatt Henseler is hitting .353 during his current eight-game hitting streak with four home runs, nine RBI, and 10 runs scored.
 
.681 • Penn has won 68.1 percent of its games the last two seasons (62-29), the best two-year mark for the program since the 1988 and 1989 teams won 72.2 percent (57-22) of their games.
 
19 • Cole Palis hit safely in 19 straight Ivy League games to end the regular season. He hit .398 during that stretch, more than 60 points above his season average.
 
30 • Thanks in large part to four homers in his last eight games, Henseler (just a junior) has already set the program record with 30 career home runs.
 
38 • Jarrett Pokrovsky raised his batting average in conference games 38 points over the last four series. The freshman was hitting .240 through the first eight games, but hit .298 over the final 12 entering the tournament. He earned Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors last Monday.
 
85 • Penn recorded 85 extra-base hits in Ivy League play, including 49 doubles and 12 triples, all league bests. Those totals contributed to a .486 slugging percentage in conference action, also a league best.
 
126 • In addition to his program career home run record, Henseler's 126 RBI leave him just seven shy of sole possession of the program's career record.
 
235 • The Quaker pitching staff finished conference play with 235 strikeouts, 31 more than any other team in conference play. Penn has finished first or second in the conference in strikeouts each of the last four seasons conference play has been contested (2023, 2022, 2019, 2018).
 
Previewing The Field

• The four ILT teams occupy the top four spots in conference play in batting average, runs, hits, and on-base percentage.

No. 2 HARVARD
With their series win over Penn to open conference play at the end of March, the Crimson are the only Ivy team to take a series from the Quakers since the start of the 2022 season.
 
At the plate, Logan Bravo finished second in conference action in batting average (.375) and OPS (1.128). George Cooper finished sixth with a .361 average and was one of just 15 players with an OPS over .900 (.917).
 
On the mound, Sean Matson's 2.84 ERA and 44 strikeouts were both fifth-best among all starting pitchers in conference play. Additionally, Callan Fang made eight relief appearances during Ivy play, yielding a 1.23 ERA in 22 innings of work, ending the season with 16 consecutive scoreless innings over six appearances.
 
No. 3 PRINCETON
The surprise team of the season, Princeton -- picked eighth in the pre-season poll -- finished better than sixth in the conference standings for the first time since winning the 2016 regular season championship.
 
The Tigers finished second in conference play in batting average (.289), slugging (.473), and on-base percentage (.388), after finishing fifth, sixth, and sixth, respectively in those marks in 2022.
 
On the mound, Tom Chmielewski tied for first in conference play in wins (five), third in strikeouts (48), third in ERA (2.35), and fifth in opponent batting average (.218).
 
At the plate, Jake Bold (.352) and Scott Bandura (.338) both finished top 10 in conference play in batting average and OPS (Bandura, 1.038, 7th), (Bold, .972, 9th).
 
Noah Granet missed more than a month of the season and didn't qualify for any official conference leaderboards, but finished conference play with 22 hits in 52 at-bats (.423 average) and a 1.050 OPS.
 
No. 4 COLUMBIA
The reigning conference champions started Ivy play 11-4, but were swept by Harvard and Penn to end the season.
 
The Lions have plenty of pop in their lineup, with three players ranking in the top 10 in conference play in home runs (Griffin Palfrey, T-3, five) (Weston Eberly and Hayden Schott, T-8, four); they're the only team with more than two players in the top 10.
 
Additionally, four players are hitting over .300, led by Cole Hage's .385 mark (3^rd in the conference); Hage also led the Ancient Eight with a .500 on-base percentage.