PHILADELPHIA – The top-seeded University of Pennsylvania baseball team used a pair of big innings to run away with a 16-3 win over third-seeded Princeton to claim the inaugural Ivy League Baseball Tournament title and earn the conference's automatic qualification to the NCAA Championship for the first time since 1995.
Now winners of eight straight games, the Quakers (32-14) complete the double after winning the Ivy League regular-season crown for the second straight year.
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn earns its first berth to an NCAA regional in 28 years, doing so most recently in 1995.
*Four Quakers—
Davis Baker,
Wyatt Henseler,
Jarrett Pokrovsky and
Brian Zeldin— secured spots on the Ivy League Baseball All-Tournament team, while Pokrovsky also was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
*Pokrovsky finished the weekend hitting .467 (7-for-15) with five runs scored, a home run, and six RBI.
*Henseler had at least two hits in all three tournament games, hitting .500 for the weekend with seven runs scored, a home run, and four RBI.
*Baker hit safely for the seventh straight game and notched two hits for the fourth straight game. The freshman finished the tournament 6-for-14 (.429) with six runs scored, a home run, and three RBI.
*The freshman trio of Baker, Pokrovsky, and
Ryan Taylor -- the Quakers' 5-6-7 hitters -- finished the day 4-for-14 with seven runs scored and eight RBI, reaching four times on walks/hit by pitches.
*Penn scored at least 10 runs and won for the fourth straight game, the first such occurrence for the program since April 2 through April 7, 2019.
How It Happened
Wyatt Henseler represented the Quakers' first baserunner of the game and advanced to second base on a passed ball.
Ben Miller then drove in Penn's first run on an RBI double laced up against the left-field wall to give the Quakers an early 1-0 lead.
Facing
Cole Zaffiro on the mound, the Tigers had runners on second and third with two outs before Kyle Vinci grounded out to Henseler, who made a terrific barehanded play while Miller made the pick over at first to retire the side.
After a scoreless second inning, Penn found its way back onto the scoreboard in the third, loading the bases after
Davis Baker got on base after getting hit by a pitch. On a 1-0 pitch,
Jarrett Pokrovsky delivered the swing of his life, slugging the ball just inside the left-field foul pole for a grand slam to extend the Quakers' lead to 5-0.
Zaffiro retired the side in order during the bottom of the third inning, perfectly setting the scene in what would be a crazy fourth inning for the Penn offense.
Seth Werchan walked to open the frame, then
Cole Palis was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. The Quakers picked up two outs in a hurry but then loaded the bases when Henseler was hit by a pitch. Princeton then hit its third batter of the inning, Miller driving in Werchan on the HBP to give Penn a 6-0 lead. Palis then scored on a balk, Henseler came across the plate on a fielding error, and
Ryan Taylor delivered a two-run single to right field to up the advantage to 10-0. Three more walks by Princeton's pitchers made it 13-0 before the eight-run inning came to an end.
The Tigers opened the fourth inning with back-to-back knocks, but a 4-6-3 double play and a lineout to center field retired the side as the Quakers kept them out of the run column.
A lead-off walk by Miller set up Baker for a two-run shot down the right-field line, pushing Penn's lead up to 15-0.
Asa Wilson then represented the Quakers' fourth walk of the inning, bringing Pokrovsky in to score as Penn ended the fifth inning leading 16-0.
Princeton broke through with two runs in the bottom of the fifth, cutting Penn's lead to 16-2. Both teams played a scoreless sixth inning, then left a pair of runners on base in the seventh which kept the Quakers' 14-run cushion intact. Henseler opened the eighth inning with a double down the left-field line, but a fly-out, a ground-out and a pop-out ended the threat.
Tommy Delany faced three batters in the bottom of the frame, retiring the side in order following back-to-back backwards K's.
Penn left two runners on base in the ninth—one of them off a Palis single to right field—then handed the ball to closer
Carson Ozmer the ball in the bottom of the ninth. The Tigers' Caden Shapiro started the inning with a single to right center but was mowed down by Palis as he tried to stretch it into a double. Matt Scannell tacked on one last run for Princeton with a two-out solo homer, making it 16-3, but Eric Marasheski made the final out of the day with a popout to Miller at first base as the team mobbed the mound to seal the Quakers' championship victory.
Up Next
Penn will find out its fate during the NCAA Championship Selection Show on Monday, May 29 at noon on ESPN2.
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