CHARLESTON, S.C. – The University of Pennsylvania baseball team pulled off its second big comeback of the week, scoring three runs in the top of the ninth inning to best the College of Charleston, 6-5, Sunday afternoon at Patriots Point.
 
The Quakers (4-8) closed out the roller coaster season-opening road trip on a high note, snapping their three-game skid. The Cougars fall to 10-4 on the year, despite taking two out of the series' three games.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn reclaimed a 3-2 lead in the all-time series against Charleston.
 
*Both Quaker victories this week were come-from-behind wins with two outs in the ninth inning.
 
*Davis Baker registered Penn's third four-hit game of the season, going 4-for-5 with a run scored. Three others—Connor Chavez (3-for-4), Nick Spaventa (3-for-5), and Ryan Taylor (3-for-4)—recorded three-hit games.
 
*Baker, Chavez, Spaventa, and Taylor combined for 13 of Penn's season-high 17 hits on the day.
 
*Spaventa finished with a team-high three RBI, Taylor had two.
 
*Right-hander John Cerwinski pitched three no-hit innings with two runs allowed, one earned with three strikeouts. But it was Eli Trop (1-1) who picked up his first win of the year after tossing two shutout frames with two Ks.
 
How It Happened
Both starting pitchers—Penn's John Cerwinski and CofC's Connor Campbell—did a done-up job limiting the danger and keeping each other out of the run column for the first two innings.
 
In the top of the third, the Quakers managed three consecutive two-out base hits with Nick Spaventa singling in Wyatt Henseler to take the first lead of the afternoon, 1-0.
 
Charleston quickly responded with two runs in the bottom of the third inning to lead 2-1 and tacked on a third run in the bottom of the fourth off Penn reliever Josh Katz.
 
Connor Chavez led off the fifth inning with a single on a full count and Spaventa drove him in for the second time on the day on a two-run homer to right center field to tie the game up at 3-3.
 
After the Quakers left three runners on base in the top of the sixth inning, CofC capitalized with a two-run home run to right in the bottom of the inning, inching in front, 5-3.
 
The Cougars locked down Penn's offense in the seventh and eighth innings, while relievers Marty Coyne and Eli Trop did their jobs to keep CofC at bay.
 
In the top of the ninth, Chavez got the Quakers going with yet another leadoff single, but Henseler grounded into a double play to quickly empty the bases with two outs and a two-run deficit. Jarrett Pokrovsky capped three straight singles with one to right field to score Spaventa to make it a 5-4 game. Qwynn Ahearn worked a walk on a seven-pitch at bat to lead the bases and Ryan Taylor came through in the clutch with the go-ahead knock, a two-run single to center field to give Penn a 6-5 edge.
 
Trop struck out the first CofC batter he faced in the bottom of the ninth inning, retiring another with a runner on first base, who eventually stole two bags to get the tying run over to third base. Trop walked the winning run to put runners on the corners but got Evan Mathis to ground out to Henseler to seal the Quaker victory.
 
Up Next
Penn begins a nine-game homestand Wednesday in the home opener against Villanova at Tommy Lasorda Field at Meiklejohn Stadium. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. and will be streamed live on ESPN+ with live stats provided.
 
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