PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania baseball team began its nine-game homestand on a high note, beating Villanova 8-3 Wednesday afternoon at Tommy Lasorda Field at Meiklejohn Stadium.
 
The Quakers (5-8) scored five runs in the fifth inning to get past the Wildcats (5-9) to earn their second consecutive victory. The win also snaps Villanova's three-game win streak.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn wins its home opener for a third consecutive season.

*The Quakers extend their winning streak over Villanova to three straight after sweeping the season series in 2023.

*Ryan Taylor went 3-for-4 with four RBI, setting a new career high. His three-run triple was his first of the year and third of his career.

*Two-time reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Week Nick Spaventa was 2-for-4 at the plate with two doubles, a walk, two runs scored and an RBI. 

*Freshman Gavin Collins also had a two-hit game, while Connor Chavez added another. 

*Jake Moss (1-0) continued his impressive start to the season with another solid relief outing, tossing two shutout innings with two strikeouts. 

*Moss, Anthoni Kiafoulis, Thomas Shurtleff, and Eli Trop held the Wildcats without a hit for the final six innings.
 
How It Happened
Villanova began the contest with a three-run home run in the top of the first inning off the bat of Jason Neff.
 
Coming in relief of Marty Coyne in the second inning, Will Tobin did a great job keeping the Wildcats out of the run column in the second and third innings.
 
Penn scored twice in the fourth inning, once off Ryan Taylor's RBI single up the middle and the other off a bases-loaded walk to Nick O'Brien to make it a 3-2 game.
 
Jake Moss retired the Wildcats' side in order in the fifth, setting up a big bottom of the frame for the Quakers.
 
Gavin Collins started the inning with a single, but Penn recorded two quick outs off groundouts. Jarrett Pokrovsky walked with the bases loaded to tie the game at 3-3 and Taylor ripped a triple down the right-field line to clear the bases and give the Red and Blue a 6-3 edge. He ended up scoring on a passed ball to head into the sixth with a 7-3 lead.
 
The Quakers tacked on one more insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning when Nick Spaventa grounded out to the second baseman, scoring Connor Chavez to add on to the lead, 8-3.
 
Eli Trop pitched the top of the ninth to close the door for Penn, striking out one and retiring the final batter on a pop-up to left field to seal the win.
 
Up Next
Penn hosts Lafayette for three games this weekend at Tommy Lasorda Field. Saturday's doubleheader begins at 11:30 a.m. All three games will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
For the latest on Penn baseball, follow @PennBaseball on X (formerly Twitter), @Penn_Baseball on Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.