PHILADELPHIA – The nine-game homestand keeps rolling on for the University of Pennsylvania baseball team, hosting Lehigh Wednesday afternoon at 3 p.m. at Tommy Lasorda Field at Meiklejohn Stadium.
 
The Quakers (7-9) are coming off a successful four-game week, going 3-1 against Villanova and Lafayette at home. The Mountain Hawks (12-5-1) also took three out of four games on the weekend in a home-and-home against Saint Peter's to set up an intriguing midweek matchup in Philly.
 
GAME 17: Penn (7-9, 0-0 Ivy) vs. Lehigh (12-5-1, 0-0 Patriot)
March 20 | Watch (ESPN+) | Live Stats | Program (PDF)
 
Runs For Everyone!
There was no shortage of runs scored on Sunday afternoon, as Penn blasted Lafayette, 22-8, at TLFAMJS. The Quakers used two eight-spots in both the fourth and seventh innings en route to a Meiklejohn Stadium-record 22 runs in a romp over the Leopards. The total was also the most scored by the Quakers at home since March 25, 1983 at the old Bower Stadium.
 
Speaking of eight-spots, it's the first time since April 17, 2010 that Penn had least two innings of eight or more runs in a single game. The Quakers scored eight runs in the third and fifth innings in a 17-2 victory over the Big Red and Meiklejohn Stadium.
 
Player of the Week
Ryan Taylor earned his first-career Ivy League Player of the Week nod on Monday. Last week, Taylor led the offense, hitting .529 (9-for-17) at the plate with two doubles, a triple, three runs, and eight RBIs, totaling 13 bases with two walks and two steals. He finished the weekend with a slashline of .529/.765/.575 and an OPS of 1.344. With a two-double performance in a 22-8 victory over Lafayette on Sunday, Taylor extended his hitting streak to five straight games.
 
Pitcher of the Week
Cole Zaffiro took home Ivy League Pitcher of the Week laurels after strong outing against the Leopards on Saturday. Zaffiro shoved in his fourth start of the year, tossing six shutout innings, scattering four hits with nine strikeouts. The K total are his most since striking out 10 Yale Bulldogs on April 22, 2023. Zaffiro leads the team in strikeouts with 21 over a team-high 19.0 innings.
 
Weekly Honors
Penn has had an Ivy weekly award winner in four straight weeks to begin the 2024 season. Davis Baker and Taylor have each been named Player of the Week once, Nick Spaventa was Rookie of the Week twice and Zaffiro claimed Pitcher of the Week for the first time Monday.
 
At The Plate
Baker took over the team-lead in batting average (.368) after a stellar weekend at the plate. Spaventa (.364), Connor Chavez (.339) and Taylor (.300) also continue to hit north of .300 through the team's first 16 games of the season.
 
Baker leads the team in average, hits (25), doubles (5), triples (2) and stolen bases (6). Meanwhile, Wyatt Henseler has a hold on the lead in runs (17), homers (8), RBI (19), total bases (44), slugging percentage (.677), and OPS (1.041).
 
On The Mound
After Zaffiro's solid start Saturday, he continues his lead in innings pitched (19.0), batters faced (75), starts (4) and strikeouts (21). Ozmer still has the Quakers' lowest ERA at 0.73 while Jake Moss has a team-high two wins, surrendered the least walks (1) and Anthoni Kiafoulis has allowed just one hit with an opponent batting average of .042.
 
National Rankings
Penn has two players featured in four categories among the Top 50 in NCAA Division I baseball. Henseler is ranked 11th in homers per game (0.50) and 36th in total home runs (8), while Baker is 37th in triples (2) and is sitting just outside the threshold in 52nd for triples per game (0.12).
 
Returning All-Ivy
Led by 2023 Ivy League Coach of the Year John Yurkow, Penn has a returning major award winner in Ryan Dromboski. In 2023, he went 7-3 in 13 starts, recording an ERA of 3.32 with 97 strikeouts and just 35 walks en route to being named Ivy League Pitcher of the Year.
 
The Quakers also return six All-Ivy selections, Dromboski (first team), Henseler (first), Zaffiro (first), Baker (second), Ozmer (HM) and Pokrovsky (HM).
 
Preseason Favorites
Penn was unanimously voted No. 1 in the Ivy League Preseason Poll, announced on Monday. The Quakers received all 16 first-place votes, leading to 128 points in a poll voted on by the league's sports information directors and one member of the media that covers each school.
 
Columbia was ranked second (101), Harvard in third (97), Princeton fourth (87), Yale fifth (66), Cornell sixth (37), with Brown (35) and Dartmouth (25) rounding out the field.
 
Scouting Lehigh
*The Mountain Hawks enter the midweek meeting with an overall record of 12-5-1, winners of back-to-back games against Saint Peter's. Lehigh went 4-2 last week with victories over Coppin State and the Peacocks.
 
*Rafe Perich was named Patriot League Player of the Week for the second time this season, hitting .500 for the week with eight runs on 12 hits and four doubles. He started all six games, slugging .667 with 13 RBIs. In 18 games, Perich is hitting a team-leading .391 with six doubles, four homers and 27 RBIs.
 
*Perich, Justin Butler (.368) and Jake Whitlinger (.323) are the three sluggers hitting above .300 on the team. Butler has a team-high eight home runs and 33 RBIs. The latter category is good for fifth in the nation currently.
 
*Lehigh pitching has been among the best around, leading the Patriot League with a team ERA of 5.05. Jack Hamilton (2-0, 1.38 ERA), Val Taddei (1-0, 2.45), Marcus Danchision (0-0, 2.57), and Tommy Lamar (0-2, 2.70) each have an ERA below 3.00 so far.
 
Series History
Penn has a vise grip on the all-time series against Lehigh, 85-32-4, dating back to the first matchup in 1885.
 
The Quakers have won six consecutive games over the Mountain Hawks since April 17, 2013 in Bethlehem. Last season, Penn scored three runs in the 10th inning to come away with a 7-4 victory at J. David Walker Field.
 
Follow The Action
Wednesday's contest will be streamed live on ESPN+ with live stats provided.
 
For the latest on Penn baseball, follow @PennBaseball on X (formerly Twitter), @Penn_Baseball on Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.