NEW YORK CITY – The University of Pennsylvania baseball team dropped an Ivy League doubleheader at Columbia on Saturday, falling 14-6 in the opener and 11-1 in the second game.
 
The Quakers drop below .500 at 11-12, falling to 3-2 in Ivy play while the Lions improve to 9-12, 4-1 in the Ancient Eight.

Quaker Notemeal
*Ryan Taylor went 4-for-8 (.500) at the plate with two doubles and a grand slam to lead the offense.

*Nick Spaventa, Davis Baker, Wyatt Henseler, and Connor Chavez each tallied two hits on the afternoon.

*Cole Zaffiro (2-3) allowed his first runs in three starts, giving up six over four innings, striking out eight batters.

*Ryan Dromboski (0-4) struggled in his Game 2 start, allowing six runs on five hits with a strikeout. 

*Thomas Shurtleff K'd six Lions in 2.2 innings of relief, while Carson Ozmer struck out five and walked one over 4.2 frames.
 
How It Happened (Game 1)
Two-time reigning Ivy League Pitcher of the Week Cole Zaffiro picked up where he left off from his last two starts, striking out the side in back-to-back innings to begin the contest.
 
Connor Chavez put the Quakers on the board first in the top of the third inning, launching his first-career homer in the Red and Blue over the left-center field fence to give Penn an early 1-0 lead.
 
That cushion didn't hold, however, with Columbia racking up seven unanswered runs including six against Zaffiro to take an 8-1 edge into the sixth inning.
 
Walking with the bases loaded, Gavin Collins gave Penn a run back, making it an 8-2 ballgame, but the Lions extended it back to seven after an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth.
 
With one out in the seventh frame, the Quakers used back-to-back hit-by-pitches and a walk to load the bases with two outs. Ryan Taylor cranked his first homer of the season—a grand slam—to center field to inch closer, now down just 9-6.
 
Thomas Shurtleff allowed just one run in the seventh, now 10-6, but Marshall Mott got Jack Cooper swinging to end the threat.
 
The Lions scored four more runs in the eighth to come away with the 14-6 victory.
 
How It Happened (Game 2)
Penn's offense started off Game 2 hot with back-to-back one-out singles off the bats of Davis Baker and Wyatt Henseler. They both advanced to second and third on a passed ball, but two outs retired the side.
 
Columbia took the game's first lead on an RBI double down the left-field line in the bottom of the first, up 1-0.
 
After the Quakers left two runners on in the top of the second inning, the Lions capitalized in the bottom of the frame on a solo shot to right center field to extend their lead, 2-0.
 
Taylor wasted back-to-back hit-by-pitches with a GIDP in the top of the third inning, as Columbia put a five-spot against Ryan Dromboski in the bottom half—capped by a grand slam—to push ahead, 7-0.
 
Pitching in relief of Dromboski, Carson Ozmer cruised through his next three frames, holding the Lions without a run between the fourth and sixth innings and striking out four.
 
In the seventh, Columbia halted Ozmer's scoreless streak with a two-run homer to left center, extending its lead to 9-0.
 
While Penn picked up an additional run in the top of the eighth inning on Henseler's 11th homer of the season to make it 9-1, the Lions scored twice more in the eighth to earn an 11-1 win.
 
Up Next
Penn closes the series on Easter Sunday at noon, looking to avoid a series sweep against the Lions. The contest will be streamed live 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.