PHILADELPHIA – Freshman infielder Nick Spaventa was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week for an impressive weekend at USC Upstate, as the University of Pennsylvania baseball team heads to Charleston Southern for two games Tuesday and Wednesday.
 
The Quakers dropped two out of three to the Spartans over the weekend, but were led offensively by Spaventa, who tallied a hit in all three contests.
 
First pitch Tuesday is set for 5 p.m. from Nielsen Field. On Wednesday, the two teams will face off at 3 p.m.
 
GAME 8-9: Penn (2-5, 0-0 Ivy) at Charleston Southern (5-6, 0-0 Big South)
March 5-6 | Watch (ESPN+) – Game 1, Game 2 | Live Stats – Both Games
 
Rookie of the Week
Spaventa earned his first-career Ivy League weekly award on Monday, named Rookie of the Week for a giant weekend at the plate at USC Upstate. He batted .538 (7-for-13) with two home runs and five RBI, while only striking out twice in the Quakers' 1-2 weekend against the Spartans.
 
His best effort of the weekend came in Penn's 11-5 victory over Upstate on Saturday, finishing 4-for-5 with two homers and four RBI.
 
In 2024, Spaventa leads the Quakers in hitting, batting .393 with a 1.166 OPS. He also leads the team in hits (11) and is tied for the lead in home runs (3).
 
Home Run Henseler
Earning a place on the Ivy League's weekly honor roll, senior Wyatt Henseler made conference history on Saturday, becoming the career leader in home runs with 35 after tying and breaking the mark against Upstate. He passed Brown's Pete Greskoff '11 for the most all-time.
 
Henseler is currently tied for the most on the team and second in the Ivy League with Spaventa with three home runs.
 
Rock On, Ozzie
Carson Ozmer continued his torrid start to the season on the mound, upping his scoreless innings streak to five consecutive to begin the year.
 
He picked up his first victory of the 2024 season on Saturday, after tossing two shutout innings of relief with three strikeouts, scattering three hits. He has eight Ks, three hits, three walks and zero runs over 5.1 innings so far.
 
.300 Hitters
There are three Quakers hitting over .300 currently in the lineup: Spaventa (.393), Connor Chavez (.370) and Davis Baker (.333). Those three are the only ones with double-digit hits with Spaventa leading the way at 11.
 
Gold Gloves
Penn's defense has been phenomenal so far to begin the season, recording 169 putouts with 49 assists and only five errors, equating to a .978 fielding percentage.
 
Individually, regular starters Spaventa, Henseler, Jarrett Pokrovsky, and Ryan Taylor all have not committed an error in the field.
 
We're Streaking!
Davis Baker has reached base in all seven games to begin the 2024 campaign, while Spaventa has a hitting streak of five consecutive and a reached-base streak of six in a row.
 
Series History
Penn is 1-2 all-time against Charleston Southern, matching up for the first time since 2012 this week. In a three-game series down in the Palmetto State 12 years ago, the Quakers took the first game, 4-3, before falling in the final two.
 
Scouting Charleston Southern
*The Buccaneers are 5-6 heading into the midweek series and have dropped their last two games. CSU hosted Rutgers over the weekend, winning the first by a score of 11-8 before falling in the final pair.
 
*Charleston Southern has series victories over both Delaware State and Lehigh this year, who are both 2024 opponents for the Quakers.
 
*Cade Conway (.489), Chandler Tuupo (.400), Lucas Pringle (.348) and Christian Bauman (.314) are all hitting north of .300 so far this year, while Dakota Miller has a team-best three home runs and 10 RBI. Tuupo leads the Bucs with 13 RBI over 11 games.
 
*On the mound, Evan Truitt is 2-0 with a 1.84 ERA over three relief appearances, recording a save. He has struck out 16, walked just three over 14.2 innings of work.
 
*In 2023, CSU finished with an overall record of 22-28, going 13-14 in Big South play. The Buccaneers were hard to beat on their home turf, posting a 15-8 record.
 
Follow The Action
Both games in the series will be streamed 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.