NEW YORK CITY – The fourth-seeded University of Pennsylvania baseball team exploded for seven runs in the final three innings of the contest, taking down top-seeded Columbia, 8-4, in Game 2 of the Ivy League Tournament Friday at Robertson Field at Satow Stadium.
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The Quakers (21-22) head to the winner's bracket to face third-seeded Cornell on Saturday at 3 p.m. after the Big Red took care of business against Princeton earlier in the afternoon. The host Lions (26-17) head to Saturday's elimination game against the Tigers at 11 a.m.
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Quaker Notemeal
*Penn improves to 4-0 all-time in Ivy League Tournament games, defeating Columbia in back-to-back ILT openers.
*The Quakers scored seven of their eight runs with two outs.
*Five different players had multi-hit games, including a three-hit performance from freshman
Gavin Collins (3-for-5).
Wyatt Henseler (2-for-5),
Davis Baker (2-for-5),
Ryan Taylor (2-for-5) and
Nick Spaventa (2-for-4) all had two hits.
*The 14 total hits against Columbia pitching are Penn's second-most against an Ivy League opponent in 2024. The Quakers had two games of 19 and 15 hits against Dartmouth on May 4.
*Henseler launched his 20th home run of the year in the seventh inning, becoming the first player in program history to hit the milestone in a single season. He's one from tying Princeton's Kyle Vinci (21) for the Ivy League's single-season home run record set in 2023.
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Cole Zaffiro tossed four no-hit innings before allowing four earned runs in the fifth inning on his way to getting the no decision. He struck out nine Lions in six innings.
*Coming into the game in relief of Zaffiro in the seventh,
Carson Ozmer (2-1) earned the victory after throwing three shutout innings, allowing just one hit with two strikeouts.Â
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How It Happened
Despite a relatively quick first inning, the Quakers got the leadoff man on in
Connor Chavez, who drew a five-pitch walk after taking a first-pitch strike.
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Cole Zaffiro worked out of a first-inning jam, walking two batters but ended up striking out the side to strand runners on second and third.
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Carson Ozmer got the second inning started with a single through the left side, advancing to second on a wild pitch, third on a throwing error, and scoring on a wild pitch to give Penn an early 1-0 lead.
Calvin Brown walked,
Justin Neskie got on base after being hit by a pitch to bring up the top of the order in Chavez, who struck out swinging to end the threat.
Zaffiro carved through the Lions' half of the second, striking out the first two batters he faced to run his total to five. He struck out a sixth batter in the third inning to keep Penn's lead at one heading to the fourth.
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Nick Spaventa led off the fourth inning with a double, Ozmer walking to put runners on first and second with nobody out.
Gavin Collins found the right pitch to hit, sneaking a single past the outstretched glove of the shortstop to bring home Spaventa and give the Quakers a 2-0 edge.
Zaffiro continued to shove in the fourth, adding two more punchouts to his total in a fourth straight 1-2-3 frame.
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Columbia retired the Penn side in the fifth inning and led off its half of the frame with a double to center field, the first knock against Zaffiro. Two runs came across to score in the frame on a single and a groundout as the Lions tied the game up at 2-2. They capped the inning with two more runs, going ahead 4-2 into the sixth.
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Spaventa began the sixth with a single through the left side, with Collins adding another knock two batters later to put runners on the corners with one away.
Calvin Brown grounded into the a 4-3 double play to retire the side and leave two on.
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Zaffiro returned to his early-game form in the sixth, setting down Columbia in order with a strikeout and two fly outs.
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Henseler brought the Quakers back within a run in the top of the seventh inning on a solo home run—his 20th of the season—through the left fielder's mitt and over the fence. Baker ripped a single up the middle and
Ryan Taylor sent a double down the left-field line and into the corner to drive in the tying run at 4-4.
Ozmer walked the first two batters he faced in the seventh, relieving Zaffiro. He then recorded two quick outs before hitting a Lion to load the bases. He battled back from a 3-0 count against Jack Cooper, recording three straight strikes to get the K and leave the bases jammed.
Collins and Brown were set down to begin the top of the eighth, but
Justin Neskie walked and
Drew Rogers—pinch running for Neskie—stole second to put a runner in scoring position. Chavez singled to left field to put runners on the corners and Henseler—facing reliever James Vaughn—smacked an RBI single to left center field to bring around Rogers and go in front, 5-4. With a new pitcher in for Vaughn, Baker cleared the bases with a two-run double that lined against the right-field wall as Penn took a 7-4 lead.
Ozmer gave up a one-out double in the eighth, but bounced back with a swinging strikeout and then picked off Sam Miller at second base to end the inning.
Collins got on base via a single through the left side and then with two outs in the ninth,
Asa Wilson doubled over the head of the right fielder to bring across the eighth run of the contest, leading 8-4.
Ozmer retired Columbia 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth to seal his second victory of the campaign.
Quotable
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Up Next
Penn will play third-seeded Cornell in an Ivy League Tournament winner's bracket game Saturday at 3 p.m. at Robertson Field at Satow Stadium. The winner will head to the championship round on Sunday at 3 p.m.
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For the latest on Penn baseball, follow @PennBaseball on X (formerly Twitter), @Penn_Baseball on Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.
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