LITTLE FALLS, N.J. – To the 'ship! The University of Pennsylvania baseball team battled back from a 7-6 Game 4 defeat to Cornell earlier in the day Sunday to beat Princeton, 9-4, in the nightcap at Yogi Berra Stadium and advance to the championship round of the Ivy League Tournament.
 
The Quakers (22-23) officially eliminate the Tigers (18-26) and will face the Big Red (17-19) on Monday at 1:30 p.m. in Game 6. Penn will need a win to stay alive and force a decisive Game 7 for the Ivy League title and a berth into the NCAA Regional.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn will play in the championship round of the ILT for a second consecutive season. This time around, the Quakers will need to win two games in order to claim the title.

*On the day, Nick Spaventa drove in five of Penn's 13 runs between the two games. He hit .444 (4-for-9) at the plate with a team-high seven total bases.

*Gavin Collins also went 4-for-9 (.444) with two runs scored. Ryan Taylor batted .500 (3-for-6) with a triple. two runs, two RBIs and two walks.

*In Game 1, Wyatt Henseler (1-for-4) and Davis Baker (2-for-4) hit back-to-back home runs against Cornell.

*Henseler's homer was his 21st of the season, tying the Ivy League single-season record for home runs with Princeton's Kyle Vinci in 2023.

*Will Tobin (2-3) picked up the loss for Penn in Game 1, allowing two runs on one hit with a strikeout. He allowed the game-winning grand slam homer in the seventh inning.

*Four different Quakers had multi-hit games in the nightcap vs. the Tigers, led by a 3-for-5 performance from Spaventa. He drove in four runs, along with a two-run homer in the seventh inning to put Penn up 5-4. 

*Danny Heintz (1-0) picked up his first win of the season after tossing a scoreless inning of relief, striking out a batter.

*Henseler extended his reached-base streak to a season-best 30 straight games. Baker has a hitting streak of 12 consecutive games, the program's longest of the year, while Henseler has a 10-game streak.

*Taylor became the fourth Quaker to reach the 50-hit milestone during the 2024 season. He joins Spaventa (54), along with Henseler (66) and Baker (60), who's the second player on the team to reach 60 hits after going 3-for-9 on Sunday.
 
How It Happened (Penn vs. Cornell – Game 4)
The Quakers left two runners on base in the top of the first inning after Wyatt Henseler worked a five-pitch walk and Davis Baker was hit by the first pitch he saw.
 
Ryan Dromboski threw 16 pitches in the first inning, retiring the side in order.
 
An error after the third baseman overthrew Calvin Brown's infield single ended up scoring Carson Ozmer over from second base to give Penn the first lead of the game, 1-0. Connor Chavez ripped a double down the right-field line, scoring Brown to take a 2-0 edge.
 
Cornell broke through in the run column in the third inning after Max Jensen singled off Dromboski with a runner on second base. Mark Quatrani had a loud flyout to deep right field, but Brown made the catch to maintain a 2-1 lead.
 
Gavin Collins singled through the left side to open the fourth inning, but an Ozmer double play and a flyout for Brown kept it a one-run game.
 
In the fifth inning, Dromboski cruised through the frame on just four pitches, setting down the Big Red 1-2-3.
 
Back-to-back singles off the bats of Davis Baker and Ryan Taylor put runners on for Nick Spaventa, who sent a single to left field, advancing to second on a fielding error and bringing Baker across the score to extend the advantage to 3-1.
 
Dromboski worked out of trouble in the bottom of the sixth, allowing a single and then a one-out walk, with both runners getting into scoring position on a wild pitch. The righty struck out the final two batters he faced to get out of the inning ahead by two.
 
Penn had its big inning in the seventh, getting started after Justin Neskie was hit by the second pitch of the at bat. Chavez moved Neskie over to second base on a sacrifice bunt and then Henseler drilled his 21st home run of the year—and second of the tournament—over the left-field wall to take a 5-1 lead. The Quakers hit back-to-back jacks after Baker followed suit with a homer to left field, getting out of the inning up 6-1.
 
A two-run home run for Cornell made it a 6-3 game against Dromboski, who ended up allowing two more baserunners on before Will Tobin came in to replace him. He surrendered a walk to load the bases for Quatrani, who hit a grand slam down the right field line to go in front, 7-6.
 
Collins began the eighth with a leadoff single, but the Big Red set down the next three in order.
 
Eli Trop pitched the eighth for the Quakers, allowing a walk and a single, but struck out three batters swinging to head to the ninth with Penn's top of the order due up.
 
Cornell's Chris Ellison closed the game out in the ninth, picking up the 1-2-3 inning to earn the save and send the Quakers to a decisive elimination game against Princeton in Sunday's nightcap.
 
How It Happened (Penn vs. Princeton – Game 5)
Will Tobin, who threw 18 pitches in the earlier game, made the start and recorded a 1-2-3 first inning for the Quakers.
 
Connor Chavez drew a four-pitch walk to open Penn's half of the first, advancing to second base on Wyatt Henseler's single. Davis Baker drove in Chavez on a single through the right gap to take a 1-0 lead. Ryan Taylor scored Henseler on sacrifice fly to make it a 2-0 game with just one out.
 
Tobin erased a leadoff double with three consecutive outs including a strikeout and a double play to end the inning. In the bottom of the second, Calvin Brown laced a one-out double to left field but was stranded at third after Chavez's hard liner to the third baseman.
 
Princeton knotted the game up at 2-2 in the third inning on a two-run homer to right field, prompting the Quakers to turn to Josh Katz out of the bullpen. With two outs, Katz struck out Jake Koonin swinging to get out of the stanza.
 
After Penn went down 1-2-3 in the third, Katz shoved in the fourth in K'ing out the side in order, despite surrendering a leadoff single.
 
Just like the fourth, Katz came out of the fifth unscathed after loading the bases and getting the Tigers' Kyle Vinci to strike out swinging to keep the game knotted up.
 
Nick Spaventa split the deadlock with a two-out single to left field, scoring Henseler to allow Penn to re-take a 3-2 lead.
 
Thomas Shurtleff stepped in for Katz on the mound to open the sixth, allowing a two-run homer to Matt Scannell as the lead changed hands again, Princeton in front 4-3.
 
Danny Heintz pitched the seventh, allowing a leadoff single, but quickly recording two flyouts before Jake Bold stole second and advanced to third base on a wild pitch. Heintz struck out Jordan Kelly to leave Bold marooned.

Taylor had a one-out, infield single in the seventh inning and Spaventa came up and delivered a two-run homer to left field, putting the Quakers back ahead at 5-4. The lead became 6-4 with Gavin Collins scoring on a wild pitch.
 
Heintz put the first two Princeton runners he faced in the eighth on first and second before Eli Trop made his second appearance of the afternoon. He got Matt Scannell to line into a 4-6 double play to retire Jake Kernodle, then forced a flyout to center field on the next pitch.
 
Scannell hit Henseler to open the Penn eighth and Taylor drove him in on an RBI triple bouncing up against the center field wall to up the lead to 7-4. Spaventa added to his RBI total—his fourth of the game—with a single through the left side, scoring Taylor and extending the edge to 8-4. A Carson Ozmer double brought in Collins to cap a three-run eighth, now 9-4.
 
Noah Millikan pitched a scoreless top of the ninth inning to send the Quakers to the championship round on Monday.
 
Up Next
Penn and Cornell match up Monday in the championship round of the Ivy League Tournament, with Game 6 set for 1:30 p.m. at Yogi Berra Stadium. Game 7 (if necessary) will take place shortly after the conclusion of the first game. Both games will be streamed live on ESPN+ with live stats provided.
 
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