LITTLE FALLS, N.J. – IVY LEAGUE CHAMPIONS! The fourth-seeded University of Pennsylvania baseball team fought through adversity, battling to take two victories over third-seeded Cornell to claim the program's second consecutive Ivy League Tournament title and berth into an NCAA regional.
The Quakers (24-23) earned a close 11-9 victory over the Big Red (17-21) in the opener before slugging their way to a 12-6 final in the nightcap to win the championship.
Senior
Wyatt Henseler—the Ivy League Player of the Year—was named the tournament's Most Oustanding Player after batting .375 (9-for-24) with three home runs and 10 RBIs over the five-game weekend.
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn won its second straight Ivy League Tournament championship, the only team in the Ancient Eight to claim such a feat. It's the program's 10th conference championship, winning either the Ivy regular season or ILT title in three straight seasons.
*This will be the seventh NCAA appearance for the Quakers in program history, the first time since 1988-89 they are going back-to-back.
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Wyatt Henseler (ILT Most Oustanding Player) is joined by junior
Connor Chavez, sophomore
Ryan Taylor, and senior
Cole Zaffiro on the Ivy League All-Tournament team.
*Henseler set two records on the day, becoming the program's all-time doubles leader (50) and also claims the Ivy League's single-season home run record (22), passing Princeton's Kyle Vinci from 2023.
*No one was more dominant at the plate on Monday than Chavez, who hit .700 (7-for-10) with a home run, two doubles, six runs scored, five RBIs, and 12 total bases in the two-game championship set with the Big Red. In Game 6, Chavez was 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs; in Game 7, he was 4-for-6 with two doubles.
*For the tournament, Chavez led the Quakers with a batting average of .429 (9-for-21) with three doubles, a homer, eight runs, six RBIs, and three walks. Taylor batted .412 (7-for-17) with two doubles, a triple, and a team-high tying eight RBIs, while drawing five walks.
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Cole Zaffiro (5-4) picked up the win in Game 6 after three innings of relief, allowing just one run on two hits with six strikeouts. This came after throwing 113 pitches in Game 2 against Columbia on Friday, striking out nine over six frames, allowing four runs on four hits.
*In a full staff effort to grab the Game 7 victory in the nightcap, freshman
Marty Coyne (1-0) got the start and received the win after giving up just one earned run in 3.2 innings, scattering four hits with three strikeouts.
*Though not a save situation,
Eli Trop made his third appearance of the tournament in Game 7, punching out two Cornell batters to close out the game and earn the Ivy League title.
How It Happened (Game 6 – Penn vs. Cornell)
Despite allowing two base hits,
Carson Ozmer—making his first start of the season—worked out of a quiet jam, stranding the two runners and sending the Quakers to the plate in the bottom of the first.
Connor Chavez (walk) and
Wyatt Henseler (single) got on base to begin the first, both driven in on
Ryan Taylor's double to left center, giving Penn an early 2-0 lead.
Ozmer allowed a leadoff walk in the second inning, getting over to third base on a single to Chavez. The senior right-hander got John Quinlan out on a swinging strikeout.
Facing a new arm in Huxley Holcombe, the Quakers got three consecutive batters on via walks and Chavez drove in the third run of the game on a single ripped through the right gap, and Henseler tacked on another RBI on a single to left field as Penn took a 4-0 lead. Taylor drove in the third run of the inning on a bases-loaded walk, upping the advantage to 5-0. Chavez ended up scoring on a fielding error by the catcher, while
Nick Spaventa reached on a fielder's choice. Penn officially batted around when Ozmer stepped up to the plate for the second time, striking out swinging to end a four-run frame and send the Red and Blue to the third with a 6-0 cushion.
The Big Red recorded five consecutive hits against Ozmer to begin the third inning, the fourth being a two-run single up the middle to cut the lead to 6-2. The Big Red tacked on three more runs—an RBI groundout and a two-run single down the left-field line— to make it a 6-5 ballgame.
Josh Katz came into the game, punching out the first batter he faced to end the inning.
In the fourth, Katz allowed a walk and then a single and gave up the game-tying run on a sacrifice fly as the Big Red cut it to 6-6.
Henseler began the fourth inning with a double down the right field line, his third knock of the contest and eventually scored when Taylor grounded into a double play to allow Penn to re-take a 7-6 lead.
Both pitchers threw quick fifth innings, bringing Cornell up to the plate in the top of the sixth. Katz hit a batter and instantly scored when Kevin Hager launched a two-run home run to left center field to put the Big Red in the driver's seat at 8-7.
Two of the Quakers' first three baserunners of the sixth got on via a single with Taylor getting the tying run home in Chavez on a sacrifice fly in foul territory.
Marshall Mott put the first Cornell runner of the seventh on by way of a four-pitch walk and was immediately lifted for
Cole Zaffiro. The senior ace struck out a pair to get out of the inning.
Ozmer started off the seventh inning with a hard-hit double to right center, Brown drawing a four-pitch walk. From there, Chavez slugged a three-run homer the opposite way to right field to give the Quakers an 11-8 edge.
Zaffiro continued on in the eighth inning, striking out the side to keep the lead at three.
Penn managed two singles in the eighth courtesy of Ozmer and Brown, but
Asa Wilson flew out to right to end the threat.
In the ninth, Zaffiro gave up a solo shot to Caden Wildman and then a single, but retired the next two batters he faced to pick up the win and force a decisive Game 7 to win an Ivy League championship.
How It Happened (Game 7 – Penn vs. Cornell)
Penn got off to a fast start when
Connor Chavez hit a leadoff single to center field.
Wyatt Henseler took a first-pitch strike and then slugged his 22nd home run of the season—and third of the tournament—to break the Ivy League's single-season record to take an early 2-0 lead. Following
Davis Baker's double down the right-field line,
Nick Spaventa drove him in on a single to left field as the Quakers took a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the first inning.
Marty Coyne danced around a pair of Cornell singles in the first, striking out a couple to send the game to the second.
Cornell picked up its first run of the game in the bottom of the third inning, scoring on a wild pitch and cutting the deficit to 3-1.
The fourth inning got started with three consecutive walks to load the bases. Collins ended up scoring on a wild pitch and Henseler drove in Wilson with an RBI single to left center, making it a 5-1 game. Taylor walked in Brown with the bases juice to increase the advantage to five runs.
The Big Red scored their second run of the game in the fourth on a double from John Quinlan.
Noah Millikan came into the game for Coyne, getting the strikeout to end the inning.
Chavez came up in the clutch once again in the fifth inning when he doubled in Wilson to increase the Penn lead to 7-2.
Millikan stranded two runners on—after allowing singles—and got out of the inning with a strikeout. In the sixth, Penn was retired 1-2-3 and then the Big Red followed suit with a two-run double to left field, trimming the deficit to 7-4. The next batter, Max Jensen, hit a two-run home run to right center field, making it a one-run game at 7-6.
The Quakers didn't get anything going offensively in the seventh inning when they were set down 1-2-3. The Big Red drew a walk in the first at bat and also added a single on top of that. Taylor made a highlight-reel diving catch in left center and
Danny Heintz got Quinlan to fly out to left field to bring the offense back up in the eighth.
A Chavez double and Taylor single immediately put two runners on base to begin the eighth inning. Chris Ellison walked three straight batters, one to Ozmer resulting in a run and then Taylor scored on a wild pitch to put the Quakers up, 9-6. An
Asa Wilson triple over the center fielder's glove drove in three more runs to break the game open at 12-6.
Eli Trop came into the game during the ninth inning to make his third appearance of the weekend, setting the Big Red side down in order, striking out Hager and then Luke Johnson to end the game as the dugout came out and dogpiled Trop on the mound with Penn sealing its second consecutive Ivy League Tournament title and NCAA regional berth.
Up Next
The Quakers will learn where they will be headed for an NCAA regional during the NCAA selection show, set for Monday, May 27 at noon on ESPN2/ESPNU.
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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