TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The University of Pennsylvania baseball team hit its first two home runs of the season, but fell to No. 9 Florida State, 9-3 Saturday afternoon at Mike Martin Field at Dick Howser Stadium.
The Quakers fall to 0-2 to begin the season while the Seminoles remain undefeated and improve to 6-0.
Quaker Notemeal
*1-7 in Penn's order all recorded at least one hit, with the Quakers totaling nine on the afternoon.
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Connor Chavez led the offense with a 2-for-4 afternoon.
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Gavin Degnan and
Davis Baker registered the first two homers of the season for the Quakers, respectively.
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Ryan Taylor continues to mash, going 1-for-2 with yet another double, his third of the season. He also walked three times.
*Taylor is batting .600 (3-for-5) over the first two games of the year, slugging 1.200 and reaching base at a .750 clip.
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Marty Coyne (0-1) got the start and was charged with the loss after giving up six runs (five earned) on five hits over 3.2 innings, striking out three batters and walking two.
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Noah Millikan threw 3.2 strong innings of relief, despite surrendering two earned runs late with a strikeout.
How It Happened
Penn stranded one runner on base in the top of the first after
Gavin Collins led off the day with a single.
FSU quickly found the lead in the first on a two-run homer, taking an early 2-0 edge.
An RBI single for O'Brien brought in Taylor—who led off the second inning with his third double of the year—to chip away at FSU's lead, now 2-1.
The Seminoles scored three runs on three hits off Coyne in the bottom of the second to surge ahead, 5-1.
Penn had its first real chance to threaten Florida State's advantage after Chavez struck out swinging and reached first base on a wild pitch, Baker reached after a fielding error and Collins loaded the bases on a fielder's choice. The Quakers recorded two outs after that to leave them jammed.
Degnan's first-career Penn hit turned out to be a solo homer in the top of the fourth inning as the Quakers trimmed the deficit to 5-2.
FSU answered back with a solo shot to lead off its half of the fourth, now a 6-2 ballgame.
Facing Millikan in relief of Coyne, who was dealing to this point, Florida State tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to extend its lead to 8-2.
Baker hit a leadoff home run for Penn in the top of the seventh inning which ignited the offense to a strong frame, loading the bases once again for
Ernie Echevarria. With two outs and an empty count, the freshman lined out to center field to strand the bases loaded.
The Seminoles scored their final run of the day in the eighth inning on a sacrifice fly, holding on for a 9-3 victory.
Up Next
The Quakers look to avoid an opening-series sweep, taking on #9 FSU in the finale Sunday at 1 p.m.
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