TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Trailing by five runs after four innings, the University of Pennsylvania baseball team started its comeback bid in the fifth, but came up just short in a 5-3 defeat to No. 9 Florida State Sunday afternoon at Dick Howser Stadium.
With the defeat, the Seminoles sweep the series and remain undefeated at 7-0, while the Quakers fall to 0-3 to begin the 2025 season.
Quaker Notemeal
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Jarrett Pokrovsky recorded both his first hit and RBI since suffering a season-ending injury at Harvard last April. He went 1-for-3 at the plate and made a tremendous catch while taking his first reps at third base.
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Ryan Taylor had another hit, increasing his hit streak to four straight games dating back to last season. In three games, he's batting .444 (4-for-9) with three doubles.
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Will Tobin (0-1) made the start, getting charged with the loss after allowing three earned runs on five hits over 1.1 innings. He struck out one and walked one.
*The Penn bullpen played a big role in the offense's comeback attempt, allowing just one earned run in the final five innings of the contest.
Jake Moss started it with 2.1 innings of two-hit ball, giving up just one run with two strikeouts.
Sebastian Haggard made his collegiate debut with 2.1 shutout innings, surrendering just one hit with three Ks.
Connor Darling and
Thomas Shurtleff each punched out a pair in scoreless frames.
How It Happened
FSU lefty Wes Mendes set the Quakers down in order 1-2-3 to begin the first inning, setting up
Will Tobin's first frame on the bump.
For the third straight game, the Seminoles took a first-inning lead after scoring on back-to-back hits—a double, then a single—to take an early 2-0 lead. Tobin made a brilliant, acrobatic play to get out of the first, receiving the ball from Spaventa and flipping over the bag to record the out.
Florida State scored two more runs in the second on a single and a fielder's choice to extend its lead to 4-0.
The Quakers got out of the third unscathed after
Jake Moss retired the side.
Penn finally broke through in the hit column in the fourth inning when Taylor singled through the right side, advancing Chavez over to first base. The threat was absolved when Mendes struck out Collins and Spaventa swinging.
Moss had his strikeout pitch working in the fourth inning, retiring the first Seminole he faced. But things started to unravel when he allowed an Alex Lodise homer, a hit by pitch, a wild pitch, and a walk to conclude his afternoon.
Trailing 5-0 entering the fifth inning, Penn scored its first run after Pokrovsky doubled down the left-field line, scoring Ahearn to make it a 5-1 game.
Haggard pitched a scoreless fifth inning to which the Quakers' offense capitalized in the sixth when Collins singled to deep right field and scored Baker to cut into FSU's lead at 5-2.
It was another scoreless frame for Haggard in the sixth, giving the opportunity back to the Penn offense in the seventh trailing by just three runs.
Degnan led the seventh off with a single, advancing to second base on a groundout. Ahearn walked on a full count to put runners on the corners, but Pokrovsky hit into a 4-6-3 double play to retire the side.
Darling made his Penn debut in the bottom of the seventh, battling back from a walk and a wild pitch to strike out a pair of Seminoles heading into the eighth.
After the Quakers went down 1-2-3 in the top of the eighth inning, Shurtleff did his job in the next half to give Penn a chance down 5-2 in the ninth.
Collins started the ninth off with a five-pitch walk, advancing to second on a groundout and third on a wild pitch. Degnan then worked a walk to put runners back on the corners. A fielder's choice scored Collins to make it a 5-3 game but
Cole McGonigal—pinch hitting for
Qwynn Ahearn—struck out swinging as FSU finished off the sweep.
Up Next
Penn flies home from the Sunshine State before heading back down south to Alabama next weekend for a three-game series at No. 24 Troy. First pitch on Friday is set for 5 p.m. EST.
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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