EASTON, Pa. – The University of Pennsylvania baseball team staved off a late Lafayette comeback and took care of business in Game 1, 9-7, to clinch the series and then came all the way back to win Game 2, 7-6 in eight innings, finishing off the sweep Saturday afternoon at Kamine Stadium.
 
The Quakers are now 4-9 overall and have won three consecutive games, four of their last six while the Leopards drop to 2-16 on the year.

Quaker Notemeal
*Penn extends its win streak to three straight games and sweeps its first series of the 2025 season.

*Playing just eight innings due to darkness, it's the third time this season Penn played less than the scheduled nine innings in a game. The Quakers have also went to extra innings twice.

*Gavin Degnan led the Quakers offensively on Saturday, batting .500 (2-for-4) with a home run, a double, three runs scored, and a walk. He slugged 1.500 between the two games.

*All three of Davis Baker (3-for-8), Qwynn Ahearn (3-for-8), and Jarrett Pokrovsky (3-for-8) all hit .375 on the afternoon. Baker and Pokrovsky both launched home runs.

*Nick Spaventa also homered and made the game-saving catch in foul territory in the bottom of the eighth inning to seal the win and the series. 

*As a team, Penn hit four home runs, six doubles, and three triples, while driving in 11 runs in the doubleheader.

*In Game 1, Ahearn led the offense by going 3-for-5 at the plate with a homer, a double, two runs scored, and an RBI. 

*Ryan Taylor was 1-for-3 and drove in three runs on his triple in the sixth inning.

*Penn had three triples in the outing, one each for Taylor, Baker, and Ahearn. 

*Sebastian Haggard (1-0) earned his first-career win, allowing two runs on four hits with four strikeouts in five innings of work. Thomas Shurtleff picked up his second save of the year by striking out the final two batters of the game.

*In Game 2, the Quakers back from a 5-2 deficit, tied the game and took the lead in the sixth inning, before re-taking the edge in the eighth.

*Degnan was 2-for-3 with a solo homer, which he hit to take the lead in the eighth, scoring three runs.

*Josh Katz (1-2) won his first game of the year after a spectacular relief outing, striking out four over four innings, allowing one run on two hits. 

*John Cerwinski recorded his second save of the weekend after punching out one Leopard to finish off the series in the eighth inning.

*Overall, it was a big weekend for Ahearn, who hit .417 (5-for-12) with five runs scored, six RBIs, a home run, double, and triple, also walking twice over the three-game series at Lafayette. 
 
How It Happened (Game 1)
Taylor led off the first by flying out to right field, but Baker immediately put himself into scoring position with a stand-up triple. Collins struck out, but reached base on a dropped third strike and Baker scored on a passed ball to give the Quakers an early 1-0 lead.
 
Haggard allowed a leadoff single and then another base hit to left field. With two runners on, he struck out Zarrillo swinging for the first out. He closed the frame with a punchout to Mislan and a popout to Baker to close the frame.
 
Penn managed just one hit in the second inning when Pokrovsky led off with an infield single to up the middle. He stole second base with two outs for Powell, who drew a walk. Chavez reached on a fielder's choice to end the threat.
 
Haggard began his second inning with his third strikeout, but allowed a baserunner when Chavez committed an error in the shortstop spot. Baker turned a 6-3 double play to retire the side.
 
Taylor drew a leadoff walk to open the third inning and stole second base to get into scoring position. Ahearn singled to third with one out and sent Taylor over to third base as well, but Pokrovsky struck out swinging for the third out.
 
Haggard pitched a scoreless third, retiring the Leopards 1-2-3 to send the game to the fourth. He threw another strong fourth inning to keep it a one-run game.
 
Baker—who tripled his first time at the plate—launched a solo homer to left field to double the Quakers' lead at 2-0.
 
Command was a struggle for Haggard to begin the bottom of the fifth inning, walking and hitting back-to-back batters. A SAC-fly and a single brought two runs in to score, tying the game up at 2-2.
 
Ahearn led off the sixth with a double to right field and scored when McGonigal ripped a double of his own to right center to give the Quakers the lead back at 3-2. Spaventa reached on an error and Chavez walked to load the bases for Taylor. He hit a bases-clearing triple deep to left center field to extend the Penn lead to 6-2.
 
Coyne took over for Haggard in the sixth and didn't miss a beat, retiring the side in order to take a four-run cushion into the seventh.
 
Ahearn recorded Penn's third triple of the afternoon in the seventh inning when he scored Collins from first base. And then it was a second consecutive extra-base hit when Pokrovsky doubled in Ahearn to make it an 8-2 game.
 
The Leopards got two runners on base with one away before getting back into the runs column off an RBI single, now 8-3.
 
Taylor got on base yet again in the eighth, stealing second, advancing to third on a groundout and then scored on a balk to extend Penn's lead to 9-3.
 
The Leopards were able to find an additional run in the eighth, a single down the left-field line to cut into a 9-4 deficit.
 
In the bottom of the ninth, the Lafayette bats got hot against Coyne, the first four batters all reaching on hits. An RBI double to right from Brenner scored Barrist, and an RBI single to left from Zarrillo brought home Swidler to make it a 9-6 game, all with no outs. A seventh run in the ballgame came in to score on a sacrifice fly, as Thomas Shurtleff came into the game looking for his second save. He allowed a single and then struck out the next batter he faced. Shurtleff retired the next Leopard to clinch the game, 9-7, and the series for the Quakers.
 
How It Happened (Game 2)
Penn got nothing going offensively in the top of the first inning, the side being retired in order. In the bottom of the inning, Tobin allowed a walk to begin the frame, but struck out two Leopards to send the game to the second.
 
Collins began the second with a single up the middle past the falling pitcher, his first of the afternoon and Pokrovsky drove him in on a two-run homer over the left-field scoreboard to give Penn a 2-0 lead.
 
Lafayette had four hits in the third inning—two via home runs—and put a four-spot on the Quakers to take its first lead of the afternoon, 4-2.
 
Tobin struggled with command again in the bottom of the fourth inning, allowing a one-out single and a hit-by-pitch before being removed from the game in favor of Josh Katz. He allowed a fifth run to score before getting Brenner to ground out.
 
The fifth inning is when Penn got right back into the game, notching two runs by unorthodox methods, one on an error and the other on a wild pitch to come within one run at 5-4.
 
Katz tossed a scoreless fifth inning to keep the Leopards off the board, giving the Quakers an additional opportunity to go back in front.
 
With one out in the inning, Spaventa seized the moment and homered to left field to tie the game up at 5-5. Penn got another scoring opportunity when Degnan walked with one away, stole second, and advanced to third base on an error. A wild pitch brought him home to give the Quakers a 6-5 cushion.
 
Katz began the sixth with a strikeout, but surrendered a single and tossed two wild pitches—the second scoring the tying run—as Lafayette knotted it up at 6-all.
 
Baker was able to reach on a one-out double to left center field, but back-to-back putouts for Ahearn (strikeout) and Collins (flyout) sent the game to the bottom of the seventh.
 
Katz continued to shove, retiring the final three batters after the first Leopard reached on an error.
 
With two quick outs in the top of the eighth, Degnan broke the deadlock with a long ball to left field, giving the Quakers a 7-6 edge.
 
Cerwinski took over on the mound in the bottom of the eighth with a runner already on base. Two consecutive wild pitches put the runner on third. He struck out the next Leopard looking and then Spaventa made one of the craziest catches someone would ever see in foul territory to end the inning and the game, which was called after eight due to darkness at Kamine Stadium.
 
Up Next
Penn will take on the other DI Lehigh Valley school in Lehigh on Wednesday at J. David Walker Field at Legacy Park. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
 
For the latest on Penn baseball, follow @PennBaseball on X (formerly Twitter), @Penn_Baseball on Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.