PHILADELPHIA – Riding high after an Ivy League-opening series sweep against Harvard and seven consecutive victories, the University of Pennsylvania baseball team begins Liberty Bell Classic play against Saint Joseph's on Tuesday at Tommy Lasorda Field at Meiklejohn Stadium. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.
 
The Quakers have enjoyed a tremendous amount of success after beginning the season 0-7, upping their record to 8-9 in 2025. The Hawks are 8-14 and are coming off a series victory over Richmond over the weekend in A10 action.
 
GAME 18: Penn (8-9, 3-0 Ivy) vs. Saint Joseph's (8-14, 3-3 A10)
Liberty Bell Classic First Round
March 25 | Tommy Lasorda Field at Meiklejohn Stadium | Philadelphia, Pa.
Watch (ESPN+) | Live Stats | Program (PDF)
 
Liberty Bell Classic
The annual Liberty Bell Classic returns to Tommy Lasorda Field on Tuesday, with the Quakers looking to advance closer to playing the championship game at Citizens Bank Park in April.
 
A win over the Hawks would send Penn to the semifinals against either Delaware or Lafayette at home next Tuesday.
 
In 2024, Delaware crushed Rider to win the Liberty Bell Classic title at CBP, Rider won in 2023 and Villanova claimed the title in 2022.
 
Penn is still looking for its first title in program history, while SJU has not won since 2016. The Quakers are the only team in the field that has never won the Liberty Bell Classic.
 
The St. Joe's Series
Penn and Saint Joseph's are meeting for the 66th time on Tuesday in a series that dates back to 1947. Penn leads, 34-30-1.
 
The Quakers are 6-4 against the Hawks in the last 10 matchups, having won three of the last four. The Hawks picked up an 8-3 victory last season at Tommy Lasorda Field.
 
Penn has a home record of 24-13-1 against the Hawks.
 
C'mon, Everyone! We're Going Streaking!
Penn is currently on its best stretch in two years after winning seven consecutive games heading into this week. The Quakers began the streak with three wins over Lafayette, a 19-2 win over Lehigh last Wednesday and then took all three games over Harvard to begin Ivy play 3-0.
 
The seven-game win streak is Penn's longest since winning 10 straight from April 29-June 3, 2023. That streak carried through the entire Ivy League Tournament and into the NCAA regional where the Quakers topped Auburn and Samford to advance to the regional final.
 
It's also currently tied for the longest streak in Division I baseball, sharing the honor with Arkansas and Central Connecticut State.
 
You Get a Run! You Get a Run!
The Quakers' offense has turned it up a notch during the seven-game win streak, outscoring opponents 72-33.
 
Penn is ranked second in the Ivy in runs scored (44) and currently ranks among the top 50 in the nation at 33rd. The team's 11.0 runs per game average stands 28th in NCAA Division I and second in the Ancient Eight behind Columbia (12.4).
 
Gavin Collins leads the team with 18 runs scored with 17 for Ryan Taylor and 14 for Davis Baker.
 
At The Plate
Jarrett Pokrovsky is on a tear and it's almost impossible to slow him down at the moment. The junior right fielder/designated hitter is currently leading the team with a .333 batting average—62 points higher than it was last week—after a tremendous offensive effort against Lehigh and Harvard.
 
In the three-game series against the Crimson, Pokrovsky batted .538 (7-for-13) with three doubles, four runs, and two RBIs, totaling an OPS of 1.369 (.600/.769). He enters Tuesday's game on a team-best hitting streak of 10 consecutive games.
 
Pokrovsky leads the team in average, but is closely followed by Taylor (.328) and Collins (.314). Qwynn Ahearn (.285) has cooled off as of late, but continues to be among the team leaders in home runs (3) and RBIs (11). Gavin Degnan has also come on strong as of late, batting .273 with four doubles, tied for third on the team.
 
Davis Baker is hitting just .239, but leads the team in homers with four and is tied for the team lead in RBIs with 14.
 
Pokrovsky also leads the Ivy League in doubles with nine and is 10th in the nation in doubles per game (0.53). Taylor has a league-leading three triples this season, good for 15th in NCAA Division I baseball.
 
On The Mound
Penn's been fortunate to have several consistent arms in both the rotation and in the bullpen to begin the season. It's much of the reason for the team's current seven-game win streak and near .500 record.
 
Freshman Sebastian Haggard (2-0, 2.86 ERA) is one of the Ivy's most dominant starting pitchers in his first season at Penn, leading the team with 29 strikeouts, walking only four batters.
 
Thomas Shurtleff (0-2, 1.04) has been holding down the fort in the back-end of the bullpen, joined by John Cerwinski (1-1, 2.53) and most recently Josh Katz (2-2, 11.15), who picked up both a win and a save over the weekend.
 
Senior Tommy Delany (1-1, 7.56) has made eight appearances—the second-most on the staff—and has not allowed a run since March 9 at Delaware, pitching four consecutive scoreless outings.
 
Scouting The Hawks
Saint Joseph's enters Tuesday's midweek game with an overall record of 8-14 and a 3-3 mark in Atlantic 10 play.
 
SJU is coming off a series victory over Richmond in Philadelphia, claiming the first two games 5-3 and 12-5 before falling to the Spiders, 12-10, on Sunday.
 
The Hawks have struggled on the road so far, posting a 2-7 record away from Smithson Field. SJU has dropped five of its last six road matchups.
 
Blake Primrose leads St. Joe's with a batting average of .333 in 13 games. Alex Kelsey is hitting .305 while Joey Pagano (.276), Carson Applegate (.275), and Sam Meyer (.275) are right behind them. Pagano, Meyer, and Owen Petrich lead the team with three home runs each, while Applegate has a team-high 21 RBIs.
 
On the mound, Dylan Duke (0-0, 1.13 ERA) leads the staff with eight appearances. Colton Book (4-1, 2.17) has been tremendous in his six starts, striking out 55 with eight walks in 37.1 innings. Frank Ciccone (2-1, 2.73) has also been great with 32 punchouts in 33.0 frames.
 
SJU pitching ranks 12th in the nation in shutouts (3) and 31st in K/9 at 10.2. Book's 55 strikeouts are the sixth-most in the country.
 
Follow The Action
Tuesday's matchup will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Cory Nidoh on the play-by-play call. Live stats will also be provided.
 
For the latest on Penn baseball, follow @PennBaseball on X (formerly Twitter), @Penn_Baseball on Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.