PHILADELPHIA – Starting the month of April off with a home game following a challenging week, the University of Pennsylvania baseball team returns to Tommy Lasorda Field at Meiklejohn Stadium Tuesday to play Lafayette in the consolation semifinal round of the Liberty Bell Classic.
 
The Quakers are coming off a 14-10 loss to Saint Joseph's to kick off LBC play last Tuesday before dropping two out of three games at Dartmouth. The Leopards bowed out of the LBC early following a 13-9 defeat to Delaware last week. They went on to split a four-game series at rival Lehigh.
 
This will be the second time Penn is meeting Lafayette after taking all three games in Easton the last time these two teams met earlier in the year.
 
GAME 22: Penn (9-12, 4-2 Ivy) vs. Lafayette (6-22, 3-5 Patriot)
Liberty Bell Classic Consolation Semifinals
April 1 | Tommy Lasorda Field at Meiklejohn Stadium | Philadelphia, Pa.
Watch (ESPN+) | Live Stats | Program (PDF)
 
Liberty Bell Classic
Penn dropped its sixth straight Liberty Bell Classic first-round matchup when it fell to St. Joe's, 14-10, last Tuesday at Tommy Lasorda Field.
 
The Quakers have not qualified for the semifinals since 2016, when they advanced to the championship game at Citizens Bank Park before falling to La Salle, 2-1.
 
Last year, Penn fell in the opening round to Delaware, 12-6, before its consolation semifinal matchup against SJU was cancelled.
 
The Lafayette Series
Penn and Lafayette have played a lot of games in its series history, the Quakers with an all-time record of 77-52-1 since the first meeting back in 1882.
 
Penn has won seven of the last 10 matchups, winning all three earlier this season and two out of three in last year's series at Tommy Lasorda Field. From 2016 to 2019, the Quakers had won eight straight games.
 
The last time these two teams met at Tommy Lasorda Field back on March 17, 2024, Penn put up two eight-spots on the scoreboard en route to a 22-8 victory in Philly.
 
The Quakers are 47-25 all-time at home against the Leopards.
 
Baker, Dude!
Davis Baker was on a tear for the Quakers last week, leading the team offensively in games against Saint Joseph's and Dartmouth.
 
The junior shortstop hit .368 (7-for-19) with all seven of his hits going for extra bases. He had six doubles and a home run, driving in five runs with a mind-blowing .842 slugging percentage. In the field, Baker had 13 fielding assists and four putouts, committing no errors.
 
Baker had three doubles and two RBIs against the Hawks last week at home before opening the series at Dartmouth by going 3-for-6 with two doubles and the Quakers' first inside-the-park homer since 2018.
 
Tobin Was Tremendous
It took a few weeks, but senior left-hander Will Tobin finally broke out with an ace-like outing against the Big Green on Saturday.
 
He had a no-hitter through five innings and ended up allowing just two hits in seven innings, surrendering just one run with seven strikeouts.
 
He was named D-1 College Pitcher of the Week by the Philadelphia Baseball Review on Monday afternoon.
 
At The Plate
Gavin Collins has been having a steady start to his 2025 campaign, leading Penn in batting average at .329. He's followed closely by Jarrett Pokrovsky (.317) and Ryan Taylor (.296).
 
Freshman Ernie Echevarria (.281) looks like he will continue to make an impact at the plate as we get further along in the year, while Baker (.267) is coming along after an impressive last week at the dish.
 
Baker leads the Quakers with five home runs and his 19 RBIs are tied for the team lead with Pokrovsky. Baker also leads the team with 11 doubles after slugging six in the last four games alone.
 
As a team, Penn ranks seventh in doubles per game (2.62) and is first in the Ivy in that category, total doubles (55), triples (6), and triples per game (1.72).
 
On The Mound
The Quakers may have found themselves a consistent midweek starting pitcher in freshman left-hander Aidan von Zuben (1-0, 14.09 ERA).
 
Von Zuben shoved in his last midweek outing against Saint Joseph's, allowing just two earned runs in five innings against the Hawks. He struck out six batters and walked none. He was in line for the win before SJU slugged 10 runs in the final two innings to come from behind and take the victory.
 
Penn has also been bolstered by key bullpen arms in Thomas Shurtleff (0-2, 0.84), John Cerwinski (1-1, 2.53), and Tommy Delany (1-1, 8.44).
 
Scouting The Leopards
Lafayette has played a handful of games since its three-game series with Penn March 14-15. Since then, it's 4-6 with wins over Penn State, Holy Cross, and Lehigh mixed in.
 
The Leopards are coming off a series split with the Mountain Hawks over the weekend.
 
Easton Brenner has been mashing for the Maroon and White this season, batting .356 with three homers and 20 RBIs. Ethan Swidler (.317) and Alex Barrist (.309) are also hitting north of .300 to begin the year. Brenner, Swidler, and Michael Zarrillo are tied for the team lead in long balls with three.
 
On the mound, Mike Romano (1-0) leads the Leopards with an ERA of 2.76 in 16.1 innings, tallying two saves. Joe Skapinetz (0-4, 6.11) has a team-high 43 strikeouts and has allowed just eight walks in 35.1 innings of work.
 
Follow The Action
Tuesday's contest 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.