NEWARK, Del. – The University of Pennsylvania baseball team dropped the resumption of Friday's home opener, 12-7, on Saturday at Bob Hannah Stadium before topping Delaware, 2-1, in the regularly-scheduled game.
The Quakers snap their seven-game losing streak and improve to 1-7 while the Blue Hens fall to 6-8.
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn's seven-game losing streak was its longest since 2018.
*The Quakers dropped their home opener for the first time since 2021.
*Both
Gavin Collins and
Nick Spaventa hit .375 (3-for-8). Collins had two doubles, three runs scored, and two RBIs. Spaventa had a home run on Friday and walked once, slugging .750.
*
Qwynn Ahearn also hit his first homer of the season on Saturday, scoring once.
*
Noah Millikan (0-1) was charged with the loss in the first game, striking out five batters over four innings of work. He allowed six runs (three earned) on six hits.
*
Marty Coyne (1-1) earned his first win of the year after twirling 3.2 innings of shutout ball, striking out four and allowing just one hit.
*
Thomas Shurtleff picked up his first save of the season after giving up just one hit in the final frame to seal the 2-1 win Saturday.
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Sebastian Haggard made his first career start on Saturday, striking out seven batters over 4.1 innings, allowing one run (none earned) while scattering five hits.
How It Happened (Game 1)
Delaware got out to an early 2-0 lead against Penn starter
Noah Millikan, scoring first on a fielder's choice, followed by an RBI double to left field.
The Quakers answered back in the bottom of the inning,
Gavin Collins doubling to left center field to score
Connor Chavez and then
Nick Spaventa unloaded a tank over the left-field wall for two runs, putting Penn in front 3-2.
Three runs came home to score for the Blue Hens in the top of the fifth inning, taking a 6-3 edge and then added another in the sixth on a groundout.
Penn was able to cut back into the deficit in the seventh on an error by the UD third baseman, and then a groundout that brought home Collins to score, making it a 7-5 ballgame.
Three more runs scored for the Blue Hens in the eighth to take a 10-5 cushion and the Quakers got one back via Collins' RBI single to right field. The score was 10-6 after eight innings when the game was suspended due to darkness.
After the game resumed in Newark on Saturday at 1 p.m., Delaware opened the ninth with a two-run homer to center field, going up with a commanding 12-6 lead.
Qwynn Ahearn capped the scoring with a solo homer to right-center field, but
Jarrett Pokrovsky popped out to the shortstop and
Nick O'Brien struck out swinging to put a bow on the Hens' 12-7 win.
How It Happened (Game 2)
With Penn in search of its first win of the year, the Quakers and Blue Hens put on a pitcher's duel as both offense struggled to gain much separation.
Spaventa opened the contest with an RBI single through the right side, scoring Collins to give the Quakers an early 1-0 lead.
Sebastian Haggard, making his first-career start, was dealing after facing his first eight batters, striking out two in the bottom of the first and struck out the side in the second after allowing a leadoff triple. He allowed a run to score in the fourth inning of a wild pitch, as the Blue Hens tied it up at 1-1.
The game-winning run proved to come off the bat of freshman
Ernie Echevarria, who doubled to left field and scored Pokrovsky to take a 2-1 lead.
Penn's bullpen was excellent the rest of the contest, as
Marty Coyne tossed 3.2 shutout frames to earn the win and
Thomas Shurtleff struck out one over an inning to pick up his first save as the Quakers picked up the 2-1 victory.
Up Next
The Quakers will go for the series victory on Sunday, taking on Delaware in the rubber game at 2 p.m. at Bob Hannah Stadium. The contest will be streamed live on FloSports.
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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