PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania baseball team had no issues putting runs on the board in a 16-11 victory over Lafayette in the consolation semifinal round of the Liberty Bell Classic on Tuesday afternoon at Tommy Lasorda Field at Meiklejohn Stadium.
The Quakers earned their 10th victory of the 2025 season and improved to 10-12 overall while the Leopards fall to 6-23 on the year.
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn took all four games from Lafayette on the year, extending its win streak against the Leopards to five straight dating back to last season. The Quakers are now 78-52-1 all-time vs. Lafayette and 48-25 at home.
*16 are the second-most runs the Quakers have scored this season after putting up 19 at Lehigh on March 19. Penn also had a 14-run performance vs. Harvard on March 23.
*Every member of Penn's starting lineup recorded at least one hit, totaling 18 on the afternoon.
Jarrett Pokrovsky and
Ernie Echevarria each had three base hits with two each for
Gavin Collins,
Ryan Taylor,
Nick Spaventa,
Nick O'Brien, and
Gavin Degnan.
*O'Brien drove in a team-high four runs that included the first home run of his career.
*Echevarria scored three times, drove in two runs and also had two walks on the day.
*Penn had five stolen bases in the contest with two for Degnan and one for Pokrovsky, Taylor, and
Andrew Ruggeri.
*
Marshall Mott (1-0) earned his first win of the year after tossing 1.1 shutout innings with two strikeouts.
*
Connor Darling had a sharp outing, striking out three Leopards over two shutout frames.
*
Thomas Shurtleff lowers his team-leading ERA to 0.77 on the season after striking out the side in the ninth inning.
How It Happened
Lafayette got on the scoreboard first in the top of the first inning on Michael Zarrillo's RBI single to left field, but the edge didn't hold for long when the Penn hitters got up to bat.
Baker sent the first pitch he saw over the right-center field fence to tie the game up at 1-1. Three more runs came across to score on an RBI single for Echevarria, a passed ball, and an error to give the Quakers a 4-1 cushion heading into the second.
The Leopards had a pair of eventful innings in the second and third against
Aidan von Zuben and
Andrew Miehe, plating five in the third to take a 7-4 lead.
That's when the Quakers broke through in the fourth inning, scoring eight runs on seven hits to take a commanding 12-7 lead. Collins scored the first run of the inning on a one-out RBI single to left center to bring home Degnan. Echevarria tacked on Penn's sixth run of the contest on a single to left center and Taylor immediately tied the game up at 7-7 on his RBI single through the left side. The Quakers took the lead at 8-7 when Echevarria came home to score and then back-to-back homers from
Nick O'Brien—a three-run shot down the left-field line—and Degnan made it a 12-7 ballgame.
Connor Darling came in to pitch in the top of the fifth, striking out the first two Leopards he faced, leaving two runners on.
In the fifth, Spaventa extended Penn's lead even further with a double down the left-field line that scored Echevarria on a fielding error, while O'Brien had another RBI on his single to double the lead at 14-7.
Darling had another strong sixth inning when he got two quick outs, and then Spaventa made another catch-for-the-ages in foul territory when he spilled over the dugout railing to record the final out of the frame.
Lafayette made things interesting when scoring four runs on four hits in the top of the seventh to make it a 14-11 game.
Penn got some more breathing room in the bottom of the seventh when Degnan scored Spaventa on a sacrifice fly.
Marty Coyne left two runners on base in the top of the eighth inning, setting up one more run for the Quakers in the bottom half when
Andrew Ruggeri—pinch running for Pokrovsky—scored on a passed ball to give Penn a 16-11 cushion.
Thomas Shurtleff continued his strong start to the season when he struck out the side to seal Penn's victory.
Up Next
The Quakers continue Ivy League play at Tommy Lasorda Field this weekend against archrival Princeton starting with an 11:30 a.m. doubleheader Saturday. All three games will be streamed live on ESPN+ with live stats provided.
For the latest on Penn baseball, follow @PennBaseball on X (formerly Twitter), @Penn_Baseball on Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.
#QuakeShow
#FightOnPenn
