NEW HAVEN, Conn. – It was a heavyweight fight between the third-seeded University of Pennsylvania baseball team and second-seeded Columbia in the opening round of the Ivy League Tournament on Friday afternoon with both teams putting up zeroes on the mound for eight consecutive innings.
Unfortunately for Penn, a walk-off double down the left-field line gave the Lions a 4-3 victory in 10 innings.
The Quakers (21-19) will now face top-seeded Yale in an elimination game on Saturday at noon, while the Lions (25-17) advance to the winner's bracket and will take on fourth-seeded Harvard at 4 p.m.
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn drops the opening round of an Ivy League Tournament for the first time in program history. The Quakers had one the previous two openers since the inaugural ILT in 2023.
*The Quakers fall to 2-1 all-time in Ivy League Tournament games to Columbia after beating the Lions to open each of the previous two ILTs.
*Penn is now 3-4 this season in extra-inning games, playing in its 13th non-nine inning contest of the 2025 campaign. Additionally, the Quakers are now 0-5 when the game is tied after eight innings.
*Penn pitching limited Columbia to just one hit through the first five innings, none from the second to the fifth. After a double in the sixth, the Quakers held the Lions without a knock again until the 10th, when they gave up two including the walk-off double.
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Gavin Collins led the Penn offense with a 3-for-5 afternoon, the only player on the team with a multi-hit game.
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Davis Baker,
Jarrett Pokrovsky,
Nick Spaventa,
Ernie Echevarria,
Nick O'Brien, and
Gavin Degnan each contributed one base hit.
*Baker drove in two of the Quakers' three runs, the other going to Degnan on an RBI double in the third inning.
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Noah Millikan didn't factor into the decision, but was lights out after surrendering the first three runs of the game in the first inning. He ended up pitching 4.1 shutout frames after that, finishing with three strikeouts.
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Marty Coyne (4-2) picked up the loss, but that wasn't the full story in a gritty relief effort. He had tossed four consecutive scoreless innings with five strikeouts and just two hits before giving up the walk-off double in the bottom of the 10th.
*Penn left 11 runners on base in the defeat, including two in five consecutive innings from the third to the seventh.
How It Happened
After the Quakers couldn't muster anything on offense in the top half of the first inning, Columbia put the leadoff runner on base in the form of a single off
Noah Millikan.
The Lions took the first lead of the game on Cole Fellows' two-out RBI single, now up 1-0 and doubled it on another base hit for Jack Kail. A third run got tacked on when Echevarria attempted to throw out a stealing baserunner, but the runner on third crossed home plate to take a 3-0 lead into the second.
Millikan only allowed one baserunner in the bottom of the second, getting out of the frame unscathed.
Penn's bats finally came alive in the top of the third inning, getting the first two on via walks while
Gavin Degnan brought home Echevarria on a double down the right-field line, cutting into Columbia's 3-1 lead.
With one out and two runners on base, Baker came through big when he ripped a single to left center field, bringing home both Degnan and O'Brien to tie the game up at 3-3.
Millikan tossed a spotless third inning, retiring the Lions 1-2-3 and was capped by a strikeout to Anton Lazits to bring up Taylor, Echevarria, and O'Brien to begin the fourth.
Back-to-back one-out singles for Echevarria and O'Brien gave the Quakers are prime opportunity to gain some separation in the run column, but consecutive strikeouts to Degnan and Chavez rendered the inning scoreless for Sheets.
With runners on the corners and two outs in the fourth, Millikan kept the game tied and put up another zero for the third straight inning.
Pokrovsky and Collins both managed singles to begin the fifth, prompting Columbia to make a call to the bullpen and spelling the end of Sheets' outing.
Millikan pitched his fourth straight scoreless stanza in the fifth, another 1-2-3 inning to keep the score at 3-3 and after the Penn bats had nothing to show for, came back out to pitch the sixth. He picked up a quick out but then gave up a double to Fellows to end his day, relieved by
Marty Coyne. Coyne did his job and sent the offense back up to the plate in the seventh with another chance to score.
Collins and Spaventa both laced singles with one out to begin the seventh. Two outs after that ended the inning, stranding two on for the fifth straight frame.
Coyne showed exactly why he was named a unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection when he struck out the side in the seventh, finishing up with the unanimous Ivy League Player of the Year Sam Miller.
Degnan drew a big six-pitch walk with one out in the eighth, but Chavez grounded into a costly 4-6-3 double play to exit the inning without a run.
Penn got a baserunner in the ninth on Pokrovsky's nine-pitch walk, but Lopez punched out both Collins and Spaventa to send the game to the bottom of the ninth, the Lions with a chance to walk it off.
One of the most crucial plays in the game occurred in the ninth after Coyne surrendered a leadoff walk. Skye Selinsky attempted the sacrifice bunt but ended up popping into a double play to record two quick outs. Coyne struck out Vogler looking to force extra innings.
Echevarria drew a one-out walk to begin the 10th, subbed for pinch runner
Andrew Ruggeri. Unfortunately, Ruggeri was thrown out at second base trying to steal, and O'Brien struck out looking to finish things up.
It looked like the game would be going to the top of the 11th when Coyne retired the first two Columbia batters he faced by way of a strikeout and foul out, but the winning run got on first base in the form of Miller's single. A walk to Palfrey put two runners on first and second for Lazits. On a 1-1 count, a double down the left-field line sealed the Lions' walk-off victory, scoring for the first time since the first inning.
Up Next
Penn will face top-seeded Yale—who fell to fourth-seeded Harvard in Game 1 Friday—in a loser's bracket, elimination game at noon from Bush Field. The contest 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.
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