PHILADELPHIA – The Quakers are back! The University of Pennsylvania baseball program commences its 2026 season this weekend on the road for a three-game series at No. 24 Texas A&M.

The weekend series marks the first meeting between both programs since the opening series of the 2022 campaign. Penn captured wins in games one (2-1) and three (8-5) against the Aggies. First pitch on opening day is slated for 7 p.m. ET on Friday from Blue Bell Park. Saturday's matchup is slated to start at 3 p.m. ET and the series wraps up with a 2 p.m. first pitch on Sunday.

GAME 1-3: Penn (0-0, 0-0 Ivy) at #24 Texas A&M (4-0, 0-0 SEC)
February 20-22 | Blue Bell Park | College Station, Texas
Watch (SEC Network+) Game 1, Game 2, Game 3 | Live Stats Game 1, Game 2, Game 3
 
Ready to Rumble!
The 2025 campaign finished short of the Quakers' expectations, but The W. Joseph Blood Head Coach John Yurkow's group is eager to get back on the diamond. Penn looks to return to previous success having won the conference's regular season title or the Ivy League Tournament in three of its last four seasons.

Penn's matchup with Texas A&M marks the fifth straight year of beginning its season down south. The trend began with the Aggies in 2022, followed by opening-day matchups with South Carolina (2023), Abilene Christian (2024) and nationally ranked Florida State last season. Across those contests, the Quakers hold a 3-10 record.

The Red and Blue produced 20 or more wins in each of those campaigns, including 33 in 2022 and 34 in 2023.

Preseason No. 3
Penn was voted to finish third in the Ivy League's Preseason Media Poll, announced on Feb. 12., receiving 100 points.

Columbia, last year's Ivy League Tournament champion, received 118 points, including nine of the 16 first-place votes. Yale fell right behind them 116 points and seven first-place votes.

The Lions captured their first Ivy League Baseball Tournament title in 2025, since the joint championship with Penn in 2022. The Quakers now look to restore their dominance from prior years.

Returning All-Ivy
Yurkow will be looking to his group to fill the shoes of All-Ivy starters Noah Millikan and Connor Chavez, after losing the starting pitcher and second baseman to graduation. Despite their departure, the Quakers return an additional five All-Ivy players to lead the team this season.

Marty Coyne (4-2, 3.89 ERA, 49 K) will take starting responsibilities on the mound after his unanimous selection to the conference's first team in 2025. Senior co-captain Jarrett Pokrovsky (.335, 24 doubles, 33 RBI) was the Red and Blue's second unanimous first team selection, after leading the Ivy League and nation in doubles per game (0.59). Junior outfielder Gavin Collins (.335, 4 home runs, 29 RBI) rounds out Penn's returning first team selections.

Second team honoree Davis Baker (.227, 8 home runs, 39 RBI) finished tied for second in the Ivy League in doubles (17) only trailing teammate Pokrovsky. First baseman Nick Spaventa (.293, 5 home runs, 29 RBI) returns to University City having registered the most putouts (312) of Ivy League defenders in 2025.

At the Plate
*Collins concluded the season on a four-game hitting streak, while tying for first in team batting average (.335) with Pokrovsky. The Bristol, Ind. native recorded 52 hits in 155 at bats with an on-base percentage of .926.

*The upperclassmen duo of Collins and Pokrovsky return as the only hitters to bat over .300 last season. Spaventa was right behind them at .297, followed by Davis (.277) and outfielder Gavin Degnan (.277).

*The Quakers logged 36 home runs last season, led by eight from Davis. Spaventa (5), Degnan (4), Collins (4), Pokrovsky (3) and Ryan Taylor (3) all notched multiple bombs to account for 75 percent of the program's homers.

*Penn stole 51 bases last season, paced by 20 from Taylor. Davis (7) and Degnan (7) also had success running the bases as Degnan went a perfect 7-7 throughout the season.

*The infield unit remains mainly intact, but the departure of Chavez creates competition at second base for Luke Nogalski, Caden Fahy, Michael Powell, Nick Guachione, Jay Secretarski and Jack Warner. Davis is expected to maintain his role at shortshop, while Spaventa holds down first and Nick O'Brien remains at third. 

On the Mound
*With the loss of Millikan and Tommy Delany to graduation, the starting and relief rotation will look a tad bit different than before.

*Coyne (4-2, 3.89 ERA, 49 K) and senior Jake Moss (1-1, 2.82 ERA, 26 K) are expected to see time to open the season against the Aggies. Junior Josh Katz (4-4, 7.42 ERA, 53 K) can also anticipate throwing on the mound in College Station, after leading the Quakers in strikeouts (53) in 2025.

*Co-captain Thomas Shurtleff (2-3, 3.04), Sebastian Haggard (2-1, 3.86), John Cerwinski (1-1, 2.53) and Connor Darling (0-1, 6.43) return this season as Penn's main back-end arms. Newcomers Dillon Brandt, Thomas Egbert and Nick Newburn will look to earn their way into either rotation.

Scouting the Aggies
No. 24 Texas A&M enters the series with a perfect 4-0 record after sweeping Tennessee Tech in a three-game series last weekend and a mid-week win vs. A&M-Corpus Christi on Tuesday.

The Aggies posted a 30-26 record during 2025 and an 11-19 record in the SEC. The hosts knocked off Mississippi State (9-0) and then No. 8 Auburn in the first two rounds of the conference tournament, prior to falling to No. 1 LSU (4-3) in the quarterfinal round.

So far, five hitters are batting with averages over .400, including Wesley Jordan (.667), Gavin Grahovac (.467), Boston Kellner (.462), Caden Sorrell (.450) and Terrence Kiel II (.429). Sorrell has hit a team-leading three home runs to begin the year, followed by two from Nico Partida and Jordan.

On the mound, sophomore right-hander Aiden Sims (1-0, 1.50) and classmate Gavin Lyons (0-0, 4.50) have had the most success with batters so far this season. Sims has let up just one run and a hit in six innings pitched, while tallying seven strikeouts. Lyons threw a sole inning in the second game against Tennessee Tech, notching two Ks. On Tuesday, vs. A&M Corpus-Christi, the sophomore threw six strikeouts in five innings of work.

The Aggies come into this weekend with a pitching staff ERA of 4.50 over 34.0 innings. Starters Sims, Lyons, Shane Sdao (1-0, 6.75), and Weston Moss (1-0, 7.20) have allowed 12 runs this season, while the entire staff has struck out a total of 41 batters and surrendered just one walk.

Follow the Action
This weekend's three-game series will be streamed live through SEC Network+ with an ESPN+ subscription. Live stats will also be available throughout the weekend.

For the latest on Penn baseball, follow @PennBaseball on X (formerly Twitter), @Penn_Baseball on Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.