Box Score 1 PHILADELPHIA - The University of Pennsylvania baseball team captured its first victory of the 2026 season on Saturday, 7-6, in the first game of its home-opening series against UMBC.

Game two of Saturday's doubleheader was postponed to Sunday at 1 p.m due to the loss of daylight. The contest will resume in the top of the ninth inning where play left off.

Quaker Notemeal
*Gavin Degnan hit his second home run of the season and finished his day at the plate 3-for-4 with three RBIs.
 
*Senior Ryan Taylor registered the Quakers' first triple of the season in the bottom of the fifth inning, which drove in three runs for Penn.
 
*Freshman second baseman Jay Secretarski extended his hitting streak to seven straight games with a single to left field in the second inning.

*Jake Moss started on the mound for the Red and Blue and recorded five strikeouts in 6.0 innings of work, while allowing only five hits and one run.

How It Happened
Moss retired the Retrievers' first three batters to get Saturday's action underway. Eddie Sargent started on the bump for UMBC, and he gave up a hit to co-captain Jarrett Pokrovsky, before getting out of the inning by striking out Nick Spaventa.
 
Penn took a 2-0 lead in the second frame. Secretarski singled to left field to get the bats rolling, which positioned Degnan at the plate. The outfielder proceeded to hit his second homer of the season over the wall in left field to drive in the hosts' first two runs of the ballgame.

After a scoreless third inning, the visitors got on the board in the fourth. Moss sent the Retrievers' first two batters back to the dugout, but Derek Paris kept the inning alive with a single to third base. Anthony Mascuilli was then struck by a pitch, which put Paris in scoring position. Kyle Eddington then reached first on a throwing error, allowing Paris to cross home plate. Moss eventually escaped the inning by sitting down Brooks Henderson.

The Quakers had a massive fifth inning, tallying five runs to take a 7-1 lead. Spaventa led off with a single to shortstop, followed by Qwynn Ahearn and Secretarski drawing walks. Degnan was next up, and he knocked a single to center field, sending Spaventa home.

Sophomore Michael Powell then reached first on a fielder's choice, but Ahearn was put out at home plate. Taylor then drove in Powell, Degnan, and Secretarski with a bases-clearing triple to hand the hosts a 6-1 advantage. Nick O'Brien tacked on Penn's final run of the frame with a sac fly to center field that allowed Taylor to score.

Neither side was able to score any runs in the sixth frame, but UMBC scored three runs in the seventh. The Retrievers had two runners on base when Ehi Okojie stepped to the plate. His home run to right field drove in Chris Harber and Dylan Melton to reduce the visitors' deficit to three runs (7-4).

UMBC scored a run in both the eighth and ninth innings, but sophomore reliever Connor Darling earned the save by allowing only two hits down the stretch.
Penn advanced to 1-6 on the season with Saturday's victory, while UMBC fell to 3-5.

Up Next
The Quakers return to Tommy Lasorda Field at Meiklejohn Stadium at 1 p.m. on Sunday to wrap up the final inning of game two. Game three of the series will begin shortly after the conclusion of game two.
 
For the latest on Penn baseball, follow @PennBaseball on X (formerly Twitter), @Penn_Baseball on Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.