WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – The University of Pennsylvania baseball team led for the majority of Wednesday's contest at MU Baseball Field, but the hosts notched a three-run seventh inning to claim a 5-3 comeback victory. Wednesday afternoon's triumph pushed the Hawks to 20 wins on the season (20-14), while Penn dropped to 14-16.

Quaker Notemeal
*The Red and Blue logged two more hits than Monmouth (9-7), but the hosts' offensive unit was efficient throughout the contest.

*Ryan Taylor, Gavin Collins and Matthew Pazak were the Quakers' best performers at the dish, tallying two hits apiece.  

*Co-captain Jarrett Pokrovsky and Nick Spaventa drove in a pair of runs on sac flies in the fifth inning and Penn's final RBI was credited to Taylor for his single in the seventh that drove in Collins.

*Freshman left-hander Ben Moulin earned his fifth start on the bump on Wednesday and sophomore southpaw Aidan von Zuben was credited with the loss.

How It Happened
Taylor got the Quakers rolling with a leadoff single, but the solid start was short-lived as Monmouth starter Nick Tamburro secured three outs in the next three batters he faced. Moulin found similar success against his initial three Hawks, retiring them in 1-2-3 fashion.
 
Following a three up and three down trip to the plate for Penn, the hosts took a 1-0 lead in the second frame on two hits and an error. Simmi Whitehill struck out to begin the at-bat, but Nick Lovarco put Monmouth on the board with a huge swing that sent the ball over the fence in right-center field to give the Hawks the first lead of the day.
 
The third and fourth innings were scoreless, despite the Red and Blue racking up a pair of hits in both frames. Freshman pitchers Thomas Egbert and Luke Pokrovsky stifled Monmouth's offense by not allowing a hit over the two-inning stretch.

Caden Carlin came in to pitch for the Hawks in the fifth frame, but Penn took advantage of the new arm, scoring two runs on a pair of sac flies. Taylor reached first base with a leadoff walk and freshman infielder Jay Secretarski followed up by ripping a double to right field that moved both Quakers into scoring position. Pokrovsky and Spaventa both flew out in their trips to the plate, but Taylor and Secretarski tagged up on both occasions to snatch a narrow 2-1 lead.

Reliever Josh Katz took over on the mound in the fifth frame and sent the Hawks back to the dugout in order.

Both sides tacked on a run in the sixth inning on two hits apiece. Collins got the Red and Blue's bats rolling with a single through the right side and quickly advanced to second on a wild pitch. Following Pazak's flyout and Nick O'Brien drawing a walk, Taylor ripped a single to left field that sent Collins home to make it a 3-1 ballgame.

Monmouth scored its second run of the afternoon courtesy of a sac fly from Jake Howlett that drove in Chris Walsh.

The Hawks locked up their 20^th win of the season in the seventh inning with three runs on three hits. After Colin Richter singled through the right side and Sam Saucke drew a walk, both runners advanced into scoring position on wild pitches, and Richter eventually scored. The final two runs of the contest were batted in by Walsh and Lovarco via a sac fly and an infield single.

David Horvath and Jake Danyluk threw back-to-back shutout innings and retired Penn in order to close out the victory.

Up Next
The Quakers look to bounce back this weekend as they prepare for a three-game series at Princeton that begins with a 3 p.m. first pitch on Friday.

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