PRINCETON, N.J. - The University of Pennsylvania baseball team returned to Clarke Field on Saturday and split its doubleheader with Princeton, but the Tigers claimed the series victory following wins in the first and last game of the weekend. Penn shut out the hosts 12-0 in the first outing of the day before the Tigers responded in Game 2 with a 7-4 win.

The Quakers moved to a 15-18 overall record, while Princeton advanced to 12-22 and a 6-9 mark in Ivy League play.

Quaker Notemeal
*Junior outfielder Gavin Degnan paced Penn at the dish in Game 1 with two hits, three RBI, and a run scored.

*Jay Secretarski, Jarrett Pokrovsky, Nick Spaventa, Jack Warner, and Ernie Echevarria all finished the first matchup with two hits, while Gavin Collins and Ryan Taylor each added a base knock.
 
*Reigning Ivy League Pitcher of the Week Thomas Shurtleff collected his fifth win of the season on the mound in Game 1. The Quakers' co-captain came out of the bullpen in the third inning and notched a career-high 10 strikeouts, while allowing only four hits and no walks across seven frames of work.  

*Freshman right-hander Nick Newburn started on the hill for the Red and Blue in Saturday's first matchup and registered back-to-back 1-2-3 innings to stifle the Tigers' offense.

*Spaventa had a huge second outing at the plate, notching a season-high four hits with two RBI.

*Pokrovsky continued to see the ball well in Game 2, finishing with two hits and a run scored.

*Taylor, Secretarski, Degnan, and Echevarria were responsible for the remainder of Penn's 10 hits.

*Senior John Cerwinski tossed 3.1 relief innings and three strikeouts in the second matchup and gave up only two hits over that stretch.

How It Happened (Game 1)
The Quakers wasted no time in Game 1, taking a 2-0 first inning lead on a hit and an error. Following Secretarski and Pokrovsky reaching base on a walk and an error, Degnan ripped a single to right-center field that drove in both baserunners.

Newburn piggybacked on the offensive momentum and retired the first three Tigers he met.
 
Penn logged three hits in the second frame but failed to drive in any runs until the third. Back-to-back doubles from Secretarski and Pokrovsky made it a 3-0 ballgame right before Spaventa's RBI single extended the lead to four runs. Shurtleff took over in the bottom half of the inning and allowed a leadoff single but sent the next three Tigers back to the dugout.

The visitors scored four runs in the fourth frame, their largest total of the day. All four runs were driven in consecutively as Taylor, Secretarski, Pokrovsky, and Spaventa each notched an RBI to extend the Quakers' advantage to eight runs.

O'Brien's double down the left-field line drove in Echevarria and Warner in the fifth inning to give the Red and Blue a 10-0 lead before back-to-back scoreless frames sent the action to the eighth. Shurtleff really began to find his rhythm over that stretch, which included consecutive 1-2-3 innings, along with a pair of Ks in the seventh.

Penn put the finishing touches on a dominant victory with two more scores as the eighth inning got underway. Degnan's second triple of the season sent Pokrovsky home following his single to right center, and Collins rang up an RBI single in his at-bat that drove in Degnan.

Shurtleff capped off a career day on the hill with four strikeouts in his final two innings to earn his fifth win of the season and send Penn to a rubber match in the series finale.

How It Happened (Game 2)
In similar fashion to Game 1, the Red and Blue took an early 1-0 lead in Saturday's second contest courtesy of an RBI double to right center from Spaventa that sent Pokrovsky home. Freshman starter Ben Moulin retired Princeton's first three hitters in order to end the first inning.

Neither side put any runs on the board in the second frame, but both tallied one in the third. Taylor began Penn's at-bat with a leadoff single; however, the infielder's time on the basepath was short-lived, as he was forced out at second following Secretarski's fielder's choice. Spaventa then made it a 2-0 ballgame with another RBI double to right-center field.

The Tigers' first run of the afternoon was scored by leadoff hitter Grant Werdesheim, who reached on a bunt and scored from third on a wild pitch.

Momentum shifted heavily in the fourth frame, as the hosts outscored the Quakers 6-1. Collins' sac fly with no outs allowed Echevarria to cross home plate to snatch a 3-1 lead, but Princeton came roaring back.

Tommy Googins brought his team within one run of tying the contest (3-2) after his RBI single to left-center field. Werdesheim and Jake Koonin then added back-to-back RBIs, but it was Tomas Cernius who really broke open the floodgates. The first baseman was behind in the count (0-2) before launching a three-run home run over the fence in right field that handed Princeton a 7-3 advantage.

Neither team capitalized in the fifth, sixth, or seventh innings and the visitors left four runners stranded over that span.

Secretarski attempted to give the offensive unit some juice with an RBI single to center field in the eighth frame, but it was the only hit reliever Ryan Penney allowed over the final two innings.

The freshman went on to send the Red and Blue down in order in the top of the ninth to earn his third save of the season and the series victory for Princeton.

Up Next
Penn is back in action at 4 p.m. on Tuesday as it heads to south Philly for its Liberty Bell Classic title game matchup with Saint Joseph's at Citizens Bank Park.
 
For the latest on Penn baseball, follow @PennBaseball on X (formerly Twitter), @Penn_Baseball on Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.