Penn Takes Two Close Wins Over Princeton To Open Gehrig Division Action

Calendar

No Upcoming Events

PHILADELPHIA – The Penn Quakers took two closely contested matchups over the Princeton Tigers at Meiklejohn Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Quakers won 5-4 in game one and 3-1 in game two.

Penn (16-14, 6-4 Ivy) moved to the top of the Gehrig Division with its two victories over Princeton (9-20, 5-5 Ivy). The Tigers and Cornell (16-11, 5-5 Ivy) are tied for second in the division while Columbia is 4-6 (8-20) in conference play.

Penn 5, Princeton 4
Jesper Horsted had three hits from the top of the order while Zack Belski, Ramzi Haddad and David Harding each snagged multi-hit outings. Princeton pitchers combined for eight strikeouts.

Three straight singles from the Tigers gave them a 1-0 lead as Nick Hernandez laced a base hit through the left side that scored Asher Lee-Tyson in the first inning.

Chris Giglio was on cruise control as he retired the first eight hitters before a two-out double in the second frame. In the third, a two-out error gave the Quakers another base runner, but the Princeton starter struck out a hitter looking to end the threat.

In the fourth, Penn put together a rally with two out. A double, single and walk loaded the bases for Andrew Murnane, who ripped a triple to left center that plated three. Trailing 3-1, the Tigers countered in the next half inning. Back-to-back-to-back singles highlighted by Lee-Tyson's RBI knock cut their deficit in half (3-2). The next hitter, Belski, hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game.

Penn's Matt Tola came up with a two-out run-producing single in the bottom of the sixth to give the home team a 4-3 advantage.

Down to their last at-bat, Harding walked and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Horsted. Two batters later, a fielding error extended the game and allowed Harding to score, tying the game at 4-all.

Princeton had leadoff batters reach in the eighth and ninth innings, but didn't score. The Quakers won the game on a walk-off RBI single from Tim Graul in the ninth. Thomas Pellis had three hits for the Quakers. Billy Lescher nabbed the win for Penn after punching out five hitters in three relief innings.

Penn 3, Princeton 1
Tigers had the first scoring chance with a runner on second base and one out in the first inning, but a strikeout and pop up completed the frame. The Quakers struck for the first run in the bottom of the first on a fielders' choice with the bases loaded.

Princeton had the first two hitters in the second reach on a single and fielding error. Both runners moved to second and third with one out on a wild pitch, but Penn's Adam Bleday got out of the jam with a strikeout and groundout.

Joseph Flynn got to third base in the seventh stanza with two out, but the Tigers couldn't register a run. The road unit finally broke through in the eighth inning. With two out, Nick Hernandez lined ball into the right center gap that allowed Lee-Tyson to scamper home. The senior outfielder, at third with a triple, was left stranded.

After giving up nine runs in his last two starts, Chad Powers was outstanding against Penn. The senior went seven innings, scattering five hits, allowing no runs after the first. He matched his season high with six strikeouts and did not walk a batter.

In the bottom half of the eight, the Quakers quickly answered with two more tallies. With runners on second and third, Penn's Sean Phelan hit a ground ball to second base. David Harding made the throw home, but Chris Adams slid under the tag to put the home team ahead, 2-1. An RBI bunt single from Matt O'Neill gave the Quakers' an insurance tally.

The Tigers brought the tying run to the plate in the top of the ninth, but Bleday finished off the complete game for Penn. The Quakers' starting pitcher struck out 11 in scoring the victory.

These two Ivy rivals get back at tomorrow on Easter Sunday. First pitch of the doubleheader is set for 12 p.m.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results