Penn baseball dominates Cornell with a series sweep

Too much Red and Blue for Big Red to handle.

This past weekend, Penn baseball (14-15, 8-4 Ivy) extended its win streak to six games in a row after sweeping Cornell (6-21, 4-8) in a three-game series. The Quakers were dominant on the mound and solid defensively, pairing it with a clutch offense that ultimately sealed the series for Penn. 

The Quakers faced a long Saturday of playing ball, scheduled to play a doubleheader. To start off the day, the first game began with Cornell putting up the first runs on the board, launching the Big Red up 2-0 early. As the game progressed, both defenses worked strenuously competing toe-to-toe, until the seventh inning, when Penn prevailed as the stronger defensive team. With the help of sophomore catcher Ernie Echevarria and junior outfielder Gavin Collins, the Quakers’ at-bats were converted to runs. Collins hit a home run, which secured a 7-3 victory in game one. 

"[I was staying] composed and having a lot of confidence and came through for the team,” Collins said about his home run.

Game two of the doubleheader made the first game seem like the warm up for Penn. As soon as the first inning began, the Red and Blue were ready to bring it home. In the first inning alone, the Quakers took a 6-1 lead, aided by freshman infielder Jay Secretarski’s two-run homer. As the fourth inning concluded, Penn had extended its lead to a stunning 12-1 score. Cornell had a brief moment of respite, outscoring Penn 4-2 in the sixth, but that did not change the trajectory of the game as Penn went on to win 14-5.

On Sunday, the third and final game proved to be the most competitive game of this series. After the first three innings, Cornell had cemented a 5-2 lead over the Quakers. By the end of the seventh inning, Penn only managed to reduce that lead by one. And, despite another scoreless inning in the eighth, Penn did not lose hope and continued to push in the ninth.

To start the bottom of the ninth, Echevarria hit a leadoff double that snapped Penn’s scoreless streak. He later rushed to home base after a wild pitch, helping the Quakers cut it to a one-point game. Double stolen bases led to the Quakers occupying the second and third bases, setting the Quakers up in a very good spot for a comeback. Bases loaded, junior infielder Nick Spaventa hit a walk-off single, taking the game home for Penn with a 6-5 score. The Red and Blue outscored Cornell 27-13 across all three games. 

“It starts on the mound, you gotta throw a lot of strikes and play good defense,” coach John Yurkow said about extending the current win streak, which has seen the Quakers dominating their opponents. 

“We have done a decent job at doing that,” he added.

On a six-game winning streak, Penn currently sit at third place in the Ivy League conference.The Quakers next stop is in New Jersey, for a single game against Monmouth on April 15.