As Penn takes on division leader Cornell at home for a pair of doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday, it will need to win three or four games to remain in serious contention for the division title.

It was an ideal night for baseball and the energy was palpable from both dugouts, but the Hawks ultimately prevailed, 6-3. VIDEO: Penn vs. St. Joe’s at Citizens Bank Park

Though the Red and Blue failed to capture the crown, falling to St. Joseph’s, 6-3, they added a new baseball program benchmark.

On a perfect spring evening, a strong group of students, friends and family came out to support the Quakers in the Liberty Bell Classic final at Citizens Bank Park. VIDEO: Penn vs. St. Joe’s at Citizens Bank Park

As the Phillies play at San Francisco tonight, they will cede — for one game — their stadium to the Quakers and the Hawks for the championship of the Liberty Bell Classic.

In this weekend’s four-game series at Princeton, the Penn baseball team struggled to emerge against a tough Tigers team, losing three of four.

The Quakers will face their toughest test of the season against Princeton this weekend as they look to gain games on division-leading Cornell.

Since top pitchers Vince Voiro and Cody Thomson were sitting out to rest, Cole decided to give his lesser-used arms an opportunity. But they couldn’t get the job done, and the Quakers fell to the Explorers, 11-4, at Meiklejohn Stadium.

Penn sits in the bottom position of its division, tied with Columbia at 5-3. Cornell, at 7-1, is alone at the top, for now. As Penn coach John Cole said of the tight race, “Anything can happen in this league.”

The Quakers dropped two games to Dartmouth on Saturday before sweeping Harvard the following day in Boston to earn a split on the weekend.

After a 3-5 start, the Quakers are getting hot — they’ve won four of their last five games due, in no small part, to the squad cleaning up its act.

After being blown out, 12-2, in the first game of a doubleheader against Brown on Monday afternoon, the Quakers rebounded with a 7-5 comeback win.

The Quakers swept Yale in Sunday’s doubleheader in its Ivy opener and will make up Saturday’s canceled doubleheader against Brown on Saturday.

It’s time to put it all together for the Penn baseball team (8-9), which seems to be catching fire at the right time heading into this weekend’s Ivy openers against Brown and Yale.

Freshman pitcher Connor Cuff came to Penn with high expectations, but so far he has performed well for the Quakers.

With their 11-4 victory over Villanova in the opening game of the Liberty Bell Classic on Tuesday, the Quakers now need a win over LaSalle next week to go to the championship game, which will be played at the home of the Phillies on April 17.

After all these highlights and lowlights, Tuesday’s 3 p.m. meeting with Villanova is the last chance for the Quakers to bring all aspects together at once before the Ivy season.