PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania baseball team continues to make its postseason push this weekend hosting Dartmouth for three games at Tommy Lasorda Field at Meiklejohn Stadium.
The series begins Friday with a single game at 2 pm and continues Saturday with a doubleheader slated to start at 11:30 am The program will honor its nine members of the senior class with a pre-game ceremony to begin at approximately 11:05 am
With just three games remaining for each Ancient Eight team to conclude the season, seven teams are fighting for three spots in the second-annual Ivy League Tournament after Columbia clinched both the Ivy League regular season championship and the top seed following a three-game sweep of Cornell last weekend.
GAME 40-42: Penn (18-21, 9-9 Ivy) vs. Dartmouth (11-24, 6-12 Ivy)
May 3-4 | Watch (ESPN+) | Live Stats – Game 1, Game 2, Game 3 | Program (PDF)
Ivy League Tournament Clinching Scenarios
As of late Thursday afternoon, there are four scenarios in which the Quakers can clinch a spot in the Ivy League Tournament this weekend. They are as follows:
- Penn wins three games AND Cornell loses two games
- Penn wins three games AND Princeton loses three games
- Penn wins three games AND Princeton wins two games
- Penn wins three games AND Princeton loses two games AND Cornell loses one game
Any of these situations that occur this season and Penn will be playing in New York City two weekends from now to defend its Ivy League tournament crown and earn a trip to the NCAA regional for a second straight year.
Henseler Milestone Watch
So, you may be wondering… what records can Wyatt Henseler break next?
He’s already set Ivy League records in career homers (51) and RBIs (177), career program records in hits (215), runs (163), doubles (49), home runs, total bases (425), and RBIs and re -set the program’s single-season record for home runs (19) for the third straight year last weekend.
That being said, Henseler is one double shy of taking the program’s all-time record outright and is three home runs away from 21, which would be the Ivy’s single-season record.
A Good Stretch
Penn is coming off a bit of a winning stretch these last handful of games, emerging victorious in four of its last six games and three of its last four.
The Quakers took two-of-three on the road at Harvard last weekend before routing Delaware State on the road Tuesday, 13-1.
Playing at home has certainly been a bright spot for the Red and Blue this season, going 8-5 in 13 regular-season games at Tommy Lasorda Field this year, despite a three-game skid as of late, dropping a pair to Cornell in April 13-14 and a midweek against Saint Joseph’s on April 17.
Senior Day Recognition
Prior to the start of Saturday’s doubleheader, the Quakers will honor nine members of the senior class—Calvin Brown, Danny HeintzHenseler, Justin Neskie, Carson Ozmer, Drew Rogers, Edward Sarti, Eli Tropand Cole Zaffiro—with a special pre-game ceremony.
At The Plate
Penn’s offense has posted a batting average of .277 as a team this season, reaching base at a .385 clip and has a slugging percentage of .444 as well.
Henseler has been the guiding light for the Quakers at the dish this season, with a slashline of .362/.816/.476 and an OPS of 1.292 in 39 games. He leads his teammates in almost every offensive category including average (.362), runs (46), hits (55), home runs (19), RBIs (44), total bases (124), on-base percentage (.476 ), slugging percentage (.816) and OPS. He’s also currently on a reached-base streak of 24 consecutive games.
In Ivy League play, Henseler is having one of the conference’s best seasons, hitting .431 with 28 hits, 10 home runs, 21 RBIs, and 16 walks with a slugging percentage of 1.015 and an OBP of .573.
Carson Ozmer (.342) and Nick Spaventa (.311) are the only other Quakers hitting above .300 this season with Ryan Taylor (.294) and Davis Baker (.289) right on the doorstep.
On The Mound
Penn pitching is giving up an average of 6.47 runs per game this season, ranked second in the Ivy League behind only Yale (4.94).
Right-hander Cole Zaffiro (4-3, 4.28 ERA) is set to make his 11th and final start of the regular season this weekend, leading the team in strikeouts (65) and innings pitched (54.2). Ryan Dromboski (2-5, 8.54) has re-emerged as a threat atop the rotation for the Quakers, going 2-0 with a 2.31 ERA over 11.2 innings, striking out 14 with just three walks in his last two starts.
Reliever Carson Ozmer (1-1, 3.00 ERA), Thomas Shurtleff (1-0, 3.20) and Eli Trop (3-2, 3.63) have been mainstays in the bullpen for Penn all season long and remain the team’s top options in crucial situations.
Will Tobin (1-2, 4.81) has made a team-high 17 appearances this season, and made the start Tuesday at DSU, tossing three no-hit innings with four strikeouts. He’s allowed just one earned run in his last eight outings.
Scouting Dartmouth
The Big Green have struggled this season and sit on the outside of the postseason picture with just three games left to play. They’ve dropped six games in a row and eight of their last nine after being swept by Princeton and dropping two games to Harvard the weekend before.
At the plate, Elliot Krewson leads the team with a batting average of .329 in 34 games, producing a team-best 47 hits with six doubles. He’s also a perfect 5-for-5 on stolen base attempts. Nathan Cmeyla is also hitting north of .300 at the dish this year with an average of .312 to go along with five home runs, while Kolton Freeman is the team leader in homers with eight, adding a team-high 22 RBIs.
Big Green pitching is giving up 8.07 runs per game this year, as Drew Koenen (1-2, 5.79 ERA) is the team leader in earned run average, while starter Marco Dumsky (2-4, 6.31) leads Dartmouth with 42 strikeouts.
Series History
Penn holds a slim lead over Dartmouth in the all-time series, 92-89-2, dating back to the 1891 campaign.
The Quakers have won four in a row and nine of the last 11 meetings dating back to the 2018 season.
Follow The Action
All three games this weekend will be streamed live on ESPN+ with live stats provided.
For the latest on Penn baseball, follow @PennBaseball on X (formerly Twitter), @Penn_Baseball on Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.
Tags: Baseball Ends Regular Season ActionPacked Weekend Dartmouth
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