Baseball demolishes Villanova 15-5 in home opener

The Quakers scored 10 runs in an explosive sixth inning

ALEXIS GARCIA Sports Editor

Renovated field. New turf. Fresh chalk. A Philadelphia on Philadelphia matchup. The scene was set for Penn baseball’s 2023 homeopener, and the Quakers surely delivered. Following 11 games on the road to open the season, the Quakers (6-6) finally had their chance to play at home on the newly-renovated Tommy Lasorda Field at Meiklejohn Stadium. And Wednesday, the team lived up to the hype, crushing the Villanova Wildcats (1-14) in a 15-5 victory.

Wednesday’s game saw Penn’s offensive momentum take the team to new heights. Senior catcher Jackson Appel went 4-4, freshman infielder Ryan Taylor finished 3-3, and all but one of the starting nine recorded at least one hit.

“We did a lot better [job of] taking pitches which led to more walks,” Appel said. “Those more walks helped us score more runs. Our bats have been getting hot lately — just love to see it, especially in front of all the fans.”

Freshman right-handed pitcher John Cerwinski was on the mound for his first collegiate start. A week prior, he recorded a win after a 2.1 inning appearance against Nicholl State in which he allowed two runs. Cerwinski faced his fair share of troubles in the first — giving up a single on his first pitch, then a walk. But the rookie then retired the next three Wildcat batters to strand the two runners on base. The second inning wouldn’t go as smoothly though.

Back-to-back grounders scored a pair of runners, putting Villanova up 2-0. The Wildcats jumping out to lead the game first definitely shook the Quakers, who expected the Villanova team — which entered the game collectively hitting .204 — to not be an offensive threat.

But the Quakers wasted no time to respond. A double from Taylor scored a runner, then a scorching single to the right side by senior outfielder Seth Werchan scored another to even the game at two runs apiece. A subsequent walk prompted an early Villanova pitching change — what would be the first of eight.

Following the rocky second inning, Cerwinski really seemed to find his groove. The movement on his pitches had the Wildcats chasing and whiffing after late breaks; he blanked Villanova in the third and fourth.

Coach John Yurkow replaced Cerwinski in the fifth with freshman right-handed pitcher Jake Moss, but the Wildcats were quick to rattle him.

The game had been quiet since the second inning until former Quaker Craig Larson awakened the Wildcat offense with a one-run single. Another Wildcat followed suit, hitting a one-run double to put Villanova up 4-2.

Moss only mustered one out before Yurkow pulled him and replaced him with sophomore left-handed pitcher Marshall Mott. Villanova has the chance to blow the game wide open with bases loaded and only one out. But as seen all season, the Quaker bullpen showcased their exceptional situational pitching to get Penn out of the jam. Now, the Quakers found themselves in the same situation they were in during the second: playing catch up.

Penn did more than even the game, though.

The Red and Blue nearly batted around the order three times in a 10-run sixth inning that included six singles, two doubles, and a triple that forced the appearance of four Villanova pitchers.

“We’re not striking out as much,” Yurkow said. “That was our achilles heel for a while. It’s just important that we put more balls in play on two strikes, and we did a good job of doing that today.”

Sitting at a comfortable seven-run lead, all that was left for Penn was to close it out.

Sophomore right-handed pitcher Tommy Delany did such that. Coming on in relief in the sixth, Delaney threw a shutout frames and struck out all three batters he faced before the Quakers tacked on three more runs in the seventh — forcing a mercy rule finish with a final score of 15-5. Aside from the Quaker bats heating up, Wednesday’s game was also a testament to Penn’s improved pitching performances — especially from Cerwinski and Delany. The Quakers’ pitchers — especially those from the bullpen — have started to trust their stuff more, according to Yurkow. He still hopes to see more of his starting pitchers go the distance before Ivy play roles around.

“Everyone came into this midweek game expecting a win,” Taylor said. “We are still adjusting to the new faces and stuff, but creating a chemistry in the team is definitely going to help us work together better before we get to conference play. Today’s win is great for morale and momentum.” capitalizing on long stretches of sluggish offense from Penn, to tie the game just before the end of regulation. And in overtime, the Quakers simply collapsed, only scoring three points and ultimately losing 77-69.

With momentum from Wednesday’s win and a home crowd cheering the team on, Penn baseball looks to pick up its third series win this weekend as it welcomes UMass for a three-game series.

National Invitation Tournament, Penn’s identity is secured — no matter what, the Quakers never quit. And at their best, they have what it takes to compete with anyone in the Ivy League.

The ideal version of Penn women’s basketball is a team that moves the ball on offense, generates quality looks from beyond the arc, and guards with authority. That is the team they were during the second and third quarters against Princeton and the one they have been during notable stretches of the season.

From their 11-game midseason win streak to their victory over Ivy co-champion Columbia, the Quakers have shown extended flashes of elite play. Even in last weekend’s loss to Princeton, the Quakers led by two at halftime behind 15 points from their bench.

But while those stretches had the look of a potential Ivy League champion, inconsistency ultimately doomed Penn’s title hopes. There were too many disastrous quarters, like the first against Princeton, that resulted in deficits the Quakers could not overcome, regardless of how hard they fought.

Those quarters were most common against the teams that topped the conference: Princeton and Columbia. In Penn’s first game against the Tigers, which Penn entered with a 4-0 record in the Ivy, the Quakers’ offense was shut down in the second quarter, managing just seven points.

In Penn’s second game against Columbia, the Lions outscored the Quakers by 17 in the first half, making a valiant second half insignificant. And after that stellar first-half effort against Princeton in the regular season finale, the Tigers buried Penn with a crushing 27-7 third quarter.

The common theme among those catastrophic sequences was Penn deviating from the offense that served them so well. Their ball movement dried up, with a few players accounting for a bulk of the shot attempts. And in a game defined by makes and misses, the Quakers were unable to connect on shots both open and contested.

If those few periods of play had gone differently, Penn’s season may have followed. But no amount of resilience could have accounted for this team’s inability to maintain their best selves over the course of the entire season. And those times when the Quakers fulfilled their potential, those possessions, and those minutes in which they were on par with the crop of the Ivy League, serve only as a reminder of the team that could have been.

Princeton lifted a trophy on its home court. But Penn was still headed for the Ivy League Tournament. And once the day’s games were finished and the seeding picture came into focus, Penn would have one last chance at redemption against their black-and-orange-striped foes from New Jersey.

Sure, it was just the semifinal, and whoever won would still have to play Yale to earn the automatic bid to March Madness. But who cares? The Miracle on Ice was also in a semifinal, but almost no one cares that the U.S. still had to beat Finland to take home gold; all that matters is that we beat the Soviet Union for the first time in 20 years.

Such was the setup for Saturday’s game in the Ivy League Tournament Semifinal. And the game didn’t disappoint. It was a tight, hard-fought, backand-forth affair that had the 4,500 in attendance on the edge of their seats. Each team’s stars shone brightest in the tough moments, with Dingle scoring 19 while dishing out six assists, while junior guard Clark Slajchert and sophomore guard George Smith combining to go 6-10 from long range.

But in the end, you can run from it, you can dread it, but you can’t escape it: Penn lost to Princeton, 77-70, its ninth straight defeat to the Tigers and arguably the one with the most on the line.

Such performances in the last two games of Penn’s season naturally lead to a question of who’s to blame. Is it coach Steve Donahue, who hasn’t defeated the Tigers outside of that 2018 season? Is it the players? Is it a centuries-old curse lost to history which chose the past 15 years to rear its ugly head?

I’d prefer not to focus on those discussions, and instead remember the season that was. The Quakers had great stretches this year, including a seven-game Ivy win streak. But the team also had disappointing patches, including a 2-4 start to Ivy play, a 1-3 record against Big 5 rivals, and of course, three losses to Princeton.

The program will graduate four seniors, including one — guard Lucas Monroe — who started on Saturday. Each of the other three — guard Jonah Charles, forward Michael Moshkovitz, and center Max Lorca-Lloyd — were significant contributors during their Quaker careers, and all four will be missed dearly. But they will leave the Red and Blue without an Ivy title on their resumes.

I also want to take a way-too-early look ahead to next year. Penn will return four of Saturday’s starters, and junior guard Andrew Laczkowski seems like a frontrunner to absorb many of Monroe’s minutes. The starting backcourt of Clark Slajchert and Dingle will both be around for one last ride. There are promising young players who should see more action, as well as a class of recruits, including former Sixers coach Brett Brown’s son, Sam. Princeton will also be losing some of their best players, too, including Tosan Evbuomwan, who won Ivy League men’s Player of the Year just a season ago. This should hopefully give Penn a chance to catch up.

With all this, the stage should be set for the Ivy League to run through the Palestra next year. But of course, that was supposed to happen this year, too. And if it doesn’t, and if Penn still cannot beat Princeton, then it’s time to start having serious conversations about the future of the program.

Previewing Penn at the NCAA swimming and diving championships

Anna Kalandadze will compete at the women’s meet, while Matt Fallon is out due to injury

GRIFFIN BOND

Sports Associate

As fans of Penn swimming and diving scanned the names of those invited to the 2023 NCAA Division I Men’s swimming and diving championship in Minneapolis next week, they might have been surprised by one name missing from the list.

The Daily Pennsylvanian has learned that Matt Fallon, a first-team All-American and Ivy League Championship record holder in the 200-yard breaststroke, will reportedly miss this year's event due to an undisclosed injury. In his freshman season, Fallon turned heads — finishing third in the 200 breast at the NCAA championships. Now in his sophomore season, he currently holds the fourth-best time in the country for the event.

There was high anticipation for Fallon, who just this summer posted the seventh fastest time in U.S. history for the 200 breast. In January, he won seven straight events and earlier in the year, posted an NCAA A-cut time for the 200 breast, meaning he would automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships.

Fallon’s third place finish in the 200 breast at the Ivy League Championships raised some eyebrows after a stretch of such consistent dominance. His time was over three seconds slower than his season best from November, although it is worth noting that the Ivy Championships were nearly a month before the NCAA championships. Despite Fallon’s absence, Penn will still be sending senior Anna Kalandadze to Knoxville, Tenn. for the NCAA Division I women’s swimming and diving championships from March 15-18.

Kalandadze qualified for both the 1650-yard and 500-yard freestyle. She will be looking to cap off her already impressive season that includes two individual Ivy titles in both events and a program record in the 1650 free. From last year's NCAA championships, Kalandadze has shaved off nearly 40 seconds from her time in the 1650 free and over eight seconds from the 500 free. Her 15:53.88 finish in the 1650 free is currently sixth fastest in the nation. In Knoxville, Kalandadze will try to defend Penn’s national title in the 500 free won last year by Lia Thomas.

Despite no one traveling to Minneapolis to represent the men's squad, Kalandadze keeps Penn's hopes of a NCAA championship title alive.