The Quakers came to Hanover looking to keep their perfect Ivy League record intact. Dartmouth had other ideas.
Penn dropped both games of Friday’s doubleheader at Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park, falling 8-7 and 5-2. The Big Green entered the day winless. They left with their first two victories of the season—and their first series win over Penn since 2012. That year, Dartmouth swept a two-game set at home.
Penn’s offense had its moments, particularly from Davis Baker. After torching Saint Joseph’s on Tuesday with three doubles, he picked up right where he left off—doubling in his first two at-bats in Game 1. Then, in the fifth inning, he added an inside-the-park home run, the first by a Quaker since Andrew Murnane did it at Harvard in 2018. Baker finished the afternoon 3-for-6, and his first hit of the day marked a career milestone: No. 150.
Freshman Ernie Echevarria also delivered in Game 1, going 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored. But Penn couldn’t do enough to keep pace, and now they’ll try to avoid a sweep when the series wraps up Saturday.
Elsewhere, Villanova nearly pulled off a stunning comeback at Villanova Ballpark at Plymouth, erasing a six-run deficit before falling to LIU, 10-7.
The Wildcats (13-11) made things interesting in the eighth when Collin Quintano launched a pinch-hit grand slam—his first home run of the season and the team’s second grand slam in as many games. The rally put the tying run at the plate in the ninth, but Villanova couldn’t complete the comeback.
At VCU, Saint Joseph’s fell 6-3 in their series opener. The Hawks (9-15, 3-4 A-10) struck first in the second inning when Owen Petrich doubled, moved to third on an Aidan Duda single, and scored on a Michael Pierson sac fly.
Petrich finished 2-for-5 with an RBI and three runs scored, while Tim Dickinson added a pair of hits. Frank Ciccone took the loss, allowing three runs over six innings.
