Penn baseball dominates Fairleigh Dickinson in pair of weekend doubleheaders

The Quakers quelled any chance for Fairleigh Dickinson to come away with a win this weekend. 

Penn baseball played in two doubleheaders over the span of two days and was able to walk away with four wins against Fairleigh Dickinson. The Quakers were victorious by scores of 8-4, 18-5, 8-5, and 16-2, extending their winning streak to six games. 

On Saturday, the Red and Blue (9-4) welcomed fans to Meiklejohn Stadium for the first time this season and came away with an 8-4 victory in their home opener. Penn started out the first game strong with a run batted in on a single by senior catcher Matt O’Neill, which helped bring in sophomore infielder Eduardo Malinowski in the bottom of the first inning. The Knights would storm back with a run of their own in the top of the second inning to even the score at 1-1. 

In the bottom of the second, junior outfielder Peter Matt stroked an RBI single to center field, giving the Quakers a 2-1 lead. In the next inning, freshman infielder Craig Larsen hit his third home run in three games with a three-run shot to left-center. Later in the inning, freshman outfielder Tommy Courtney hit his first collegiate home run to extend the lead by one. The Red and Blue would jet out to a 7-1 lead, which proved too much for Fairleigh Dickinson down the stretch. 

In the second game of the day, Fairleigh Dickinson built an early lead. In the first four innings, the Knights took a 5-0 advantage and put the Quakers in an early hole. 

Down 5-0 going into the bottom of the fourth inning, Penn exploded for a season-high 18 runs unanswered over the span four frames to come away with an 18-5 win. In the sixth inning, Larsen hit his second home run of the day and fourth of the season

Overall, the Red and Blue displayed their impressive offensive prowess in the pair of home-opening wins. On the day, freshman infielder Josh Hood was perfect at the plate, going 3-3 with two doubles and four RBIs. He became the first Penn player since April 9, 2014 to post a perfect single-game average with three or more at-bats.

On Sunday, the Quakers traveled over 100 miles to Teaneck, N.J. to face Fairleigh Dickinson once again. It seemed like déjà vu in the first game, as the Quakers scored eight runs for the second day in a row. Penn would go back and forth with Knights early on, as the score was tied at 2-2 at the end of the second inning. Penn would then score six runs unanswered over the span of five innings and stop a late Fairleigh Dickinson comeback to win by three. 

Coming off the victory to start the day, the Quakers were unable to create a significant lead early on in the second game, as the two teams were deadlocked at 2-2 after four innings. The Penn offense then heated up quickly, scoring 14 runs in the next four frames. The stretch started with a single from senior first baseman Sean Phelan with the bases loaded to drive in Courtney and freshman catcher Andrew Hernandez. 

Penn will next be in action on Wednesday in Bethlehem, Pa., where the Quakers will look to bring their win streak to seven with a win against Lehigh.