In honor of the MLB’s annual Home Run Derby on Monday night, we take a look at the players in Penn baseball history that have gone yard the most amount of times in their college careers.
4. Kyle Armeny, 21 career home runs, 2005-08
Missing only one game over the course of his four-year career, Armeny was a stalwart for the Quakers. During his freshman and sophomore seasons, Armeny was an outfielder, and the back half of his career was spent as a first baseman.
His standout season came in his junior year in 2007, when he led the team in seven different categories, including a .326 batting average, 35 runs, and eight home runs. For his performance that year, he was named an honorable mention All-Ivy and an ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District II First-Team selection. The very next year, Armeny followed up his success with another solid season, leading the team in home runs yet again with six.
3. William Gordon, 22 career home runs, 2007-10
Gordon, who is the only player on this list that pitched for the Quakers, brought value to Penn on both sides of the game. In his freshman year, Gordon didn’t allow a single run in his first six appearances, averaged a .291 batting average, and hit four home runs.
He kept that momentum going throughout the rest of his career, finishing his sophomore season as the team leader in doubles with 13 and his junior season as the team leader in home runs with 10. Similar to Armeny, Gordon was named honorable mention All-Ivy during his junior year, in addition to an All-Big 5 nod. Gordon finished out his Penn career with a senior season in which he averaged .309 at the plate and led the team with 23 walks.
2. Will Davis, 25 career home runs, 2008-11
For Davis, his time at Penn consisted of an improvement in play as his career progressed, leading to junior and senior seasons in which he was a standout for the program. Although he only batted in the .240s each of his first two years, Davis was of huge value in the field, playing at three different positions in addition to designated hitter.
Then, in his junior year, Davis tied the school record for home runs in a season, hitting 12 total, four of which coming in four consecutive games. Just like Gordon and Armeny, Davis earned an honorable mention All-Ivy selection his junior year. To finish off his college career, Davis obtained a first-team All-Ivy nod after batting at a career-high .304 average, including the last 30 games of the season in which he hit at a .368 clip.
1. Tom Olszak, 26 career home runs, 1976-79
Capping off the list of Penn’s most powerful hitters is Olszak, who played long before any of the other names on this list were even born. Similar to Davis, Olszak hit his stride during the back half of his career. In his junior season, he went yard 11 times, which at the time was the most in school history.
The following year, Olszak broke his own record, hitting 12 home runs, which stood unmatched until Davis tied him over 20 years later. Following his Penn career, Olszak competed for two teams at the Single-A level, batting in 61 total games and hitting five home runs.
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