April showers weren’t the only things sweeping across Philadelphia to start the month.
Over the weekend, Penn baseball (13-12, 7-2 Ivy) swept Princeton (8-23, 4-5) in a decisive three-game series. For the Quakers, the wins mark a significant inflection point in their season — having their first winning record in their 2025 campaign. It was also the Red and Blue’s first series sweep of Princeton since 2022 with their first at home since 2017.
“[It’s] really encouraging. Obviously, we had a pretty tough week, [as] the week before we lost to students at Dartmouth. That was definitely a series that we should have won,” junior infielder Davis Baker said. “So it’s pretty encouraging to come back and play such a good team and put together three pretty hard-fought wins.”
During the doubleheader on Friday, both matchups would turn out to be close affairs. In the first game, senior right-handed pitcher Noah Millikan would get the call on the bump and put together five strong innings. Despite giving up a home run in the first inning, Millikan only allowed one earned run on two hits, keeping Princeton at bay. After being tied through seven innings, Penn broke through on an RBI double by junior outfielder Jarrett Pokrovsky, putting the Quakers up 2-1.
The score would end up holding, giving the first game to the Red and Blue. The Tigers would finish the game with only three hits, a testament to the Quakers’ improvement in limiting opponent’s runs — something that has been an issue at times this season.
“I think earlier in the season, a lot of our problems were stemming from our offense would be good one day [but] the pitching wouldn’t be great, and it would be the other way around,” Baker said. “This week was different. Both sides were firing well.”
In the second game of the doubleheader, another close game would ensue. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Josh Katz would pitch a solid five innings, only allowing three runs. Unlike the first game, however, Princeton’s bats would begin to light it up. On the game, Princeton would notch 15 hits – five times as many as they had in the morning.
After Princeton got out to an early lead of 3-1, Penn would find its footing with a three-run third inning bolstered by sophomore infielder Nick Spaventa’s RBI double. Subsequently, the Quakers blew the game open in the fifth inning when sophomore outfielder Gavin Degnan had a two-run single to put the Quakers up 7-3. Penn held on to win 7-5, despite a flurry of hits and runs in the eighth inning by Princeton.
“We’ve definitely proven to be a team that thrives through adversity. Lately, we’ve had several guys down with injuries, and others have had to step up — which they absolutely did,” sophomore outfielder Gavin Collins wrote in a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian. “Nearly everyone in our dugout contributed to that series sweep, which was awesome to see.”
On Saturday, the Quakers aimed to go for their second sweep of the season, with their first coming against Harvard just a few weeks ago. Indeed, the Red and Blue would make a statement out of the opening inning punctuated by Spaventa’s two-run homer to right center to put the Quakers up 3-0. Princeton, however, responded right back in the third inning to knot the game up at 3-3.
Heading into the ninth inning, the Quakers saw themselves down two runs with only three outs left. It was there that Penn found their spark with an RBI double by freshman outfielder Connor McCabe and a game-tying RBI single by Baker. The critical hits in the moments would prove vital for the Quakers, as the game was forced into overtime.
After a few scoreless innings in extras, junior outfielder Ryan Taylor found himself at the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the 12th inning. On a 1-1 count, Taylor found the sweet spot and singled into right center, walking off the Tigers. With the win, the Quakers would rally to complete the sweep — in emphatic fashion.
“As we’ve gone on, as a whole, this team might be just as good, if not better this year, even with all those guys that left,” Baker said. “I think it just took a while for [us] to figure it out and operate without all those guys last year.”
Now sitting on top of the Ivy League standings, the Quakers seem to have turned the tide on a shaky nonconference start to the season. With the Villanova game this past Tuesday canceled, next up for Penn is Cornell — a team that they have much familiarity with having played them in the Ivy League Championship final in 2024.
Amid a five-game win streak, it seems that the Quakers are hitting their stride at just the right time.
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