Penn baseball powers past Auburn, 6-3, in extra innings and into the winner’s bracket in NCAA regional
The win marked the ninth straight for the Quakers but their first in an NCAA Tournament game since 1990. They'll face Samford on Saturday in the winner's bracket of the double-elimination regional.
Penn baseball just added its name to the Philly underdog column with a massive 6-3 win in extra innings over host No. 13 Auburn in its regional opener of the NCAA Division I baseball championship on Friday night.
A trio of smart bunts following an RBI double in the top of the 11th from freshman Ryan Taylor put the Quakers up by three, breaking open a game that had been tied, 3-3, since the bottom of the eighth. Auburn had a tough time figuring out the small-ball approach, but more importantly for Penn, it resulted in a lead the Tigers (34-22-1) weren’t able to come back from.
Penn will now play Samford on Saturday (9 p.m., ESPN+), which produced an upset of its own against Southern Miss in the earlier game of the regional. The Golden Eagles will play Auburn in the loser’s bracket of the double-elimination tournament (3 p.m., ESPN+).
Penn (32-14) was paced by an eighth-inning two-run home run from catcher Jackson Appel, who went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. His blast that put the Quakers up, 3-2, before Auburn tied it on pinch hitter Brody Moss’ two-out bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the frame. It was the second time the Tigers scored on a bases-loaded walk, as Cooper McMurray worked a free pass ahead of Kason Howell’s RBI single that gave Auburn a 2-1 lead in the sixth.
“I was confident I was gonna get a changeup there … and I got it,” Appel said postgame. “It was a lucky swing ... I didn’t know every at-bat tonight, but that was one I thought I knew.”
Wyatt Henseler kicked off the scoring with his an RBI double in the fourth and finished 2-for-5.
The game marked the Quakers’ first NCAA Tournament win since 1990 and redemption against a Tigers team it lost to the last time Penn made the tournament, 28 years ago.
The win marked the ninth in a row for the Quakers, who, despite entering the regional as the Ivy League champions, were 150000/1 odds to win the College World Series and a +800 underdog to win the Auburn Regional.
“It’s feels awesome,” Appel said. “Pitching was great, hitting was great … it’s just a very special moment, very special.”