Golden Eagles defeated Penn 11-2 on Sunday night

Story from Penn Athletics:

AUBURN, Ala. – Seeking to become just the eighth four seed to win a regional since 1999, the University of Pennsylvania baseball team fell to the Golden Eagles of Southern Mississippi, 11-2, Sunday night from Plainsman Park.

The two teams will meet again Monday at 3 p.m. EDT/2 p.m. CDT in a winner-take-all game for the Auburn Regional.

Quaker Notemeal
* Penn had its longest winning streak since 2014 halted at 10 straight games.

* Owen Coady started for Penn and tossed four innings, allowing one run on five hits in his first action since the Ivy League Tournament opener against Columbia on May 19.

* Wyatt Henseler recorded both a hit and an extra-base hit for the 14th straight game, finishing 1-for-4.

* Jarrett Pokrovsky led the Penn offense with a 2-for-4 performance, one night removed from going 0-for-4 at the plate against Samford.

* Eli Trop was excellent in relief of Tommy Delany, going 2.2 shutout innings, surrendering just one hit with three strikeouts and only one walk. He retired seven of the nine batters he faced.

* Cole Palis went 0-for-3 on the night, his season-long reached-base streak of 37 straight games coming to an end.

* The Red and Blue scored first for the seventh straight game.

How It Happened
Acting as the home team for the first time all weekend, Coady worked around a two-out single for a scoreless first.

With two out in the bottom of the first, Henseler, already the program’s single-season home run, single season RBI, and career home run leader, broke the career RBI record of 132 with a solo home run to center, just to the right of the batter’s eye.

Southern Miss tied the game in the second, but Coady evaded further damage, keeping the score tied after facing a bases-loaded, one-out jam.

In the third, Werchan led off with a double to left-center and advanced to third on Brown’s single through the left side. Next up stepped Palis, who plated Werchan with a sac fly to left for a 2-1 Penn lead. After Brown stole second, with two out, Henseler was inches away from another RBI hit, but a leaping catch by Southern Miss first baseman Christopher Sargent kept the run off the board.

With one out in the Penn fourth, Baker, Pokrovsky, and Taylor reached on a hit by pitch, single, and walk, respectively, loading the bases, but back-to-back strikeouts wiped out the threat.

Southern Miss threatened to even the score in the fifth, as Slade Wilks doubled and took third on a throwing error with one out, but Cole Palis fielded a hard-hit grounder from Sargent, starting a 6-2-5 putout, cutting down Sargent trying to get back to third.

In the top of the sixth, a leadoff walk and triple with a throwing error plated two runs and put the Eagles in front, 3-2.

The back-to-back strikeouts started a string of 14 straight retired Quakers (through eight), with Southern Mississippi tacking on eight more runs in the top of the ninth to take a commanding 11-2 lead.

Golden Eagles pitching retired the first two Penn batters of the home half of the ninth, but Pokrovsky broke through with a two-out double to left field. Taylor grounded out to the mound to end the night, as Southern Miss hung on for the win.

Up Next
Penn and Southern Miss square off Monday afternoon at 3 p.m. EDT/2 p.m. CDT in a winner-take-all finale to the Auburn Regional at Plainsman Park.