Penn baseball falls to host Virginia in NCAA Tournament opener

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Penn baseball hung tough with the No. 12 team in the nation, but ultimately fell, 4-2, to host Virginia in its opening game of NCAA Tournament regional play.

In a relatively quiet offensive day for both teams, the Quakers only managed four hits, while the Cavaliers had six.

“I thought we were a little passive, maybe a little tentative in the first couple of things offensively,” Penn coach John Yurkow said. “I’d like to see us be a little more aggressive early in the game, maybe butterflies, maybe jitters a little bit, I thought overall we handled the atmosphere pretty well.”

Penn (24-24) falls to the losers’ bracket and will face the loser of No. 2 Mississippi State and No. 3 St. John’s in an elimination game on Saturday (noon, ESPN+).

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Virginia (42-15) entered Friday second in the nation in team batting average (.341). Every hitter in the Cavaliers’ batting order averages above .300, with Bobby Whelan hitting a team-high .403 in the nine-hole. But Penn starting pitcher Cole Zaffiro kept the game close in six innings, only allowing three runs — a three-run homer by Henry Godbout.

Virginia strung together a single and a walk before Godbout launched the ball over the left-field fence in the second inning.

“They obviously have a really good lineup,” Zaffiro said. “I was just trying to stick to my strengths. I didn’t have my best stuff ... but I was just trying to execute pitches, hit my spots.”

Zaffiro worked his way out of multiple jams, including one with the bases loaded in the fourth inning. He finished his afternoon with four strikeouts, three walks, and one hit batsman.

“One of the reasons we decided to go with Cole today, he’s a brilliant competitor, pitching these types of games,” Yurkow said. “I think you give him a lot of credit, he did a really good job.”

Meanwhile, Virginia starter Joe Savino faced the minimum through the first three innings. But the second time through the order, Penn did a little damage.

Connor Chavez recorded Penn’s first hit of the game with a leadoff single in the fourth. The junior stole second and scored on Davis Baker’s
double. Freshman Nick Spaventa made it a one-run game with an RBI single to center field.

“I think the second time around, we were able to be a little more aggressive, get our swings off. It let us be more successful,” Baker said.

The Cavaliers had several opportunities to break the game open but went 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position and left 10 on base. Virginia tacked on another run in the seventh off reliever Eli Trop, while Penn’s bats fell mostly silent the rest of the way.

“I thought we hung in there pretty good,” Yurkow said. “I thought we competed well today, I just don’t think we executed well enough.”