Philadelphia, PA - The Wagner College baseball team overcame a two-run deficit with a run in their half of the fifth and two more in the sixth, but the University of Pennsylvania Quakers scored three times to retake the lead in the eighth and hold on for the 5-3 win on Saturday afternoon at Meiklejohn Stadium. 
 
Wagner (2-14) starter Daniel Merkel pitched a career-high seven innings, in which he allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits while walking three and striking out three batters. Mike Pirrotta (0-1) took the loss, giving up the go-ahead scores in the eighth. Connor Hayden pitched a scoreless inning in relief, striking out two and walking one. 
 
Dante Faicchio led the Seahawk offense at the plate, going 2 for 4 with two RBIs. Maimu Kobayashi also had two hits in three at-bats while scoring a run. Xavier Baker also added an RBI while Mike Ruggiero and Mateo Matthews scored. 
 
Craig Larsen paced the Penn offense with two hits and two RBI. Wyatt Henseler also added an RBI for the Quakers. Owen Coady tossed six innings, in which he gave up three runs on three hits while walking two and striking out 10 batters. Cole Zaffiro earned the win after tossing three scoreless innings, striking out five batters, and giving up two hits. 
 
The Quakers got on the board first, scoring two runs in the bottom of the third. Carson Ozmer led off the inning with a double to right field. Nate Polo added a single to left to give Penn a pair of runners on base.  Cole Palis reached on a throwing error by Matthews at first, which allowed Ozmer to score. Following a sacrifice bunt by Tommy Courtney, Henseler lofted a fly ball to center that scored Polo, giving the Quakers a 2-0 advantage. 
 
Following a scoreless fourth, Wagner got on the board in their half of the fifth inning. Matthews drew a one-out walk before moving to second on the single by David Melfi to center field. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch by Coady. Baker sent a deep fly to right field on the third pitch he saw from Coady as Matthews tagged from third and scored Wagner's first run of the contest. 

Wagner took their first lead of the game, 3-2, in the sixth. Kobayashi was hit by a pitch and Mike Ruggiero walked. The two runners executed a double steal to perfection to move into scoring position. With the count in his favor, Faccichio ripped a double to left, scoring both runners. 

Merkel continued to limit the Quakers, striking out Ozmer before getting the final two outs of the frame without surrendering a run. Pirrotta came on for Merkel in the eighth. He walked the first batter he saw in Henseler before hitting Jackson Appeal with an errant pitch. Ben Miller reached on a throwing error by Pirrotta, which loaded the bases. 

Hayden replaced Pirrotta, and gave up a two-run double to Larsen, giving Penn a 4-3 lead. Hayden settled down to strikeout Werchan and Brown before a fielding error by Baker allowed Miller to score the Quakers' third run of the inning. 

The Seahawks had the potential tying run on at plate after Faicchio singled to right-center and moved to second on a wild pitch. Zaffiro closed out the game by striking out the side.

The two teams conclude the weekend series on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.