Zaffiro has 8 strikeouts, Miller has 2 RBIs; Penn beats Samford at Auburn Regional

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Cole Zaffiro had eight strikeouts over 8 innings pitched, Ben Miller went 2 for 4 with two RBIs and Pennsylvania beat Samford 5-4 Saturday night at the Auburn Regional.

No. 4 seed Penn (34-14) — which has won 10 consecutive games, the third-longest active win streak in the nation — awaits the winner between Southern Miss and Samford, both of which would have to beat the Quakers twice to advance to the super regionals.

Miller hit an RBI single in the top of the first inning and Penn led the rest of the way.

Zaffiro (6-2) allowed two runs on four hits with no walks. Edward Sarti, who came on in relief to start the bottom of the ninth, loaded the bases with a hit by pitch, a walk and a hit by pitch before he was replaced by David Shoemaker with no outs. Shoemaker induced back-to-back groundouts that trimmed Samford’s deficit to 5-3 and another run scored when Josh Rodriguez reached on a throwing error but pinch-runner Aaron Walton was thrown out at third base to end the game.

Samford (37-24) had its four-game win streak snapped.

Jackson Appel and Wyatt Henseler each had two hits and two runs for Penn. Appel scored on an RBI double by Henseler in the top of the fifth that extended his streak to 13 consecutive games with an extra-base hit.

The Quakers are the first Ivy League team to win its first two games at a regional since the NCAA went to 16 four-team regionals in 1999.

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