PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The University of Pennsylvania baseball team is preparing to defend its Ivy League tournament title. The Quakers will open the tourney on Friday afternoon, matching up with top-seed Columbia in New York City.
A big reason for the Quakers’ success in the last few years has been the play of senior third baseman Wyatt Henseler.
Henseler has rewritten the Penn record books. He is the Quakers’ career and single-season record holder in hits (72 single-season, 222 career); runs (57 single-season, 171 career); home runs (19 single-season, 51 career); and runs batted in (63 single-season, 180 career). His 51 career homers and 180 career runs batted in are also Ivy League records.
It is incredibly impressive, but Henseler said breaking records isn’t his main goal.
“And I think that’s good for my sake,” he said. “I think that means my priorities are in the right place, which is just winning and being a leader on my team and doing whatever I can to help win.
“When my time is done here at Penn, I think I’ll take a step back and really evaluate what all transpired over my four years.”
Henseler’s power numbers are really something. This season, he has 19 home runs in just 167 at-bats, but he is quick to add he doesn’t focus on being a power hitter.
“If you watch my BP, I’m not trying to put on a light show — partially because I know it doesn’t really work for me if I try to just pull home runs in BP,” he said. “But … I wouldn’t say I have crazy raw power. I think just learning how to be as efficient as possible in the game and really being a game player with a good approach.
“My whole life I’ve just been taught to always hit for average, to try to hit the ball hard across the whole field, be a gap-to-gap hitter.”
Henseler was recently honored with Penn’s Class of 1915 Award, given annually to the male student-athlete who best exemplifies the spirit and tradition of University of Pennsylvania Athletics.
Last season, after winning the Ivy League tournament title, Henseler and the Quakers won two games in the NCAA Regional.
The first game in this year’s tournament against Columbia is slated to get underway at 3 p.m. Friday.