Consider second base settled, for the time being.

As junior Zak Farkes continued to battle shoulder soreness, that’s where sophomore Brendan Byrne, hoping to fend off a cadre of worthy challengers for the fill-in role, hoisted the Harvard baseball team (11-6, 4-0 Ivy) to dual victories in Philadelphia yesterday. With twin two-RBI doubles—the second giving the Crimson the eventual victory in Game 2—Byrne paced a balanced offense from the nine hole in a 6-4, 11-5 doubleheader sweep of Penn (8-13, 5-3 Ivy).

It was the second makeup doubleheader in as many days for the Crimson, which extended its winning streak to five games.

“I don’t think I solidified anything with the type of team we have,” Byrne said. “Every game we have sort of a showcase.”

Five players—Byrne, Farkes, senior Ian Wallace, and freshmen Taylor Meehan and Griff Jenkins—have received time at the keystone this season. With Farkes getting his at-bats at DH—he went 0-for-3 with an RBI yesterday—and Wallace splitting time in the outfield, Byrne has the most experience of the remaining competitors.

“It’s sort of a merry-go-round at certain points,” Byrne said. “You try to make the most of it.”

In addition to extending the team’s undefeated streak, Harvard’s sweep put a damper on Penn’s early season success. Having started the league schedule at 5-1, the Quakers entered the day fresh from a Monday sweep of Red Rolfe divisional powerhouse Dartmouth in Hanover, NH.

Today, the Crimson welcomes Holy Cross at 3 p.m. for its home opener.

HARVARD 11, PENN 5

By scoring all 11 runs in the fifth inning and beyond, the Crimson’s comeback victory in Game 2 little resembled the lopsided score on the books.

Penn spotted Quaker starter Brian Cirri with an early 3-0 lead, and took that margin into the top of the fifth.

Thanks to the continued hot-hitting of freshman slugger Steffan Wilson, who knocked a 2-1 pitch into left field for the team’s first RBI single, Harvard rallied for two in the fifth.

But it was Byrne’s sixth-inning, two-RBI double, scoring Wallace and junior shortstop Morgan Brown, which gave the Crimson a 4-3 lead that it wouldn’t surrender.

“You never know who’s going to come up big,” captain Schuyler Mann said, adding that production from the nine spot of the order “makes us a really dangerous team.”