After successful spring trip, baseball drops two in Princeton doubleheader

The baseball team returned from a 4-2 spring break trip to the Carolinas full of confidence but was rudely welcomed back to campus yesterday by Princeton's potent lineup, which hammered out 28 hits in two Brown defeats. It was a false homecoming for the Bears, who served as the visiting team after bad field conditions in New Jersey relocated the games to Providence. The losses dropped the Bears to 5-11, 0-2 in the Ivy League.

After plating 39 runs over the course of their six-game road trip, the Bears were unable to muster any offense against Princeton starter Erik Stiller in the first game. Bruno starter Bryan Tews '07 surrendered four runs on eight hits and took the loss.

"It was a tough game," Tews said. "I felt better than I had my previous outings, but they just found holes in the defense. It's frustrating when they're getting those types of hits because they're more to do with the aluminum bats."

Game two started off the same as Brown fell behind in the first when the Tigers' sluggers thrashed starter James Cramphin '06 for three runs on five hits. Cramphin, however, dug in with the bases loaded, and struck out Princeton's No. 9 hitter to end the rally.

Tired of watching Princeton do all the scoring, the Bears responded the following inning with their first three runs of the day. Eric Larson '06.5 opened the inning by smoking a two-hopper that went right through the third baseman's legs. Danny Hughes '06 promptly made the Tigers pay by ripping a double to left, later scoring on a wild pitch. Devin Thomas '07 then drew a walk, stole second and scored on a single to center by Jeff Nichols '05.

The Bears trailed 5-4 in the sixth when Cramphin was lifted after surrendering a leadoff double. Ethan Burton '06, making his second appearance of the day, quelled the threat by inducing a fly out and two K's from the middle of Princeton's order.

Bruno rallied to take its first lead of the day in the top of the seventh as Thomas drew another walk and scored on a Nichols hit. Nichols then scored on a double by Paul Christian '06 to give Brown a 6-5 lead.

Princeton, however, tied it up in the bottom half of the inning, and then the game unraveled for the Bears in eighth. In the top half of the inning, Hughes was called for interference after being forced out at second base, leading to James Lowe '05 being called out as well. Bruno's momentum evaporated, and Princeton broke open the game in the bottom half of the inning, scoring six runs on seven hits and batting around. Herald Sports Staff Writer Shaun McNamara '06 was charged with the loss.

Hughes said the interference call was the turning point that sunk the Bears.

"The kid was coming through late, and I had every right to slide into (the bag). The home plate umpire made the call when it should have been the base umpire's. After the inning, (Princeton's) first base coach came up to me and said it was a bad call. When you get the first guy on in a tie game in the eighth (and that happens), that's a big turning point," Hughes said.

Especially disappointing about the losses was how the Tigers were able to pound Brown's pitching. Both Tews and McNamara had performed tremendously in their previous outings during the spring break road trip, with Tews picking up a complete game victory against UNC-Asheville and McNamara nearly going the distance for another victory over the Bulldogs. In addition, side-armer Jeff Dietz '08 threw five hitless innings in a loss to the No. 8 University of South Carolina.

To commence the trip, Bruno took two of three games from UNC-Asheville, winning by scores of 9-4 and 8-4. Matt Kutler '05, showed no ill effects from last season's thumb injury, going 3-for-5 with three doubles and one RBI in the first game, and smacking two homers in the second.

Tews was dominant on the mound in the first game, going the distance for the win. "It was a good outing. I mean they didn't hit many balls hard and once we figured out what they couldn't handle we really attacked hitters. I wouldn't say it was my best (outing) though," he said.

Unfortunately, the Bears dropped the middle game of the set, 5-2, managing only three hits in the process. Brown, however, bounced back the next day with a gem from McNamara in an 8-4 win.

"(UNC-Asheville) was more of a slap-hitting team that ran a lot," McNamara said. "I was just trying to keep them off the bases. I actually probably threw better against Santa Clara, but I think I'm getting close to putting together a full nine-inning game."

The Bears' biggest challenge of the break came on March 29, when they took on No. 8 South Carolina. Dietz frustrated the 2004 College World Series participants for five innings, retiring 17 straight until giving up a two-out home run in the sixth. Dietz's emergence on the mound has been one of the biggest surprises of the first half of the season.

"(Dietz) had hitters off-balance the whole trip," McNamara said. "He has that side-arm delivery that's real tough to pick up."

Despite the losses yesterday the squad is still confident of their Ivy outlook.

"Now is not the time to hit the panic button," Tews said. "The urgency will set in this weekend, since it's the last weekend playing the other half of the league."

The Bears return to action today at noon in Kingston to take on the University of Rhode Island.