The baseball team opened Ivy League play this weekend with a pair of victories and two losses, sweeping Cornell Saturday by tallies of 8-1 and 7-4 before falling to Princeton Sunday, 3-2 and 11-5. The weekend slate leaves Bruno with a 8-10 record and a .500 Ivy League mark.
Brown 8, Cornell 1
Saturday, Bruno posted an early lead over the Big Red (10-8, 1-3) in the conference opener. First baseman Marc Sredojevic ’17 led the Bears with three RBIs and two runs, while outfielder Sam Grigo ’18 also notched a pair of hits and two RBIs. Starter Christian Taugner ’17 delivered a strong performance, allowing just one run and three hits in seven innings for his third victory of the season.
After Brown scored twice in the first, second baseman Brian Ginsberg ’18 added a solo home run to left field in the top of the second to widen the lead. Pierre Le Dorze answered in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single, but Bruno secured the victory with a five-run fourth inning.
In the top of the fourth, shortstop Rich Ciufo ’20 and third baseman Willy Homza ’19 scored off a single from Grigo, before catcher Josh Huntley ’17 drove outfielder Rob Henry ’17 home on a fielder’s choice. Sredojevic hit a home run to right field, sending Huntley home to give the Bears their seven run lead.
Brown 7, Cornell 4
Saturday afternoon saw the Big Red apply more offensive pressure in a closer contest. But Bruno stole the victory with a solid showing at the plate. Henry led the Bears with three hits, posting a home run and scoring twice, while Huntley notched three RBIs on a pair of hits. Garett Delano ’20 also recorded two RBIs. Starter Reid Anderson ’18 allowed three earned runs with four strikeouts in six innings. Dante Bosnic ’18, Samuel Hauser ’17 and JJ Sliepka ’19 combined for the final three innings in relief. Sliepka denied the Big Red with a scoreless ninth inning, earning his third save of the season.
Delano opened scoring in the top of the first, sending Sredojevic and Grigo home on a single. Tommy Wagner and Cole Rutherford responded with RBIs in the bottom of the inning, but Bruno answered with two runs in the top of the second to reclaim the lead. Homza scored on a fielder’s choice before Huntley drove Ginsberg home on a single up the middle.
Rutherford narrowed the deficit for the Big Red with a home run in the bottom of the sixth, before Ryan Krainz added an RBI in the bottom of the seventh. Henry hit a solo home run in the top of the seventh to maintain the Bears’ two-run lead, while Huntley notched two RBIs in the top of the ninth to secure the victory.
Princeton 3, Brown 2 F/8
The following day saw the Bears fall to the Tigers (6-14, 2-0) at Clark Field in a close matchup. Bruno siezed an early advantage, but Princeton responded with three unanswered runs to take the victory.
Starter Max Ritchie ’17 limited Princeton to one run with nine strikeouts in six innings but ended with a no-decision on the day.
Sredojevic doubled down the left field line in the top of the first, driving Grigo home for the first runof the contest. In the top of the second, Homza scored off a single from Ginsberg to bring the lead to two.
Asher Lee-Tyson answered in the bottom of the second with a sacrifice fly to center field. Cody Phillips added a run to even the score in the bottom of the seventh on an error, before David Harding scored in extra innings on a walk-off single from Conor Nolan, lifting the Tigers above the Bears.
Princeton 11, Brown 5
The Bears scored first in the afternoon contest but were unable to maintain the early lead. Grigo and Homza paced Bruno with three hits apiece, while Sredojevic recorded two RBIs off a pair of hits late in the game.
Henry crossed the plate after Huntley grounded into a double play in the top of the first. Princeton responded with three runs, before Huntley singled up the middle in the top of the third, sending Grigo home.
Princeton added four runs in the bottom of the third to secure the advantage, before Jake Rosander ’19 scored off a single from Ginsberg in the top of the fourth. Sredojevic added a home run in the top of the fifth and an RBI single in the top of the seventh to narrow the deficit, but the Tigers answered with four runs in the eighth inning to put the game out of reach.
Bobby Leyman ’19, Will Tomlinson ’20 and Cameron Deere ’20 threw two innings each, combining for seven strikeouts in the loss.
The Bears will continue conference play with home doubleheaders against Penn Saturday and Columbia Sunday.
