The baseball team opened Red Rolfe division play with a four-game series at Dartmouth this weekend, falling to the Big Green Saturday by tallies of 5-1 and 7-1, and splitting Sunday’s contests with a 3-1 loss and a 9-8 victory.
“(We’re) obviously disappointed with the outcome, and I thought we certainly could have given ourselves a better chance in the games we lost,” said Head Coach Grant Achilles. “They’re a good team that took advantage of the mistakes that we made.”
Brown 1, Dartmouth 5
Saturday, the Bears (10-17, 4-8 Ivy) were unable to recover from an early deficit in the series opener. Outfielder Sam Grigo ’18 led Bruno with a pair of hits and a run, but the team could not generate enough offensive output to match the Big Green (18-12, 8-4).
Dartmouth opened scoring with four runs — including two unearned on a fielding error — in the bottom of the second. First baseman Marc Sredojevic ’17 responded with an RBI sacrifice fly in the top of the third, sending Grigo home to narrow the deficit.
But Matt Feinstein added an insurance run in the bottom of the fourth — his third RBI of the contest — to put the game out of reach.
Starter Christian Taugner ’17 allowed five runs, although just one earned, with two strikeouts in six innings for his fourth loss of the season.
Brown 1, Dartmouth 7
Saturday afternoon’s contest unfolded much like the first game. Sredojevic paced the Bears with two hits, while catcher Josh Huntley ’17 posted an RBI in the loss.
Huntley opened scoring in the top of the first, driving outfielder Rob Henry ’17 home on a sacrifice fly. But the Big Green slowly put the game out of reach, responding with multiple runs in each of the second, third and seventh inning.
Starter Reid Anderson ’18 allowed five earned runs over two innings while Cameron Deere ’20 and Calvin Farris ’20 combined to limit Dartmouth to one earned run in six innings of relief.
Brown 1, Dartmouth 3
The following day saw the Bears fall to Dartmouth in a closer matchup. Five different players posted hits, but Bruno was not able to apply enough offensive pressure to top the Big Green.
Grigo crossed the plate on an error in the top of the first to give the Bears an early advantage, but Michael Ketchmark notched a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth to reclaim the lead. Ketchmark added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth to secure the victory for Dartmouth.
Starter Max Ritchie ’17 allowed three earned runs with two strikeouts over six innings in the loss.
Brown 9, Dartmouth 8 (F/10)
Sunday afternoon, the Bears edged the Big Green in extra innings. Deere led the Bears with three hits and three RBIs, while third baseman Willy Homza ’19 notched a pair of hits and three RBIs, including a two-run home run in the ninth inning.
Led by Deere and Huntley, Brown jumped out to a four run lead in the first inning.
Homza added an RBI double in the top of the fifth, but the Big Green responded with four runs in the bottom of the inning to narrow the deficit. Michael Calamari’s RBI single in the bottom of the eighth sent the teams into the ninth tied at five.
After Sredojevic scored on a passed ball in the top of the ninth, Homza drove a two-run a home run to left. The Big Green then responded with three runs to send the game into extra innings. Huntley sent shortstop Rich Ciufo ’20 home on a single in the top of the tenth to clinch the victory.
Starter Will Tomlinson ’20 allowed four runs with three strikeouts over five innings, before Dante Bosnic ’18, JJ Sliepka ’19 and Garett Delano ’20 combined to finish the game in relief.
The Bears return to action with a doubleheader at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell Tuesday, before resuming conference play against Harvard at home Saturday and Sunday.
“It’s a good opportunity at home, it’s alumni weekend, there should be a lot of excitement,” Achilles said. “We’re just really looking to gain some momentum.”
