The baseball team followed its impressive doubleheader sweep of Columbia on Saturday by splitting a doubleheader with the University of Pennsylvania (13-13, 7-5 Ivy League) at home Monday. Brown is now 10-14 overall and 5-3 in the Ancient Eight.
The Bears dropped the day's first game, 5-3, after failing to drive in runners from scoring position, but they rebounded to win an ugly 15-12 slugfest in game two.
As they did in the two Columbia games on Saturday, the Bears took a lead in the bottom of the first inning in the first game. Catcher Devin Thomas '07, who went 7-for-7 against Columbia with six RBIs and a homer, continued his hot hitting by belting an opposite-field two-run homer. The Quakers tied the game in the third on two sacrifice flies, and Brown traded runs with Penn in the bottom of the third and top of the fourth.
The score remained tied at 3-3 until the top of the seventh and final inning. After starting the inning by walking designated hitter Tim May, Bears starter Will Weidig '10 got two quick outs. After an intentional walk to right-fielder Jarron Smith, closer Rob Hallberg '08 entered the game and gave up a two-run double to shortstop William Gordon.
Trailing 5-3 in the bottom of the inning, the Bears got off to a promising start after centerfielder Steve Daniels '09 led off with a double and advanced to third on left-fielder Ryan Murphy's '08 single. But Quakers starter Todd Roth recovered to strike out Thomas, first baseman Jeff Dietz '08 and shortstop Matt Nuzzo '09, with the last strikeout coming with the tying run at second after Murphy stole second. In all, the Bears stranded eight runners on base.
"I thought Weidig pitched especially well," said Head Coach Marek Drabinski. "But you got to give (Roth) credit. Runners on first and third, and he strikes out our three, four, five batters. He might have thrown the best nine pitches of the game" in the bottom of the seventh, he added.
"We talked about it after the game," Thomas said. "It was a good opportunity for us with the middle of the lineup coming up, (but) that's just how the ball rolls sometimes."
The second game was as tense as the first but without the solid pitching. Again, the Bears took a 2-0 lead in the first inning, this time off Thomas' RBI triple and Nuzzo's sacrifice fly. After Penn responded with two runs in the top of the second, Thomas hit his second homer of the day in the bottom of the inning, this one a three-run shot to dead center to give Brown a 5-2 lead.
The Bears added three runs in the third, with two coming off a double by third baseman Robert Papenhause '09. Penn added a run in the fifth and two more in the sixth off Smith's deep home run to right-center.
With Brown leading 9-7 with one out in the top of the seventh and a Penn runner on second base, Drabinski called on Hallberg to enter the game. The coach said he told the closer they needed two and two-thirds innings out of him, even though he had pitched in the first game.
Hallberg got the Bears out of the seventh, but after the Bears scored three in the bottom of the inning off a homer by tri-captain second baseman Bryan Tews '07, Hallberg gave Penn those three runs back in the eighth. With two outs and runners at the corners, Hallberg got out of the jam with help from Daniel's spectacular diving catch in right-center field, which likely prevented two runs from scoring. After Brown scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth, Hallberg gave up two more runs in the top of the ninth before striking out the last batter to earn his first save of the season.
"He really sucked it up and gave us what we needed," Drabinski said of Hallberg.
Drabinski said he was pleased with his team's performances this weekend, especially with Dietz and tri-captain starter James Cramphin '07 pitching deep into their respective games on Saturday. He was also especially impressed by Thomas, who finished the weekend with 10 hits, three home runs and 12 RBIs in 15 at-bats. Thomas attributed his productive weekend to being more patient at the plate.
"Thomas had a hell of a weekend," Drabinksi said. "The (Penn) coach thought Devin was the best player in the league."
"He'll sorely be missed" after he graduates this year, Drabinski added.
In addition to Thomas, Murphy hit the ball hard this weekend. He went 6-for-9 against Penn yesterday to become the team's batting leader with a .358 average.
"I had no idea," Murphy said when he was told of his feat. He said increased playing time has helped him at the plate.
Drabinski and Murphy said the team, which is now tied with Harvard for the Red Rolfe Division lead, wants to win three out of four games in the remaining series with Ivy League teams. If the Bears can do that, Drabinksi said the Bears "can write our own ticket" to the playoffs.
The Bears are scheduled to play a doubleheader with the University of Maine at a neutral site in Maine on Wednesday, but the game will probably be moved or canceled, according to Brown Sports Information. If that's the case, the team will next play at Dartmouth, with a doubleheader scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.
