The baseball team (15-13, 8-3 Ivy) earned a crucial Ivy League series victory against Dartmouth (7-18, 4-8 Ivy) last weekend away in Hanover, New Hampshire, splitting a Saturday doubleheader before closing the series with a Sunday victory. Bruno lost 4-0 in the first game but bounced back with a 13-3 win later that day and finished the weekend with a clutch 7-5 victory to remain at second in the Ivy standings.
Following last weekend’s shutout win against Merrimack (13-19, 8-7 MAAC), Brown entered the weekend refreshed and ready to jump back into Ivy play. But it was the Big Green that came out swinging first on Saturday.
In just the second inning of the first game, the Big Green notched a solo home run. The home team then widened the gap in the third inning with a two-run shot to extend the margin to 3-0. Another solo home run in the eighth sealed the Big Green’s victory.
Despite the poor scoreline, the Bears boasted promising opportunities to score throughout the game, loading the bases in both the first and fifth innings. But Dartmouth escaped both of those innings without allowing a run, keeping Brown off the scoreboard for the entire game.
On Saturday, the second game started with a quiet opening inning not indicative of the Bears’ impending comeback. But Brown’s offense broke through in the second with catcher and outfielder Jack Edmunds ’28 launching a deep shot to left field for his fourth home run of the season. With infielder Mark Henshon ’26 and outfielder Brady Dever ’27 already on base when Edmunds fired his homer, the hit gave Brown an early 3-0 lead.
Dartmouth responded with a run in the bottom of the inning, but Brown answered in the third when infielder DJ Dillehay ’26 drove a ball into left-center. His hit allowed outfielder Mika Petersen ’26 to score, pushing Brown’s lead to 4-1.
After the Big Green added a run in the fourth, Brown responded in the fifth. Outfielder Alex Benevento ’28 lifted a sacrifice fly into left field, which brought Petersen home to bring the score up to 5-2.
The Bears extended their lead in the sixth when Edmunds drove a high fly ball to deep center. The wind helped carry the ball past the Big Green’s outfield, which allowed outfielder Logan Meusy ’26 to score from first, pushing Brown’s lead to 6-2.
Defensively, Benevento made a highlight play in the seventh that may have been instrumental in shutting down any comeback attempts by the Big Green. After a long hit by Dartmouth flew deep into right field, Benevento dove for an incredible grab, ending the inning and keeping Dartmouth from earning another run.
“Off the bat, I knew the ball was going to be deep in the gap, especially with the wind blowing out heavily that day,” Benevento wrote in an email to The Herald. “I’m just happy that I was able to help Drew Nelson (’29) out on the mound, as he’s been throwing so well for us this year.”
With momentum building, Brown pulled away in the final two innings. Infielder Matt Luigs ’29 hit a fly ball off the left-center wall, bringing Meusy and Edmunds back home to make the score 8-2. Petersen then followed with a single that flew low through the right side, allowing Luigs to round home for a seven-run lead.
After narrowly missing a home run by 18 inches earlier in the game, Dillehay wasn’t ready to let another one go, doubling to bring Benevento home and pushing the score to 10-2. Infielder Christian Butera ’28 then added a deep drive to left that Dartmouth misplayed, allowing Dillehay to waltz through home.
Brown’s offense continued to overwhelm the Big Green later in the game. In the ninth, Edmunds came home thanks to a Dartmouth throwing error, and Dillehay added RBI — this time, a grounder up the middle — to bring Luigs across. Dartmouth scored once in the bottom half, but Brown was able to close out with a double-digit win.
With the sun setting on Saturday’s split, both teams looked to Sunday’s matchup as the deciding game of the series. The high stakes nature and intensity of the final matchup were clear from the first pitch.
While the first inning stood scoreless, Dartmouth hammered in two runs in the second. Not letting the deficit affect them, Brown responded with a whopping five-run third inning.
The streak began when Benevento lined a double down the third base line, which allowed Petersen to score from first. Butera followed with a groundball that rolled back to the pitcher, setting up Benevento to run back to home and tie the game.
Meusy then delivered a hit to right field, which gave Dillehay enough time to score and put Brown ahead. Henshon took advantage of a misplaced throw and slid home to extend Brown’s lead to 4-2. Edmunds then grounded it left, leading to another scoring play for Meusy.
Dartmouth scored once in the third, but Brown added to their lead in the fifth when Meusy launched a home run over the left-field wall with Butera aboard, making it 7-3.
But the Big Green did not go down without a fight. Dartmouth chipped away at the lead with a solo home run in the sixth and an additional run in the eighth to shrink the gap to 7-5. With runners on base in the ninth and the threat of a Dartmouth comeback victory, pitcher Christian Keel ’26 struck out the next three batters to seal the series.
Brown will hope to keep the winning streak alive as they return home to face Holy Cross (16-18, 10-6 Patriot League) on Tuesday before hosting Columbia (8-20, 5-7 Ivy) in an Ivy League weekend series beginning on Saturday.
“We’re just trying to come out and play our best brand of baseball that we can every day, regardless of who we’re playing against,” Benevento wrote. “If we’re able to look back and say that we played to our standard, more often than not, we are happy with the results.”
Going into this week’s games, the team is not resting on their laurels, Luigs noted. “The coaches and senior leadership on the team will ensure that we do not get satisfied.” he wrote in a message to The Herald. Head Coach Frank Holbrook “wants everyone on the team to ‘grab the bull by the horns’ and do their job the best way they can no matter how small or insignificant it may seem.”
Harry Guo is a senior staff writer and on the vertical video and design teams. He is from Andover, Massachusetts, and plans on concentrating in Business Economics and International and Public Affairs. In his free time, he enjoys writing poetry and playing poker.
