This past weekend, the baseball team (17-14, 9-4 Ivy) split a doubleheader at home against Columbia (10-21, 6-8 Ivy), winning 6-1 in the first game before dropping the second 11-2. Sunday’s series finale was postponed due to weather.
Coming off the heels of a dominant 9-1 win against Holy Cross (16-23, 10-10 Patriot League) last Tuesday, Bruno entered the series looking to carry the momentum forward.
The doubleheader began with an electric performance from pitcher Peter Dubie ’26, who struck out the first nine batters he faced. Over the course of the game, he allowed just one run on three hits, four walks and three strikeouts, setting the tone for Bruno early on.
On the other side of the field, Brown wasted no time getting on the board.
In the bottom of the first, Matt Luigs ’29 swatted a double to immediately reach scoring position. Mika Petersen ’26 laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Luigs to third, and Alex Benevento ’28 followed with a ground ball to Columbia shortstop Jack Kail. Kail bobbled the ball, allowing Luigs to score and give Brown an early 1-0 lead.
“I … knew if I could get on base I would score, because Mika and Alex (Benevento) are so hot at the plate right now,” Luigs wrote in an email to The Herald.
The Bears added to their lead in the second inning. Jack Edmunds ’28 sent a ball sailing over the head of a Columbia defender deep into center field, allowing Mark Henshon ’26 to score all the way from first and extend the lead to 2-0.
After quiet third and fourth innings, Bruno broke the game open in the fifth.
With Luigs and Petersen on base, DJ Dillehay ’26 stepped into the batter’s box and launched a deep fly ball to left field. The Columbia outfielder could not make the play as the ball skimmed over the wall for a three-run homer, pushing the Bruno lead to 5-0.
Brown added one more run in the sixth, when a Luigs groundout to shortstop was enough to push Henshon home from third base to bring the score to 6-0.
Columbia finally responded with a run in the seventh, but the Bruno bullpen held the Lions scoreless the rest of the way. Brown shut down Columbia in the top of the ninth, which sealed the 6-1 Brown victory.
At the start of the second game — just a few hours later — the Bears jumped ahead and looked poised to sweep the doubleheader.
In the bottom of the first, Dillehay once again delivered, rocketing a ball deep to center field. With Luigs already on second base, the hit brought him home and gave Bruno an early 1-0 lead.
But the Lions quickly flipped the script. “They did a great job of flushing a tough loss in game one, and came back ready to punch,” Luigs wrote.
Columbia took their first lead of the day in the top of the third with a pair of hits, one of which was a two-run homer that made the score 2-1 Lions.
Columbia’s offense continued to pile on runs in the fourth inning. A solo home run to lead off the frame sparked a three-run inning, with two more scoring plays that pushed the Lions’ lead to 5-1.
Brown struggled to respond offensively as Columbia’s momentum kept building. The Lions plated single runs in the sixth and seventh innings before delivering the decisive blow in the eighth, when four runs extended their lead to 11-1.
The Bears managed one final run in the bottom of the ninth. With Henshon on third, Christian Butera ’28 stepped up to the plate and pushed Henshon home to cut the deficit to 11-2.
But Brown could not generate any further offense, and Columbia closed out the win 11-2. The Sunday series finale was postponed due to weather conditions, and the two teams were forced to settle for the weekend draw.
Sitting second in the Ivy League, the Bears will look to return with a win as they travel to Cambridge for a matchup against Harvard (8-21, 6-8 Ivy) on Tuesday.
“If you let the highs get too high, or the lows get too low, the team becomes very emotional and momentum-based, which leads to streaky runs and a lack of consistency,” Luigs wrote. “So, we treat it just like every other game: go into it respecting the ability of your opponent, but confident that you are better than they are.”
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.
