The Brown baseball team (8-17, 3-6 Ivy) lost two out of three games against Princeton (9-16, 5-4 Ivy) at Attanasio Family Field at Murray Stadium over the weekend. The Bears now sit tied for sixth place in the conference standings as they approach the halfway mark in Ivy play.
鈥淥bviously we鈥檇 want to come away with a series win,鈥� Head Coach Grant Achilles said after the series finale on Sunday afternoon. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of hunger, a lot of kids who are really working hard, and we鈥檙e right on the verge.鈥�
The two teams traded blowouts in Saturday鈥檚 doubleheader, with the Tigers taking the opener 17-8 and the Bears winning the back-end 11-4.
Princeton鈥檚 bats barraged the Bears鈥� pitching in the first game, tagging Jack Seppings 鈥�25, Carter Rasmussen 鈥�26 and Brenden Kline 鈥�27 for at least four runs each. The centerpiece of the Tigers鈥� offensive effort was a nine-run seventh inning which saw 10 men come to bat 鈥� resulting in two homers, a triple, three doubles, three singles and a walk 鈥� before Rasmussen retired three straight to stop the bleeding.
The Bears put eight runs on the board, spearheaded by two RBIs apiece from eight and nine hitters Andrew Hanlon 鈥�27 and Charles Crawford 鈥�24. Crawford reached base in three of five plate appearances, blasting his third career home run.
Trailing 17-5 in the 9th inning, the Bears gave pinch-hit opportunities to some of their underclassmen, including trailblazer Olivia Pichardo 鈥�26, who last spring became the first woman to make a Division I baseball roster. After reaching base on a walk in her second collegiate plate appearance, Pichardo notched another historic achievement: the first run scored by a woman at the Division I level.
Pichardo was one of three Bears to score in the final frame, but it was ultimately not enough for the Bears to overcome the Princeton onslaught.
In the second game, Princeton once again jumped ahead early to go up 2-0 in the third inning, but Brown bit back with a five-run fourth. Catcher Conor Cooke 鈥�25 got things going with a solo homer to cut the deficit in half before Mika Petersen 鈥�26, Mark Henshon 鈥�26 and DJ Dillehay 鈥�26 mounted a two-out rally, with Petersen eventually scoring on a wild pitch.
With two men on base, second baseman and clean-up hitter Gunner Boree 鈥�25 鈥� currently sporting a .517 on-base percentage in Ivy play 鈥� pulled a rocket deep into the outfield. Princeton center fielder Matt Scannell broke for the warning track and leapt above the fence, but just barely missed an inning-ending home run robbery as the Bears went up 7-2.
鈥淭his whole weekend, this whole season, I鈥檝e been feeling pretty good,鈥� Boree said of his recent success. 鈥淛ust trying to stick to my approach and (trust) all the work I鈥檝e been putting in.鈥�
Brown starter Paxton Meyers 鈥�24 and reliever Jacob Young 鈥�25 limited Princeton to three hits while striking out 11, working around 10 walks to hold down the Tigers and give Brown an 11-4 win.
In the rubber match on Sunday, Princeton once again struck first with a two-run double in the first inning, Bruno once again responded, tying the game on RBIs from Nathan Brasher 鈥�25 and Petersen in the first and second respectively.
From that point forward, the game was a pure pitchers duel. Brown鈥檚 Santhosh Gottam 鈥�25 turned in a phenomenal performance, striking out twelve in eight innings using 117 pitches 鈥� all new career-highs 鈥� while Princeton鈥檚 Sean Episcope tossed six innings of four-hit ball.
鈥淗e was around the zone all day with all of his pitches,鈥� Achilles said of Gottam. Even those two runs they got in the first inning, he (made) a great pitch and it was just right where we鈥檙e not.鈥�
Gottam spoke to his success settling in after surrendering the lead to Princeton early. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a lot of mental toughness,鈥� he explained. 鈥淚鈥檝e had a lot of tough outings in my career at Brown and learned the mental toughness from that.鈥� He added that his ability to succeed after a tough start comes from practicing every day. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not something that just happens naturally,鈥� he said.
Neither team was able to break through until Princeton finally got to Gottam in the eighth, taking advantage of a leadoff four pitch walk on a slicing RBI triple by designated hitter Jake Bold. Princeton then tacked on another against rookie Ryan Oshinskie 鈥�27 in the ninth.
Princeton pitching mowed down Brown batters, with Episcope and sidearmer Jacob Faulkner combining to retire 14 in a row before Henshon reached on an error in the bottom of the eighth. Dillehay followed Henshon with a promising fly ball to center field, but Scannell reeled it in on the edge of the warning track.
鈥淗e gave it a good shot,鈥� Achilles said. 鈥淏ut their centerfielder maybe had some thoughts of yesterday鈥檚 Gunner Boree home run.鈥�
Jared Johnson 鈥�25 gave the Bears a final hope with a pinch-hit, two-out double in the bottom of the ninth, but a ground ball from freshman Miles Newsome 鈥�27 sealed the Tigers鈥� series victory.
The Bears will continue their season with a trio of games on the road against last-place Dartmouth next weekend (7-15, 2-7 Ivy). All games will be available to stream on ESPN+.
Linus is a sports editor from New York City. He is a junior concentrating in English, and when he's out of The Herald office you can find him rooting for the Mets, watching Star Wars or listening to The Beach Boys.
