Desperately needing a win to keep pace with Dartmouth in the Ivy League standings, the baseball team hosted the Big Green Tuesday and Wednesday. The games were originally scheduled for Sunday but had to be postponed due to rain. Despite jumping out to an early 1-0 lead Tuesday, the Bears lost the game, 8-4.
On Wednesday, the Big Green scored early and often to take a 10-3 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh. But the Bears' bats came alive late to make the game close before succumbing, 13-10, to Dartmouth.
Dartmouth 8, Brown 4
On Tuesday, Matt Kimball '11 matched up against Big Green pitcher Kyle Hendricks — a 39th-round draft pick out of high school. Kimball lasted 6 1/3 innings, giving up eight runs, six earned, on eight hits while striking out six. The Bears scored a run off Hendricks in each of the first four innings, including a home run over the right field fence by Pete Greskoff '11 in the third. Those four runs were all the Bears could muster against Hendricks and the Dartmouth bullpen. First baseman Cody Slaughter '13 led the Bears offensively, going 3-3 with a RBI. Josh Feit '11 chipped in two hits and two runs.
Dartmouth 13, Brown 10
After losing the day before, the Bears needed a win in Wednesday's game to get back into a tie for the Rolfe Division lead. Rather than relying on one starter to carry them for the majority of the game, the Bears chose to empty their bullpen with hopes of securing a win. But the bullpen was ineffective.
"I thought Brad Kottman ('13) pitched well and so did John Murphy ('12) at the end," said Head Coach Marek Drabinski. "But everyone else was either walking people or giving up hits."
Eight Brown pitchers combined to give up 13 runs on 13 hits. And whenever the Bears scored, the Big Green answered back. Dartmouth was helped out by an unusually wild outing by the Brown staff, as they walked a total of nine batters and hit an additional three. The Bears also committed two errors in the game, giving them a total of 11 in only four meetings with Dartmouth.
"I thought our hitting was a little better than them," Drabinski said. "But our pitching and defense really let us down. It's disappointing that 40 games into the season guys are still doing the same things wrong they did at the beginning."
The Bears blasted five home runs in the loss, including two by Ryan Zrenda '11. Feit had another strong game, going 4-6 with a home run. Matt Colantonio '11 also chipped in with three hits, including a home run, and three RBI.
With the losses to Dartmouth, the Bears will seek to rebound by welcoming in the Yale Bulldogs for a pair of doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday. In addition to having a strong showing against Yale, the Bears need Harvard to at least split against Dartmouth this weekend to have a chance to play for the Ivy League Championship.
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