It was the kind of scenario that baseball players act out in backyards from the time they were little leaguers. Josh Feit '11 stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the ninth with two runners on and two outs. With the score tied, 12-12, Feit fell behind in the count. But he battled back and lined a single to right, giving Brown the series sweep over Princeton.
That was the only close game of the weekend for the Bears. They rolled over their opponents in the other three games, defeating Princeton, 17-4, and Cornell, 13-6 and 15-4.
Brown 17, Princeton 4
In the first of two against the Tigers, the Bears received a quality outing from starter Kevin Carlow '13 on the mound.
"It was important for Kevin to go deep in the game especially with the wind blowing. We knew we were going to need our relievers later," said Head Coach Marek Drabinski.
After a shaky first in which he gave up a run, Carlow settled down and limited the Tigers' offense to just four runs. Carlow went the distance, allowing only seven hits while striking out eight.
In support of Carlow, the Bears offense scored early and often — blasting a total of five home runs, including two by Pete Greskoff '11. Other standouts included first baseman Mike DiBiase '12, who went four for five with a home run, and center fielder Nick Punal '10, who went four for four, also with a home run. The Bears ended the game with 17 runs on 20 hits.
Brown 13, Princeton 12
In the back end of the doubleheader, the Bears offense continued their hot hitting. Leading off the bottom of the first, shortstop Graham Tyler '12 crushed the very first pitch over the left-field fence to spark a five-run inning. The Bears added three more runs in the third, thanks to a two-run single by Matt Colantonio '11 and an RBI single by Greskoff.
But the Tigers' bats came alive as they chased Brown starter Rob Wilcox '10 after just three and one-third innings by scoring four runs off the pitcher. The Tigers exploded for eight more runs in the top of the fifth to take a 12-8 lead.
The Bears appeared to be in trouble as Princeton freshman reliever Kevin Link — previously recruited by Brown, according to Drabinski — began to dominate Brown hitters.
He struck out the side in both the fourth and sixth, but the Bears edged closer in the seventh by touching up Link for three runs, highlighted by a towering home run to left by third baseman Ryan Zrenda '11. The three runs cut the Princeton lead to 12-11.
Keeping the Bears within reach throughout the latter innings was a trio of relievers. Walter Albee '13, Will Lacker '13 and Matt Boylan '10 combined to shut out the Tigers for the last four and two-thirds innings.
"Our first few relievers struggled but I thought the last three guys did a great job to keep us close and in the game," Drabinski said.
The Bears also received a critical boost from their defense by cutting down an insurance run for Princeton at the plate in the top of the ninth to keep the game a one-run affair.
In the bottom half of the inning, after reaching on a sharp single to center, Tyler scored the game-tying run on DiBiase's double to center. After a pitching change, Feit came to the plate and won it for the Bears with his walk-off single to right.
Brown 13, Cornell 6
After sweeping the Tigers, the Bears faced off against the Big Red Sunday afternoon. Even without the wind blowing hard like the day before, the Bears offense got rolling and scored 10 runs in the first four innings.
Leading 2-1 in the third, the Bears broke open the game by scoring five runs. Greskoff, Feit and Punal all drove in runs in the inning.
The Bears extended their lead by adding three more runs in the bottom of the fourth.
On the mound, Matt Kimball '11 cruised through the first five, giving up just one run. But he ran into trouble in the sixth, giving up three runs, including two on a long home run to left. Kimball shook off the home run and finished his outing strong by striking out the last two batters he faced.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Bears answered back with three runs of their own, thanks in part to a high-arching blast over the left-center fence off the bat of Cody Slaughter '13, the first home run of his career.
Boylan closed out the 13-6 win in the seventh.
Brown 15, Cornell 4
Looking to complete a clean sweep of the homestand, the Bears looked to Will Weidig '10 to take the mound in the second game of the doubleheader. Over eight innings, Weidig scattered 11 hits, giving up four runs, while striking out 10.
Once again, the Bears' offense scored early and often, chasing the Cornell starting pitcher after only two innings. The Bears scored two in the first and four in the second to open up a 6-1 lead. The highlight of the first two innings was a titanic blast by Zrenda, which landed well beyond the left field fence.
After reaching the Cornell bullpen, the Bears added to their run total with six more in the third and continued to pad their lead with two more in the fourth and one in the eighth.
Andrew Bakowski '11 came on to pitch in the ninth to seal the 15-4 win.
