The baseball team (8-21, 3-9 Ivy) lost a trio of games in Hanover against Dartmouth (10-16, 5-7 Ivy) this past weekend, falling to last place in the Ivy League standings amid a five-game losing streak.
鈥淭he team played hard all weekend, despite the outcome,鈥� Head Coach Grant Achilles wrote in an email to The Herald. 鈥淲e're in the midst of a challenging stretch 鈥� coming up just short of the shutdown inning or a big hit.鈥�
At first, the Bears appeared poised to dodge another sweep on Sunday afternoon. Bruno seized a 9-2 lead on a home run from DJ Dillehay 鈥�26 and RBIs from Andrew Hanlon 鈥�27, Reece Rappoli 鈥�24, Gunner Boree 鈥�25, Quinn Rooks 鈥�24 and Nathan Brasher 鈥�25. Pitcher Santhosh Gottam 鈥�25 鈥� fresh off a career performance against Princeton the previous weekend 鈥� fired five straight hitless innings after allowing a pair of runs in the first.
But the Big Green surged back in a seven-run bottom of the seventh, stunning the Bears and tying the game at nine. The nightmarish inning for Brown鈥檚 bullpen included five walks and two hit-by-pitches, allowing Dartmouth to score five runs in a row without putting the ball in play.
The score remained locked until, with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, Dartmouth catcher Zackarie Casebonne knocked an RBI single to seal the 10-9 walk-off win for the Big Green.
鈥淭he team showed a lot of fight with how we started out the game on Sunday,鈥� first baseman Mark Henshon 鈥�26 wrote. The seventh inning was 鈥渁 tough inning for us as a team, but we kept competing throughout the game. Unfortunately, it didn鈥檛 turn out our way,鈥� he added.
Prior to the dramatic series finale, Dartmouth pitchers had held down the Bears鈥� offense, limiting the team to five runs across Saturday鈥檚 doubleheader as the team fell by scores of 5-3 and 6-2.
鈥淭heir pitchers did a good job of limiting damage all weekend, stranding 14 and 9 batters respectively in the first two games,鈥� Achilles wrote. 鈥淭hey made big pitches in key spots, and we just didn't come up with enough big hits.鈥�
Dillehay and Boree were the only players in the doubleheader to record RBIs. With their home runs over the weekend, Dillehay and Boree now lead the team with four apiece on the season.
With conference play over halfway complete, the Bears now have just nine games left to make a run at the Ivy Tournament. The team currently sits three games back from the fourth and final playoff spot, with all three of their upcoming series against teams in the top-half of the league.
鈥淚t can be difficult to maintain morale and confidence when you aren't getting the results. We're continuing to stress having a one-pitch mindset, really staying in the present,鈥� Achilles wrote. 鈥淲e have some ground to cover if we want to make the Ivy Tournament, but that doesn't happen all at once. It's the focus of trying to win one pitch at a time, and then one game at a time 鈥� however possible.鈥�
The Bears will play their next game against Columbia at home in a doubleheader beginning Saturday at 11:30 a.m. The series will be available to stream live 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.
