This past weekend marked the beginning of division play for the Ancient Eight baseball squads. Columbia opened against Gehrig Division rival Princeton, splitting a four-game series and remaining in first place with an 8-4 record. The Tigers, meanwhile, sit in second with a 6-6 record, two games behind the Lions. These games, along with those to be played in the coming weeks, will have the strongest impact on the standings and will decide which teams compete in the Ivy League playoffs.

DARTMOUTH (10-2, 1st in Rolfe Division) at BROWN (5-7, 3rd in Rolfe Division)

Brown had a tall task ahead of them in hosting first-place Dartmouth, which went into Providence having lost just one league contest. Riding a big wave of momentum, the Big Green continued its hot streak, taking three of four from the Bears.

The two teams split Saturday’s doubleheader, with Dartmouth winning the first game 8-2 behind another solid start from senior cocaptain Russell Young. The southpaw earned his fourth win of the season in a complete-game effort in which he gave up just two earned runs on eight hits in seven innings. It was a productive game for the Big Green behind the plate, as the team scored eight runs on nine hits, with eight of the nine batters in the lineup recording at least one hit.

Game two was a completely different story, as the Brown bats that had previously been silenced erupted for 18 runs. Dartmouth starter Jake Pruner lasted just three innings and was chased in the fourth after giving up two homers, a triple, and a walk without recording an out. Pruner’s final stats would show seven earned runs on nine hits, two strikeouts, and two walks in three innings.

The Bears were led offensively by freshman Ryan Zrenda, who went 2 for 2 in five plate appearances with his second home run of the season, a walk, a hit by pitch, and a sacrifice bunt. The second baseman also scored three runs while driving in one. In addition, shortstop Matthew Nuzzo, designated hitter Conor Reardon, and center fielder Steve Daniels each had three hits in Brown’s 18-6 victory.

Dartmouth would rebound in Sunday’s doubleheader, however. The Big Green managed to hold off a charging Bears squad behind four home runs by shortstop Erik Bell, right fielder Nick Santomauro, center fielder Damon Wright, and third baseman Jason McManis. Dartmouth escaped with a 9-7 victory despite a late rally by Brown. The Bears scored five runs in the last two innings of play, highlighted by a sixth-inning grand slam by first baseman Pete Greskoff, his second homer of the game. The freshman had a breakout game in his team’s loss, going 2 for 3 and driving in six of Brown’s seven runs.

In the back end of the twin bill, both starting pitchers were hit hard, as the two teams combined to score 30 runs in the Big Green’s 16-14 victory. Dartmouth starter Chase Carpenter would get the win despite giving up 10 runs—six earned—in five innings.
Carpenter survived an error that he himself committed in the fourth on a throw that would have been the third out of the inning. The blunder loaded the bases for Brown left fielder J.J. Eno, who blasted a grand slam to right center field to tie the game at 8-8. The Big Green would surge into the lead once more, however, with a five-run sixth inning in which an error by the Bears’ first baseman led to two unearned runs.

After taking three of four this past weekend, Dartmouth remains in first place in the Rolfe Division, five games ahead of third-place Brown.

HARVARD (3-9, 4th in Rolfe Division) at YALE (7-4, 2nd in Rolfe Division)

Over the weekend, Yale hosted a struggling Harvard squad that had managed just one win against Ancient Eight opponents coming into the four-game set. The Crimson needed a big showing but managed just a split of both doubleheaders and still sits at the bottom of the Rolfe Division, virtually out of reach of the first-place Big Green.

Yale took the first game of Saturday’s twin bill, as starter Brian Irving looked superb, giving up just one run on four hits while striking out seven and walking one in six innings. The lone run came on a solo homer by Harvard’s Dillon O’Neill in the third inning, the only blemish in Irving’s 6-1 victory.

Though the Crimson managed just five hits in Saturday’s first game, game two would be a different story, as the team broke out of its slump with 22 hits en route to a 12-2 victory. Reliever Daniel Berardo would get the win after coming in for starter Dan Zailskas with one out in the fifth inning and shutting down the opposing offense, no-hitting the Bulldogs in 4 2/3 innings. On the other side of the ball, Harvard was led by O’Neill and second baseman Taylor Meehan, who each had five hits on the day. O’Neill scored three runs at the top of the order, while Meehan drove in three while adding three stolen bases.

Harvard started Sunday off right, taking the first game behind a complete-game effort by Shawn Haviland. The senior right-hander picked up his first win of the season, scattering seven hits while striking out six in the seven inning, 9-5 victory.

Game two looked to be more of the same, until late-inning heroics by the Bulldogs foiled the Crimson’s bid for a Sunday sweep. With Harvard leading 6-2 after six, Yale mounted a comeback in the eighth and ninth innings, scoring five runs to walk off with the 7-6 edge. Despite a solid start from Brad Unger, who gave up two earned runs on four hits in 6 2/3 innings, Crimson relievers Zach Hofeld and Anthony Nutter would come in to blow the lead. The big blow for the Bulldogs came on a one-out, walk-off home run by catcher P.J. Gorynski. With a run already across in the bottom of the ninth, Gorynski came up to the plate with leadoff man Josh Cox at second and belted a two-run shot to left field.

With the split, Yale moves into second place in the Rolfe Division with an Ivy record of 7-4. The Bulldogs are 2 1⁄2 games behind the Big Green and 4 1⁄2 games ahead of the last-place Crimson.

CORNELL (4-8, 4th in Gehrig Division) at PENN (4-7, 3rd in Gehrig Division)

Entering this weekend’s matchup with Penn, Cornell sat at the bottom of the Gehrig Division having recorded just one league win. With three wins in four games, however, the Big Red took a significant step toward climbing the standings.

Saturday’s doubleheader was cut short, when the second game was suspended due to darkness with the score tied at 6-6 going into the ninth inning. The first game, however, went seven deep, with Penn emerging with a 5-2 victory. Starter Jeremy Maas surrendered just one run on four hits in 4 1/3 innings for his third win of the season. Catcher Jeff Cellucci led the Quakers with a 2-for-3 day in which he scored one run while driving in two. Despite three Cornell errors, Penn managed to capitalize for only one earned run.

Game two resumed on Sunday morning, the beginning of a long day of baseball. With the score knotted at 6-6, both pitchers worked a scoreless ninth to send the game into extra innings. Cornell then managed four unearned runs in the top of the tenth as the Penn defense imploded to commit three errors, all by infielders. The Quakers could not come back, despite scoring two in the bottom of the inning, and fell 8-6.

In the first game of the scheduled doubleheader, Cornell got a solid effort from starter Matt Hill, who picked up the win, pitching a four-hit complete game. Hill gave up just one run in seven innings while striking out eight en route to an 8-1 Big Red victory. Shortstop Scott Hardinger had two hits for Cornell, scoring one run with one RBI.

Penn failed to establish any momentum heading into the second game of the doubleheader, as the team looked tired after already playing nine full innings of baseball. Quaker starter Paul Cusick could not get anyone out, lasting just 1 2/3 innings and giving up 10 runs, eight earned. After opening the game with a five-run first, the Big Red’s big inning would be the second, as the team scored eight runs on five hits and an abysmal three wild pitches. Cornell received a big game from right fielder Brian Kaufman, who had a hand in seven of the team’s 16 runs, recording three hits for three runs and four RBI.

With the 16-5 tally, the Big Red banked on a three-win Sunday to improve to 4-8 in the Ivy League and trails the third-place Quakers by just a half game in the Gehrig Division standings.