April 27, 2008

Game One Box Score | Game Two Box Score |  Photo Gallery 

NEW HAVEN, Conn.--Brown eliminated the Yale baseball team from contention with a doubleheader sweep on Saturday afternoon in Providence, so Sunday was all about the Yale seniors. Unfortunately, they didn't get the proper send-off. The Bears had the Bulldogs' number again on Senior Day, as Yale failed to score a run in the doubleheader at Yale Field. Brown (19-24, 9-11 Ivy) took game one, 7-0, then posted a 9-0 victory in the nightcap. The Bulldogs finished the season with a 20-24-1 record and a 9-10-1 mark in Ivy League games.

Yale starter Chris Finneran (2-4) wasn't sharp in game one. After walking the first two batters of the second inning, Finneran threw two wild pitches, leading to the first Brown run. The Bears scored again on Ryan Zrenda's RBI single. A two-out walk to Conor Reardon led to two unearned Brown runs in the top of the third. Finneran held Brown scoreless in the fourth, then gave up one in the fifth, his final inning of work. He gave up five runs (three earned) and four hits with four strikeouts in five innings. However, he walked seven and threw four wild pitches.

Matthew Smith gave up a solo homer to J.J. Eno in the top of the sixth, and Brown added a final tally off Robert Gruber in the seventh.

Starter Will Weiding (4-4) was superb for the Bears. Weiding scattered four singles and didn't let a Yale runner get past second base. He struck out seven and did not walk a batter. Brown had eight hits in the game, with Nick Punal, Eno and Zrenda all collecting two. Zrenda added two RBIs, while Punal and Robert Papenhause both scored twice.

Mazzuto Family Head Coach John Stuper always lets one of his seniors bring out the lineup card prior to game two of the final doubleheader. This year, the honor went to Jake Doyle, who was unable to play this weekend due to injury. Six of the other seven seniors saw action in game two. The only one who didn't was Brian Irving, the starting pitcher in Saturday's game one.

Senior Alex Christ (1-3) got the start on the mound and, after getting out of the first with a double play, yielded a two-run homer to Matt Nuzzo in the top of the second. Brown manufactured a run in the top of the third when Steve Daniels belted a leadoff single, stole second, moved to third on a groundout and scored on a sacrifice fly.

Yale's best scoring chance of the day came in the bottom of the third. The Bulldogs loaded the bases when the first three batters to come to the plate in the inning all singled. Up next was P.J. Gorynski, who sent a chopper towards third. With the infield playing in to cutoff the run, the throw went home and Andrew Kolmar was out at the plate. Stefan Schropp then grounded into an inning-ending double play.

It remained 3-0 until the top of the sixth, when the Bears erupted for four runs. Papenhause flied to center to start the inning, but Punal reached on first baseman Trygg Larsson-Danforth's error to ignite the rally. After an RBI double by Matt Colantonio, Nuzzo was intentionally walked. Nuzzo was Christ's last batter. He gave up six runs (five earned) and seven hits while striking out three and walking two in 5.1 innings in his final appearance for the Bulldogs.

Christ was relieved by Chris Walsh, but Walsh surrendered RBI singles to Pete Greskoff and Zrenda and an RBI double by Daniels before he was replaced by John Henry Davis. Davis got out of the inning, then started the seventh. He struck out Papenhause looking before coming out to an ovation.

Steve Gilman followed and got Punal to ground out before walking Colantonio. Colantonio moved to third on Nuzzo's double, and both runners scored on an error. Gilman struck out Zrenda to end the inning, then retired the Bears 1-2-3 in the eighth. He struck out Papenhause looking to open the ninth, then hit Brian Kelaher with a pitch. After Colantino grounded out, Stuper removed Gilman so that his captain would get a well-deserved ovation.

Meanwhile, Mark Gormley was just humming along for the Bears. Yale put together another threat in the fourth when Andy Megee reached on an infield single and eventually reached third with one out, but Gormley again got out of the inning with a popup and a groundout. It was smooth sailing from there, as he allowed just two base runners the rest of the way. Gormley (3-3) tossed his first career complete game shutout, giving up seven hits and one walk while striking out two. Megee was the only Bulldog with more than one hit, going 2-for-4.

Brown had 11 hits in game two. Daniels went 3-for-5, while Nuzzo was 2-for-4. Nuzzo also had two RBIs and scored twice. Colantonio added two runs.

The three seniors in the Yale lineup all had at least one hit in the doubleheader. Dan Soltman went 1-for-3 in game two, while Gorynski was 1-for-3 in game one. Josh Cox went 1-for-3 in the second game, giving him 72 hits for the season to set a new school record. Cox also set a program record with 191 at-bats this season. He walked in his final collegiate plate appearance in the eighth inning, then stole second base, his 21st steal of the season and the 62nd of his career. Cox also led the team in runs (38) and doubles (14) while hitting a career-high .377.

Gorynski hit .316 this season and ended up tied for second on the team with seven home runs. He was also third with 27 RBIs. Doyle also hit seven homers and finished second on the squad with 29 RBIs and 10 doubles. Soltman emerged as an everyday player late in the season and hit .238 with 10 runs scored.

Gilman gave up three earned runs all season, finishing with an ERA of 1.00. He struck out 27 in 27 innings and tallied five saves. Gilman and Irving tied for the team lead with four wins apiece. Irving led the Ivy League in strikeouts, posting 59 in 51.1 innings. Christ had 33 strikeouts in 39 innings, while Davis recorded a 3.48 ERA and struck out 22 in 20.2 innings.

Report filed by Joe Clifford, Yale Sports Publicity