Brown Eliminates Yale From Ivy Race :: Cox Sets New Single-Season School Record for Hits

April 26, 2008

PROVIDENCE, R.I.--The Yale baseball team came into Saturday's doubleheader against Brown knowing it needed two wins and some help from Harvard in order to stay alive in the Rolfe Division race. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, neither scenario played out favorably. Dartmouth (23-13, 14-4 Ivy) took both games against the Crimson (8-29, 7-11 Ivy), then Yale (20-22-1, 9-8-1 Ivy) was officially eliminated from contention after Brown (17-24, 7-11 Ivy) swept the twinbill at Murray Stadium, 8-0 and 12-6. Josh Cox had three hits in the second game to give him 71 for the season, breaking Ryan Lavarnway's school record.

Yale entered the doubleheader depleted by injuries--three starters are out for the season--and traveled only 10 healthy position players. However, none of that mattered in game one. Brown starter Alex Silverman was just too good.

Silverman (5-2) tossed a two-hit shutout and struck out 16 Bulldogs, the most in a seven-inning game in Brown history. He didn't allow a hit after the second inning and struck out every Yale batter at least once. The Bulldogs' only threat came in the fifth, when Silverman walked the bases loaded with one out. However, he struck out P.J. Gorynski and Stefan Schropp to end the rally.

Brown scored two runs in four different innings. The Bears plated two in the second, then added two more in the third. After the first two batters reached base in the bottom of the fourth, starter Brian Irving was relieved by Joe Castaldi. JJ Eno knocked the runners in with a double to right center, but was thrown out trying to turn it into a triple. Castaldi got out of the fourth, then retired the Bears in the fifth before giving up two more runs in the bottom of the sixth.

Irving (4-3) lost a conference game for the first time this season. He allowed six runs (five earned) and nine hits while striking out three and walking one in three innings in his final start for the Bulldogs. Castaldi gave up two runs and six hits with one strikeout and one walk over the final three innings. Schropp and Chris Sweeney had Yale's hits.

The Bears belted out 15 hits in game one. Steve Daniels, Nick Punal and Ryan Zrenda each had three hits, while Daniels and Matt Colantonio each scored two runs. Eno had three RBIs.

Game two was a different story, as the Bulldogs scored twice in the top of the first. Cox started the game with a single up the middle, then moved to third on Gorynski's single to right center. After Cox scored on an error, Sweeney was hit by a pitch and Andrew Moore walked to load the bases with two out. Trygg Larsson-Danforth then reached on an error, allowing Gorynski to come across with the second run.

Brown immediately got the runs back in the bottom of the first. Conor Reardon smacked an RBI single that knocked in Eno, then scored on Punal's single to tie the game. The Bears added three in the bottom of the second to chase Yale starter Brandon Josselyn. After Vinny Lally gave up a walk and a double to start the bottom of the third, the Bears added two more runs on a pair of sacrifice flies

Larsson-Danforth cut Yale's deficit to 7-3 with a homer to right center leading off the fourth inning. The solo shot was Larsson-Danforth's first career home run. Yale added another run in the top of the fifth when Moore poked an RBI single to center that plated Schropp. The Bulldogs tallied two more in the top of the sixth on Schropp's bases-loaded single.

Brown, however, responded with two in the bottom of the fifth, two in the sixth, and another run in the seventh. Yale had at least one base runner in each of the final three innings, but couldn't put enough hits together to build a sustained rally.

Dan Soltman went 4-for-4 at the plate, while Cox was 3-for-6 with two runs scored. Gorynski and Schropp each had two hits and Schropp drove in two runs. As a team, Yale belted 14 hits. Josselyn (2-7) took the loss after yielding five runs (four earned) and seven hits over 1.2 innings. He also struck out two and walked two. Lally went four innings, giving up six runs (five earned) and six hits while striking out five and walking three. John Henry Davis finished up for the Bulldogs, surrendering one unearned run and two hits with one strikeout in 2.1 innings.

Every Brown starter except for Daniels had at least one of the Bears' 15 hits. Five different Bears scored two runs and four Brown players had two RBIs. Reardon went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Anthony Vita (4-4) lasted 5.1 innings on the mound for Brown to earn the win. He surrendered six runs (five earned) and 10 hits while striking out one and walking three. Three Brown relievers combined to give up four hits and strike out four over the final 3.2 innings.

The Bulldogs and Bears are right back at it on Sunday with another doubleheader, this time at Yale Field. The first game is scheduled for 1 p.m. Between games, seniors Alex Christ, Jake Doyle, Steve Gilman, Cox, Davis, Gorynski, Irving and Soltman will be honored.

Report filed by Joe Clifford, Yale Sports Publicity