April 29, 2007

Game One Box Score | Game Two Box Score

PROVIDENCE, R.I.--The Yale baseball season came to an end on Sunday, as the Bulldogs (16-27, 8-12 Ivy) split a doubleheader with host Brown (20-18, 14-6 Ivy) at Murray Stadium. The Bears won the first game, 2-0, to clinch the Red Rolfe Division title and a matchup with Penn in next weekend's Ivy Championship Series before the Bulldogs rebounded to win game two by a 7-5 margin.

Ryan Lavarnway capped his remarkable season by eclipsing the only two single-season school records he had left to catch, RBIs and batting average. Lavarnway had a solo home run and a sacrifice fly in the second game to bring his season RBI total to 55, breaking Dan Thompson's mark of 54 set in 1996. He set single-season Yale records for hits (70), home runs (14), doubles (17) and RBIs (55) this season. With a .467 batting average, Lavarnway obliterated the previous record, Joe Dufek's .447 in 1983. The nation's leading hitter, he finished with the second-highest batting average in Ivy League history, and the highest in the League since 1977.

"I've been in this league for 15 years," Head Coach John Stuper said, "and Ryan just completed the greatest offensive season I've seen. He was amazingly consistent. For a below-average runner to hit .467 is truly amazing. He should get strong All-American consideration."

It was also a record-setting day for senior Brett Rosenthal. Rosenthal entered the season tied for the Ivy League career record with 16 saves. His role changed a little bit this year, but the Bulldogs' former closer got a chance to notch his record 17th save by retiring the final batter of game two.

"I'm really happy Brett was able to get the record-breaking save," Stuper said. "To go from a walk-on who fought to make the team to the all-time Ivy saves leader is pretty remarkable."

In a sharp contrast to the doubleheader at Yale Field on Saturday, game one was an old-fashioned pitchers' duel between Brandon Josselyn and Brown ace Jeff Dietz. The two matched zeroes until the bottom of the fifth, when Dan Shapiro singled and Robert Papenhause was hit by a pitch. Brad Rifkin, Brown's number-nine hitter belted the biggest hit of the game when he shot a double to the center field wall that brought both runners home.

That was all the help Dietz (6-3) needed. Marc Sawyer doubled leading off the sixth, but Dietz retired the final six batters in a row to clinch the division. He gave up just five hits and didn't let a Yale runner get past second base. Josselyn (3-4) threw just 66 pitches in a complete game effort for the tough-luck loss. Josselyn was on the losing end of a 2-0 shutout in each of his last two starts (he dropped a 2-0 decision to Harvard's Shawn Haviland on Wednesday).

A leadoff walk came around to score for Brown in the first inning of game two, but Chris Wietlispach settled in after that. Wietlispach (2-5) hurled nine strikeouts in six innings, including six in a row in the second and third.

The Bulldogs tied the game in the top of the third when Josh Cox tripled, then came home on Lavarnway's sacrifice fly. Senior Pedro Obregon whacked a solo home run leading off the fourth to put Yale in front, 2-1. The Bulldogs made it 3-1 with a run in the top of the sixth before Brown got one back in the bottom half of the inning.

With one down in the top of the seventh, Lavarnway crushed a solo shot to left field for his record-setting RBI that made it 4-2 Yale. Wietlispach gave up a leadoff double in the bottom of the seventh, then was relieved by John Henry Davis. The runner came around to score, but Davis kept the Bulldogs in front, preserving Wietlispach's chance for the victory.

With Rosenthal warming up in the top of the ninth, Yale added three more runs to make it a four-run game. Sawyer got things started with a double. After Cox struck out and Lavarnway was intentionally walked, senior Justin Ankney made his last at-bat count, smashing a double to right that knocked in both runners. Obregon followed with an RBI single that made it 7-3.

Davis came out to start the ninth and quickly struck out the first two batters. He walked Ryan Murphy to bring up Devin Thomas, Brown's best hitter. Thomas crushed a home run to right that made it a save situation again. Stuper took the ball from Davis and called on Rosenthal to get the final out, and his save. The first batter he faced was Matt Nuzzo, who smacked a leadoff triple. However, Rosenthal struck out the next batter, Bryan Tews to put the game away.

Sawyer brought out the lineup card prior to his final collegiate game. He entered the contest hitting an even .400, but went 1-for-5 in the game to end the season at .394. Fittingly, Sawyer roped a double down the left field line in his last collegiate at-bat leading off the ninth inning. He finished the season with 16 two-baggers for the third straight year. Sawyer is Yale's all-time leader in at-bats (621), hits (230), and doubles (54).

"Marc and Dan Thompson are the two best players I've coached at Yale," Stuper said. "Both were remarkably consistent in their production and approach to the game. It will be strange not to write Marc's name in the lineup everyday."

Report filed by Joe Clifford, Yale Sports Publicity