Brown at Penn
PHILADELPHIA (Interstat) — Mark Henshon drove in five runs with a double in each of the seventh and eighth innings, and the Brown Bears rallied from a 3-3 tie to defeat the Penn Quakers 13-9 on Friday afternoon at Hank DeVincent Field.
Henshon, a second baseman, finished 2 for 4 with five RBIs, continuing a hot stretch that included a three-hit, three-RBI game against Columbia on Wednesday. DJ Dillehay went 3 for 6 with three RBIs for the Bears, and Alex Benevento went 3 for 5 with two RBIs. Brown improved to 21-16 overall, while Penn fell to 17-19.
The Bears pounced early, scoring three runs in the first inning off Penn starter Marty Coyne, who entered in relief after an initial walk sequence. Dillehay singled up the middle for two RBIs, and Christian Butera was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring home the third run. Coyne settled in, striking out seven over six innings while allowing four earned runs on six hits, but Brown could not add to its lead until the middle innings.
Penn scratched across an unearned run in the second inning on a sacrifice fly by O’Brien, then tied the game in the sixth when Nick Spaventa homered to left field, scoring Degnan ahead of him. Spaventa finished 1 for 5 with two RBIs.
The game turned in the seventh. Brown sent eight batters to the plate and scored five runs on four hits, taking an 8-3 lead. Peter Dubie, who had thrown six shutout innings with five strikeouts, left after the top of the seventh with a 3-3 game, but the Bears’ outburst gave him a lead. Henshon delivered the big blow, a three-run double to right-center that cleared the bases.
Penn answered immediately in the bottom half. After a walk and a single, the Quakers loaded the bases with no outs. Christian Keel replaced Dubie, but Penn strung together four consecutive hits. Gavin Collins crushed a three-run homer to left field, his first of the game, capping a six-run inning that put Penn ahead 9-8. Collins went 2 for 4 with a home run and three RBIs.
Brown refused to fold. In the top of the eighth, Benevento singled home Peter, who had doubled, to tie the game. Dillehay then reached on an error by the shortstop, allowing Benevento to score the go-ahead run. Henshon followed with a two-run double, and Butera added an RBI double to make it 13-9.
Keel, who pitched two innings of scoreless relief and struck out one, earned the win. Aidan von Zuben allowed two runs on two hits in 1 2/3 innings of relief for Penn, but the Quakers could not mount another rally. Penn stranded a runner in the ninth when Warner flied out to left.
The game featured 26 combined hits — 14 by Brown and 12 by Penn — and both teams capitalized on defensive miscues. Brown scored three unearned runs, while Penn scored one unearned run.
The victory extended Brown’s winning streak in the series to two games. The teams are scheduled to play a doubleheader on Saturday, May 2.
Interstat’s game simulator projected a 7-6 final in favor of Brown, while the ELO system gave Penn a 68.40 percent probability to win. The actual result far outpaced those projections in a high-scoring, back-and-forth affair.