The play-off picture for the NESCAC Eastern Conference will come into focus when the baseball team travels to Tufts this weekend for a three-game series. The Polar Bears will determine their destiny with these last conference games.
“If we win at least two games out of the series, then we are in first place in the division and we go into the playoffs as a one seed,” said senior captain Luke Regan. “There are no more conference games—this is the deciding weekend.”
Bowdoin traveled to Williams this past weekend for a non-conference series. On Friday, the Ephs took an early 2-1 lead but the Polar Bears managed to regain control of the game by the fourth inning. The Bowdoin offense went into overdrive, led by Aaron Rosen ’15, who went 3-3 and scored five runs, tying the College’s single-game scoring record. The Polar Bears also found three RBIs each from Regan, Erik Jacobsen ’15 and Sam Canales ’15 in the 13-5 victory.
Bowdoin built a lead in the first game of Saturday’s double header with a couple of single-run innings. Williams then cut the lead to 2-1 before Dan Findley ’13 and Regan knocked in two more runs to make it 4-1. Henry Van Zant ’15 was excellent in five innings of relief and Rosen went 4-4 to seal the win.
The Polar Bears cruised to a 3-0 lead in game two. The Ephs made a comeback in the bottom of the sixth to bring the score to 3-2, but the relief for Bowdoin was able to shut down Williams’ bats and preserve the 3-2 victory. The three wins extended the Polar Bear win streak to 11, tying the school record. Rosen was named the NESCAC player of the week for his efforts over the last four games. He batted .786 and went 11-14 while scoring eight times.
Regan remarked on some of the key factors in the weekend’s success: “Clutch pitching [was important]—along with a great performance by Aaron Rosen,” he said. “It was incredible to watch him play, because he got on base every time we needed him to.”
Bowdoin hosted a midweek game against Brandeis. Tied at one run each going into the bottom of the second inning, Bowdoin pulled ahead to a three-run lead with RBIs from Findley, Canales and John Lefeber ’14. Brandeis tied the game at five in the fifth before Lefeber responded in the bottom of the sixth with a two run double. Bowdoin tacked on another following an error to pull ahead 8-5. Brandeis pulled within one, but Dave Zabinsky ’15 shut down the Judges in the top of the ninth.
With the 8-7 victory Bowdoin extended its winning streak to 12 and set a new school record.
This also marked the first time in three years that Bowdoin has beaten Brandeis.
The Polar Bears hope to stay hot this weekend against the Jumbos in order to secure the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.
“Our pitchers keep their runs low,” said Regan. “We just need to stay on top of what we do best and get runners in scoring position like we did this past weekend and play a clean defensive game.”