Bowdoin goaltender Aaliyah Biondo prepares for a shot in a NESCAC women’s lacrosse game against Hamilton on Saturday in Brunswick. (Brian Beard / CiPhotography.com) Brian Beard
NORTHBOROUGH, Mass. – The Bowdoin College baseball team opened the 2020 season with a pair of 8-2 wins over Brandeis on Saturday afternoon.
The Polar Bears begin the season at 2-0, dropping the Judges to 5-3.
Bowdoin scored in the top of the second of the opener as Ben McKenzie tripled to right center, plating Gavin Cann.
Eric Mah doubled the Polar Bears lead in the following inning, tripling to right. Stephen Simoes followed up with a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Mah.
Cann popped a solo homer in the fourth, making it 4-0.
The Judges finally responded with a solo shot of their own in the bottom of the sixth.
Cann hit another solo home run in the top of the seventh, sparking a three-run inning for the Polar Bears. James McCarthy tagged a double with runners on first and second for an RBI and Simoes had a bases loaded walk for an RBI of his own. Owen Gideon-Murphy capped the inning, grounding out to second, but driving in McCarthy.
Brandeis got one more run in their final at-bat to make it 8-2.
Cann went 3-for-3 at the plate with two RBIs. McCarthy was 2-for-3 and Simoes had two RBIs.
Colby Lewis went the distance on the mound, allowing four hits with one walk and five strikeouts.
In the nightcap, Bowdoin put up four runs in the first, benefitting from multiple extra-base hits. Cann had an RBI double and Brendan O’Neil launched a three-run homer. Luke Chessie notched an RBI in the third and Simoes had a run-producing single.
Trailing 6-0, the Judges put up two runs in the fourth.
Bowdoin answered in the fifth with another Simoes RBI single. Chessie added one of his own in the sixth.
Simoes and O’Neil were 3-for-4 with two RBIs.
Seamus Keenan pitched five innings and earned the win, allowing six hits with five strikeouts. Jack Mullen pitched one inning, allowing one hit. Ryan Winn closed out the game with an inning of work and two strikeouts.
Women’s lacrosse
Eliza Denious had six goals to lead 13th-ranked Bowdoin to an authoritative 17-6 win over Hamilton on Saturday afternoon at Ryan Field.
The Polar Bears improved to 2-1 (1-1 NESCAC), while the Continentals dropped to 0-2 (0-2 NESCAC) on the season.
Tessa Ryan got the scoring going with a goal for Hamilton 2:25 into the game to give the visitors their only lead of the game. Bowdoin answered with a four-goal surge, sparked by a Denious goal from Elizabeth Growney as the hosts pulled ahead 4-1 at the 23:19 mark.
Consecutive goals by Hamilton’s Olivia Seymour and Lauren Hamilton closed the gap to 4-3 with 14:52 remaining in the opening half, but that is as close as the Continentals were able to get.
Bowdoin closed the half on a three-goal surge, and a Fiona Bundy goal with 20 seconds remaining in the frame gave the hosts an 8-4 edge at the break. Denious took command in the first five minutes of the second half, scoring four straight goals in a span of 4:29, pushing the Polar Bear lead to 12-4.
Bowdoin College women’s lacrosse forward Eliza Denious is about to send a shot toward the Hamilton goal in a NESCAC battle on Saturday on Ryan Field in Brunswick. (Brian Beard / CiPhotography.com) Brian Beard
Meanwhile, the Polar Bear defense locked down Hamilton, holding the Continentals scoreless for a span of 27:51 from late in the first half to late in the second. In all, Bowdoin rolled off 12 straight goals to push the game into running time for the majority of the second half en route to the win.
Denious’ six goals were one shy of her single-game high of seven set twice last season. She also had two draw controls in the victory. Bundy had three goals, two assists, three ground balls and four draw controls for the Polar Bears, while Kara Finnerty had a goal, two assists, four ground balls and seven draws. Growney and Kate Kelly had two goals apiece for Bowdoin while Irene Lunt, Caroline Maxwell and Morgan Pinado had three ground balls each.
Aaliyah Biondo made eight stops, allowing just four goals and 50 minutes for Bowdoin, which returns to action at Williams this upcoming Saturday at noon.
Men’s lacrosse
Bowdoin gave up two late goals to fall to Hamilton, 8-7, on Saturday afternoon.
The Polar Bears dropped to 0-2 (0-2 NESCAC) on the year, while the Continentals improved to 2-1 (1-1 NESCAC).
The teams were tied 3-3 at the end of one period as Zach Chandler scored twice for the Polar Bears. After trading goals in the second quarter, Bowdoin took a brief 5-4 lead in the third quarter on a goal by Chris Fowler.
Hamilton scored twice in the final 2:54 of the period to take a 6-5 lead entering the final frame.
Bowdoin answered with two goals in a span of 32 seconds as consecutive goals by Reed Baker and Jake Crossman gave the Polar Bears a 7-6 advantage with 14 minutes to go.
The Polar Bears kept the Continentals at bay until the final five minutes as Torben Wunderle tied the game with 4:22 left and Tim Sommer netted the game-winner with 3:46 on the clock.
Jack O’Connor made 12 saves in the loss for the Polar Bears, while Max Scheidl stopped 17 for Hamilton.
The Polar Bears host Babson on Wednesday evening at 6 p.m.
Indoor track
Bowdoin athletes posted fantastic finishes in their final attempts to earn NCAA bids at the Tufts National Qualifying Meet Saturday.
For the men’s team, Cheng Xi won the long jump (22-03.75) while Ryan Durkin placed second in the pole vault (14-11.50). Michael Donovan placed fifth in the shot put (47-05) and Luca Ostertag Hill placed 10th in the mile (4:24.08).
The women’s distance medley relay team of Sadie Saxton (1,200), Morgen Gallagher (400), Emma Beane (800), and Caroline Shipley (mile) moved up on the national rankings list from 30th to 10th with a time of 11:56.72, placing second in the meet. Brittney McKinley won the 200 with a time of 25.41 which puts her tied for 13th on the national list. She also broke Elsa Millett 200 record set in 2012.
Lydia Pitts won the triple with a jump of 37-09.50.
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