2024 Baseball Season Preview

2/21/2024

The Brown baseball team is set to start the 2024 season this Friday evening with game one of a three-game series UT Martin. The series marks the end of a long offseason and the start of a new campaign that will see a large amount of experience returning to the Bears, particularly from a young core that saw extensive action in 2023.

Brown was picked to finish seventh in the Ivy League Preseason Poll after finishing sixth last season with a 12-26 (9-12 Ivy) record. Brown’s 2024 schedule features 40 games, with 15 home games at Attanasio Family Field at Murray Stadium.

STARTING PITCHING

After dealing with some injuries to key starters last season, Brown will return over 76 percent of its innings pitched from last season, including pitchers who made 25 of the team’s 38 starts.

Senior Paxton Meyers, who returned to action in early April of last season, made five starts down the stretch for the Bears and held opponents to a .175 batting average over 33.0 innings of work while striking out 40. It was the first time Meyers was deployed as a starter, having served out of the bullpen in 2022, when he finished the season ranked second in the Ivy League with a 3.16 ERA.

Joining the starting rotation this season is former closer Jack Seppings. The junior led the Bears with 18 appearances last spring and has amassed six saves over the last two seasons while striking out a total of 72 batters in 52.0 innings. Seppings will look to transition to the rotation this year after starting this past summer while with the Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod League.

Junior Santhosh Gottam has made 16 starts over 25 appearances the last two seasons and will be a weekend starter for Brown. He led the team in innings pitched last season with 55.0 and struck out 50 while walking 22 batters. Gottam was named the Championship Series MVP in 2022 while pitching for the Amsterdam Mohawks of the PGCBL and was selected as the league’s Relief Pitcher of the Year. In 2023, he played for the Newport Gulls and was named Second team All-NECBL while helping leads the Gulls to league title.

Sophomores Dylan Reid and Carter Rasmussen will also vie for time in the rotation this season after extensive contributions during their rookie campaigns. Reid made eight starts in 2023 and held opponents to a .248 average, while Rasmussen ranked second on the team with 11.57 strikeouts per nine innings. Both Reid and Rasmussen will be leaned upon heavily in relief roles as well.

“Our starting pitching has been a real battle and we’ve seen Jack, Paxton and Santhosh rise to the top right now,” said head coach Grant Achilles. “All of them have taken the next jump to sharpen their arsenal and improve their velocity. Having a majority of our innings return is a going to be a real key for us.”

BULLPEN

Sophomore Christian Keel ranked second on the team behind Seppings in appearances last season with 13 and led the Bears with 2.05 ERA, amassing 24 strikeouts in 26.1 innings while limiting opponents to a .220 average.

Lefties Ty Harris and Jacob Young will also factor into the team’s relief efforts in 2024. Harris held opposing hitters to just a .194 average last season in 9.1 innings. Newcomers Ryan Oshinskie, Brenden Kline and Brendan Chanley also figure to make an immediate impact on the team’s relief corp.

“We certainly have some guys back who saw a lot of playing time last year,” Achilles said. “We expect big things from (Keel and Rasmussen), as well as Harris and Stiles Begnaud, who may have had less prominent roles last year, but they’ve really stepped up this year. We have more matchup and short relief chances, and that’s where you get your long relief opportunities, by continuing to build on those opportunities you get. As long as our pitchers are healthy, we feel comfortable thrusting any of them into game situations.”

The team will be without the services of sophomore Peter Dubie for the entire season after he struck out 17 batters in 14 innings last season.

With Seppings moving into a starting role, Brown will start the season without a designated closer, and instead look to mix and match to reach 27 outs.

“When you look at high leverage innings, they aren’t always at the end of the game,” Achilles said. “We’ve certainly taken to the notion that your most important outs might not be at the end of the game, but rather in the sixth or seventh inning after transitioning from your starter. We have a number of good options this year to piece together 27 outs to win a game.”

OUTFIELD

Brown’s outfield sees the return of sophomore Mika Petersen, who earned First Team All-Ivy honors after leading the Bears and ranked fourth in the Ivy League last season with a .353 batting average, which led all rookies. Petersen will carry a 27-game on-base streak into the start of this season and had a 21-game hitting streak from March 18-April 29. In Ivy League games, Petersen led all players with a .424 average and 36 hits, while rankings seventh in on-base and 10th in OPS. After spending most of 2023 as the team’s designated hitter, Peterson will start the season as the Bears’ center fielder.

Juniors Jared Johnson and Nathan Brasher will battle for the two corner outfield spots after starting 32 and 31 games last season, respectively. Brasher tied for second on the team with six steals and tallied a six-game hitting streak from March 18-20. Johnson had five RBIs including a grand slam and sac fly in a win over Bryant on March 18 and went 3-for-4 with a double and triple and scored twice at Columbia.

Freshman Brady Dever is also vying for one of the corner outfield spots and looks to make an immediate impact on the team’s lineup. Returning sophomores Logan Meusy and Olivia Pichardo will provide depth within the team’s outfield.

Brown will look to replace the void left by the graduated Derian Morphew, who earned First Team All-Ivy honors after ranking second on the team with a .314 batting average.

INFIELD

Brown’s infield will feature versatility and athleticism, with most players capable of playing any of the four positions and each returner featuring a significant amount of in-game experience.

Senior Charles Crawford and freshman Brandon Chang have seen significant time at third base this preseason and also possess the ability to play elsewhere outside of the infield, with Chang also serving as a catcher, and Crawford capable of playing anywhere in the infield as well as corner outfield.

At shortstop, sophomore DJ Dillehay took over the position early last season and made 26 starts down the stretch, hitting .298 and ranking third on the team with 21 RBIs. Freshman Miles Newsome has impressed the coaches throughout the fall and preseason offensively and has the athleticism and ability to impact the lineup at shortstop and elsewhere in the infield.

At second base, junior Gunner Boree will slot into the starting spot after seeing significant time at shortstop, third base and left field the last two years. Boree ranked third on the Bears with 19 walks in 19 games last season. Also factoring into the Bears lineup this season will be sophomore Mark Henshon, who has expanded his ability to slot in all around the infield. He made 16 starts last season and batted .305 while tying for third with a .397 on-base percentage after taking over the starting second base job. Zach Siegal also returns ot provide depth at second base for the Bears.

Senior Reece Rappoli led the team with a .333 batting average in 2022 as a second baseman before seeing time at both third and shortstop in 2023. Rappoli will get the nod at first base to begin 2024 with Quinn Rooks also factoring in.

CATCHERS

Junior Conor Cooke will assume the team’s starting catcher role to begin 2024 after batting. 333 with a .486 on-base percentage over 11 games last season while serving as a DH and backup catcher. He will have the opportunity to fill the void left behind by two-year starter Jacob Burley, who is now at Wake Forest as a grad transfer.

Chang, along with first-year Andrew Hanlon will provide depth and backup to Cooke.

“All three of them have done a tremendous job to build trust with our pitching staff,” Achilles aid. “Each brings their own strengths, but all three of them make us better both offensively and defensively.”