Petersen and Coaching Staff Earn Major Awards; Eight Bears Named All-Ivy
5/14/2026 3:00:00 PM | Baseball
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A strong 2026 season for the Brown baseball program has earned the squad two of the Ivy League's four major postseason awards. Senior outfielder Mika Petersen has been named the Ivy League Player of the Year, and the coaching staff, led by first-year head coach Frank Holbrook, has been named the league's Coaching Staff of the Year.
Petersen, who was also a unanimous First Team selection, headlines a group of eight All-Ivy League players for the Bears, tying the 2002 squad for the second-most All-Ivy honorees in program history behind only the 1999 squad, which had nine selections.
Petersen also becomes just the fourth player in program history to be a three-time First Team All-League honoree in his career.
First Team
Dylan Reid (P)
DJ Dillehay (INF)
Mika Petersen (OF)*
*unanimous selection
Second Team
Drew Nelson (P)
Mark Henshon (INF)
Matt Luigs (INF)
Alex Benevento (OF)
Honorable Mention
Christian Keel (P)
Academic All-Ivy
Peter Dubie (P)
Petersen becomes Brown's first Ivy Player of the Year since Brown Athletics Hall of Famer Devin Thomas in 2007. In Ivy League contests, Petersen led the league in average (.443), on-base (.531), slugging (.785), OPS (1.316) and hits (35). He also ranked tied for third in doubles (8), fourth in runs scored (22), and was tied for second with two triples. For the second time in his career, he is the winner of the Blair Bat Award for winning the league batting title after previously winning the award as a freshman in 2023. He enters the Ivy League Tournament tied for fifth in program history with 198 hits and ranks ninth with 607 career at bats. His 37 stolen bases are also five shy of tying for 10th all-time.
Holbrook, along with Associate Head Coach Eric Podbelski, Pitching Coach Andrew McKeon, Assistant Coach Mike Maher and Director of Pitching Development Pete Kelich, all played a crucial role in the turnaround of the Brown baseball program in their first season on College Hill. They inherited a program that finished eighth in the Ivy League standings each of the last two seasons and was picked eighth in the 2026 preseason poll and guided the team to a 21-18 overall record and the No. 3 seed in this weekend's Ivy League Tournament. It will be the first postseason appearance since the Ivy League Championship Series in 2007. To date, the team's 21 wins are the most since 2009. The Bears finished Ivy League play this season ranked fourth with a .272 team batting average and led the league with a 3.92 ERA in league games.
Joining Petersen on the first team are senior pitcher Dylan Reid and senior third baseman DJ Dillehay. Reid ranked third in league games with a 2.54 ERA and ranked eighth in the league in both strikeouts (33) and opponents' batting average (.210). Dillehay leads the Ivy League with 26 RBIs in 21 league games while also ranking second overall in the league with 40 total RBIs.
On the second team, Drew Nelson ranks eighth in league games this season with a 2.68 ERA, while ranking second in both innings pitched (47.0) and wins (4). Freshman Matt Luigs hit .330 in league games this season while tying for third with 22 runs scored out of the leadoff spot. He added a league-leading three triples and ranked in the league's top 10 with 12 walks.
Senior Mark Henshon is batting .299 this season with 27 RBIs, five doubles, 18 walks, and a team low of just 17 strikeouts. Sophomore outfielder Alex Benevento is hitting .317 overall this season, good for eighth in the league. He ranks sixth with a .428 overall on-base percentage and is fourth with 41 runs scored.
Senior closer Christian Keel earned Honorable Mention accolades after posting an Ivy-high six saves and ranking 10th in overall ERA (3.00). He ranks fourth overall by limiting opponents to a .189 batting average.
Senior captain and No. 1 weekend starter Peter Dubie was named Academic All-Ivy for his work on the field and in the classroom. He will graduate this spring with a degree in economics and international and public affairs.
Brown will face off against No. 2 seed Penn in the opening round of the Ivy League Tournament on Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. at Yale's Bush '48 Field.
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