In 2009, the Wall Street Journal wrote an article calling Breslow “the smartest man in baseball, if not the entire world.” Indeed, his accomplishments both on and off the field speak for themselves. 

Craig Breslow was born at Yale New Haven Hospital and grew up in Trumbull, CT, less than a 30-minute drive from Yale’s campus. Although Yale was close to home, Breslow said that proximity was not why he decided to become a Bulldog. 

“Yale was always this elite institution that I would never be able to go to,” Breslow told the News. “But my academic achievement merited consideration from Ivy league schools and pretty early on [Yale] became the most aggressive recruiters. Ultimately when it came time to make the decision it felt like it was important to use baseball to pursue the best education I could.”

Breslow arrived at Yale in 1998 as a student-athlete with the intent of studying medicine and continuing his baseball career. From the age of 11, Breslow knew that he wanted to study medicine — his sister, 13 at the time, had been diagnosed with pediatric thyroid cancer. The experience had a lasting impact and motivated him to study molecular biophysics and biochemistry while at Yale, and ultimately to think about pursuing a professional career in medicine after graduation. 

While an undergraduate at Yale, Breslow pitched for the Bulldogs on the men’s baseball team. He had an impressive four-year run, and notably as a senior, had the lowest ERA in the Ivy League with a 2.56 Earned Run Average, or ERA. 

Still interested in pursuing a career in medicine, Breslow applied to medical school and was accepted into New York University Medical School and planned to attend after graduation. His medical school plans were interrupted, though, by his dream of becoming a professional baseball player. 

Breslow told the News he consulted with teammates and family members about his decision to continue playing baseball after Yale or pursue a career in medicine. Matt McCarthy ’02, a teammate at Yale, gave him lasting advice.

“I remember asking him, ‘How did you know you were done?’ and he said it was really easy,” Breslow recounted. “‘I could turn on a TV and be like, yeah, that was fun when I played, but if you ever turn on a TV and think that could be you out there, then you are not ready to give it up.’ And that really really hit me. I just felt like I could still contribute.”

Breslow made his decision. He headed to Milwaukee.

In 2002, Breslow was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers and began his career in MLB. He would go on to pitch for 12 seasons with the San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Guardians, Minnesota Twins, Oakland Athletics, Arizona Diamondbacks and Miami Marlins. At one point while pitching in MLB, Breslow was the only Yale alum playing major-league baseball. 

While pursuing his career as a professional athlete, Breslow started the Strike 3 Foundation in 2008 with the mission of raising money and awareness for pediatric cancer research and treatment, while also staying involved in the medical world, even though he decided to no longer pursue medicine as a career. 

“I had always thought my impact on the medical community would be as a physician,” Breslow told the News. “But as my baseball career took hold and I realized that pursuing medical school and a career in the medical profession was getting pushed further out, I wanted to remain connected in some way.” 

The Strike 3 Foundation’s primary fundraiser is a wiffle ball tournament at Little Fenway in Vermont, which they host each fall. Little Fenway is made up of replica Fenway, Wrigley and Field of Dreams wiffle ball stadiums. 

In 2008, the Strike 3 Foundation also pledged to give $500,000 over the span of five years to Yale New Haven Hospital, which, according to the website, was used to found a Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplantation Program, the first of its kind in Connecticut.

In 2009, in a Wall Street Journal article titled “Who Has the Brainiest Team in Baseball?” the WSJ called Breslow the “smartest man in baseball, if not the entire world.” The article tried to understand if there was a correlation between education and victories by looking at players who went to four-year U.S. colleges or universities and seeing which of them graduated. Players who attended elite schools were ranked more heavily. 

“In a field like professional sports where Ivy League grads are not commonplace, there is this stigma for better or for worse that attaches itself to you. Athletes get all kinds of nicknames and if ‘smartest man in baseball’ was the one that people wanted to come up for me, I could do far, far worse,” Breslow said. “I try to embrace it with all appropriate humility.”  

After his playing career as a pitcher, Breslow shifted to the front office where he now works as the Chief Baseball Officer at the Red Sox. Chief Baseball Officer puts him in the position to direct all of Red Sox baseball operations. Breslow takes over for another Yale graduate, Chaim Bloom ’04, who held the position before him.

Breslow is familiar with the Red Sox organization, as he pitched for the Red Sox for four years in 2006 and again from 2012-15. He helped the team win the World Series in 2013. 

Craig Breslow has had a very successful career with Major League Baseball on and off the field, giving some of the credit to his time at Yale. 

“The network, community, and relationships I built at Yale, like Theo and others, as well as the diversity, world view and perspective you get at a place like Yale, drove me to be eminently curious and introspective,” Breslow said, speaking of former Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein ’95, when asked how his Yale experience has helped his work in the Red Sox front office. 

The Red Sox will begin Spring Training this year in February at their spring training camp in Fort Myers, Florida. Opening Day will be held on April 9, 2024 against the Baltimore Orioles at home in Boston at Fenway Park.

Correction, Feb. 6: A previous version of this article called molecular biophysics and biochemistry a double major; it is one course of study commonly referred to as MB&B. 

The post ‘Smartest Man in Baseball’ is a Yale alum and the new Chief Baseball Officer of the Red Sox appeared first on Yale Daily News.

The Bulldogs fell to the Bobcats 11–4 in a run-packed game. Over the weekend, the Blue and White then continued Ivy play with games against the University of Pennsylvania, 23–12, 11–4 Ivy, at Meiklejohn Stadium in Philadelphia with a double header on Saturday and a game on Sunday. 

“We are showing so much progress in areas that we have worked on all year,” Coach Brian Hamm wrote to the News. “Our pitching was outstanding this week, credit goes to our veteran pitchers for their leadership and our pitching coach Chris Wojick for developing our pitchers and putting together an effective plan against opponents’ hitters.”

Bryant Reese ’24 started on the mound for the Bulldogs in their midweek game against the Bobcats. Quinn Cleary ’23, Ethan Lewis ’26, Josh Richardson ’24, Jimmy Chatfield ’24 and Jamis DeKay ’24 all pitched for the Elis on Wednesday. 

Scoring didn’t get started until the top of the fifth when the Bulldogs scored off an error by the Bobcat’s third baseman. Max Imhoff ’25 brought in the run for the Blue and White. In the top of the sixth Jeff Pierantoni ’24 singled to left center, which brought both Davis Hanson ’26 and Jake Williams ’24 home, bringing the score to 3–0. 

In the bottom of the sixth, the Bobcats brought in five runs, bringing the score to 5–3 to start the seventh. In the top of the eighth, the Bulldogs brought in their fourth and last run of the game after AJ Gaich ’23 stole third and then was able to come home off an error by the Bobcats’ third baseman. 

However, the Bobcats then brought in the last six runs of the game in the bottom of the eighth, securing the victory. The ninth inning remained scoreless and the final score of the game was 11–4.

On Saturday, the Bulldogs started the morning with a 4–0 win over the Quakers, but fell in the afternoon in a close 1–0 loss. 

In their match in the morning, the Blue and White scored the first run of the game in the top of the first after Chatfield doubled down the left field line, bringing Gaich home. The Bulldogs brought another run in after Swank doubled down the left field line, which brought Alec Atkinson ’24 home.

The score stayed 2–0 throughout the game until the top of the eighth when the Eli’s brought the last two runs of the game in. Gaich brought in the third run and Chatfield brought in the fourth after stealing home. The Quakers remained scoreless.  

“Game one was definitely the highlight of the weekend,” Reese wrote to the News. “Seeing our hitters score a couple of runs early against Penn’s formidable pitching staff and then watching our own staff shut them down for 9 innings gave the whole team energy.” 

In the second game on Saturday, the game remained scoreless until the bottom of the ninth when the Quakers sneaked a run in off a wild pitch to win the game 1–0.

Colton Shaw ’25 started on the mound for the Bulldogs and threw eight scoreless innings in the afternoon.

In their last game of the series, the Quakers got the scoring started in the bottom of the first, bringing seven runs in. The Bulldogs brought their first and only run of the game home in the top of the fourth after Williams doubled down the left field line, which brought Gaich home. 

In the bottom of the sixth, Penn brought in three more runs, making the score 10–1. Penn then scored the final run of the game in the bottom of the eighth, bringing the game score to 11–1.

Shaw expressed his excitement about the team’s upcoming games against Princeton on Apr. 29 and 30.

“This is obviously a big one for us so I’m looking forward to how we compete,” Shaw wrote to the News. “We have been competing these past couple of weeks and some things haven’t been going our way, but that hasn’t seemed to stop us. We are going to bring that same intensity and I’m excited for this next challenge.”

Looking ahead, the Bulldogs will host Princeton University (18–17, 5–2 Ivy) in a three-game series at the George H.W. Bush ’48 Field at home in New Haven.  

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The Yale men’s baseball team (13–16, 7–5 Ivy) competed in a mid-week game against the University of Hartford (2–24, 0–0 CCC). The Bulldogs beat the Hawks in an 8–4 win. The Bulldogs then got back on track in Ivy play against Dartmouth College (1–27, 0–12 Ivy) with a three game sweep against the Big Green. 

“Getting the sweep this weekend was exactly what we needed,” player Tommy Martin ’25 wrote to the News. “Hopefully we can use that momentum for our midweek at [Quinnipiac] and for the Penn series this weekend.”

On Wednesday, in the bottom of the first, the Hawks scored the first run of the game with a homer to right field. In the top of the third, the Bulldogs tied it up with a run from Ben Metzner ’23 off a single to center field from Davis Hanson ’26. In the bottom of the third, the Hawks brought another run in, but in the top of the fourth, the Blue and White brought in three runs off Metzner, Max Imhoff ’25 and Martin to bring the Bulldogs to a 4–2 lead. 

In the top of the fifth, Carson Swank ’23 singled to left field which brought Jeff Pierantoni ’24 home. In the top of the sixth, Martin brought in his second run of the game off a single from Jake Williams ’24 to left field. In the bottom of the seventh, the Hawks brought in two runs, but the Bulldogs were still ahead 6–4. The Bulldogs scored the last two runs of the game in the top of the eighth off a homer from Hanson which brought Hayden Sobecki ’25 home. 

Mick Kelley ’25, Josh Richardson ’24, Ethan Lewis ’26, Mark Capell ’25 and Jimmy Chatfield ’24 pitched for the Bulldogs on Wednesday. 

Over the weekend, the Bulldogs kicked off their three game series against Dartmouth in Hanover, New Hampshire with a double header on Saturday. In their first game on Saturday, the Bulldogs won in a run-packed game, beating the Big Green 16–3. In their second game, the Blue and White rallied to win 7–2. 

“We need to continue the approach and systems that helped us be successful in the Dartmouth Series,” coach Brian Hamm wrote to the News. “Our approach has helped us succeed in a number of ways to put us in the mix to make the Ivy Tournament and now we are performing more consistently. We were so close to getting results out of the Columbia series and we made adjustments and stuck with our approach and were rewarded with three wins against Dartmouth.”

In the morning on Saturday, Reid Easterly ’24 started on the mound for the Bulldogs. In the top of the second, the Blue and White started the scoring for the game with a run from Pierantoni and Williams off a single from Milner. In the top of the fourth, ​​Martin brought a run in for the Blue and White off a triple to right center from Metzner.

The Big Green scored their first run of the game in the bottom of the fifth from a homer to left field. In the top of the sixth, the Blue and White brought in two runs to make the score 5–1 off of a double from Pierantoni, which brought Hanson home, and a homer from Martin to right field. 

In the bottom of the eighth, Capell relieved Easterly on the mound. The Bulldogs did not score any more runs until the top of the ninth when the Blue and White brought in 11 runs, bringing the final score of the game to 16–3. Atkinson, Milner, Chatfield, Hanson, Williams, Pierantoni, Martin and Metzner all brought in runs for the Bulldogs.

In their second game on Saturday, the Bulldogs beat the Big Green 7–2. Scoring did not get started for either team until the bottom of the sixth when Dartmouth brought one run home. In the bottom of the seventh, the Big Green brought in their second and final run of the game off a dropped fly by the second baseman which brought Zackarie Casebonne home. 

The Bulldogs scored their first run in the top of the eighth after Williams singled to center field, which brought Sobecki home. In the top of the ninth, the Bulldogs tied it up after Metzner scored on a throwing error by the third baseman. The game stayed tied into the bottom of the ninth and continued into extra innings. 

In the top of the tenth, the Blue and White brought five runs in, winning the game with a final score of 7–2. 

In their final game of the weekend on Sunday, the Blue and White rallied to win a low scoring 1–0 game. The first and only run of the game came after Hanson walked, Williams advanced to second and Chatfield advanced to third, which brought Atkinson home.

“I think my personal highlight of the weekend was our pitching staff’s performance in Sunday’s game, throwing a shutout,” Capell told the News. “It showed how far we have come from where we began this year and it is something that is amazing to be a part of. Couple that with having a beautiful 75 degree and sunny atmosphere, and getting the weekend sweep, the feeling was unmatched. As a whole, it puts us in a position to control our own destiny for the Ivy League playoff which is one step closer to our team goal.”

Daniel Cohen ’26, Bryant Reese ’24, Richardson, and Capell were on the mound on Sunday for the Blue and White. All four of them helped prevent any tying runs for the Big Green with their solid defense. 

Looking ahead, the Bulldogs will compete against Quinnipiac University (13–19, 7–5 MAAC) on Wednesday in Hamden, Connecticut and continue Ivy play in a three game series against the University of Pennsylvania (20–11, 9–3 Ivy) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania over the weekend. 

The post BASEBALL: Bulldogs rally to win game against Hartford on Wednesday, sweep Dartmouth in three games appeared first on Yale Daily News.

Although the Bulldogs fought hard, they fell to the Lions in a three-game sweep in games on Saturday and Sunday. 

The Bulldogs had a doubleheader to kick off the games Saturday, losing the first game in a tight 1–0 loss. In the afternoon, the Bulldogs fought hard, but fell again by just a single run in a 3–2 loss.

“I think we learned that we are a good team that can compete with anyone, but in doing that we also learned that in order to compete with anyone, we need to take care of the margins,” pitcher Colton Shaw ’25 wrote to the News. “Little details caught up to us in all three games and if we take care of those, who is to say we don’t come out of that series feeling a little different. Just need to come out better next weekend.”

Both teams got off to a slow start in the first game on Saturday, combining for just five hits and zero runs across the opening three innings. In the top of the fourth, the Lions scored the first and only run of the game as Andy Blake reached home plate on a passed ball.

Daniel Cohen ’26 started on the mound for the Bulldogs in the morning and was relieved by Josh Richardson ’24 in the top of the sixth. Despite strong performances on the mound, the offense failed to drive in a run to even the score.

In the second game of their doubleheader on Saturday, the Lions hit a homer in the top of the first to kick off the scoring. In the bottom of the second, the Bulldogs tied up the game off a double to left-center from Beck Milner ’26, which brought Tommy Martin ’25 home. In the top of the third, the Lions struck again and gained a 3–1 lead with a double down the left-field line bringing one run in, and another run off an error. 

No runs were then scored until the bottom of the fifth when Jeff Pierantoni ’24 singled, bringing Jimmy Chatfield ’24 home. Chatfield represented the last run of the game against the Lions, bringing the final score to 3–2. 

Shaw pitched a long nine innings for the Bulldogs, allowing two unearned runs and four hits. He also had six strikeouts while on the mound. 

“I think our pitchers really competed for us this weekend,” Martin wrote to the News. “They did their job, but unfortunately we had a few too many mistakes and couldn’t score as many runners as we needed to.”

In the last game of the series on Sunday, the Bulldogs fell to the Lions 5–4 in a tight back-and-forth game. 

The Lions scored the first run of the game in the top of the first, but the Bulldogs came back to tie the score in the bottom of the inning off an error by the third baseman, bringing Chatfield in for an unearned run. In the top of the fourth, the Lions scored, making the score 2–1; They then scored again in the top of the fifth off a double which brought another run in. 

In the bottom of the sixth, Hanson singled to left-center, bringing Chatfield home for his second run of the game. 

In the top of the eighth, the Lions seemed to pull away, scoring two more runs to bring the game score to 5–2. The Bulldogs inched closer to the Lions in the bottom of the eighth with a run scored from Martin. The last run of the game came on an unearned run from Carson Swank ’23, making the final score of the game on Sunday 5–4. 

“This week we plan to focus on winning the margins,” Milner wrote to the News. “Limiting walks, errors, and runs that are otherwise preventable. Losing three games this weekend by a mere one run each shows us just how important each out is in the game. If we can strive for perfection here, we will find success.”

During the games last weekend, the Bulldogs invited youth baseball teams, family, friends and others from New Haven and surrounding areas to come and meet the team. The children in attendance were able to run the bases after the double header on Saturday.  

“My highlight of the weekend was the Kids’ Day we held on Saturday after Game 2 of the doubleheader,” Milner said. “Although we lost both games that day, everyone got together with smiles on our faces as the kids ran the bases. They were all so excited to be on the field, and their joy was a reminder for me why I play the game. We signed autographs and met the kids. All in all, it was a heartwarming experience.” 

Looking ahead, the Bulldogs will compete against the University of Hartford (2–20, 0–0 CCC) at Dunkin’ Park in Hartford. The Bulldogs will then look to get back on track in Ivy play against Dartmouth College (1–23, 0–9 Ivy) in Hanover, New Hampshire over the weekend.  

The post BASEBALL: Bulldogs drop three games in Ivy series appeared first on Yale Daily News.

They started in California, playing games in San Francisco and Stockton before going south to play in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Finally, they returned home to New Haven to continue their season play. 

The Bulldogs competed in non-conference games against the University of San Francisco (10–10, 1–5 AAC), University of the Pacific (8–14, 1–5 WCC), McNeese State (16–8, 1–2 Southland) and Quinnipiac University (7–13, 1–2 MAAC) before opening conference play against Cornell University (2–13, 2–1 Ivy).  

In the first game of their doubleheader against San Francisco on Saturday, the Blue and White rallied from an early 1–0 deficit to beat the Dons 3–1, but fell in the next two matchups 4–3 and 13–6. 

Their early-season skid continued against the University of the Pacific, as they fell to the Powercats in a high-scoring nail-biter by a score of 11–10. During the southern portion of their road trip, the Bulldogs dropped all three games against McNeese.

Even after returning home to New Haven, the Blue and White’s struggles continued in a tight 1–0 loss against Quinnipiac.

“The most challenging part of our spring trip was the amount of time that we spent on the road,” head coach Brian Hamm wrote to the News. “We had three very difficult travel days that took a lot out of us, and we played against good competition which is down more than we had anticipated. It took a couple of days being back during the second week of break for us to catch our breath.”

In the last series of the long break from classes, the Bulldogs competed in three games against Cornell. The two teams had a game on Friday and a doubleheader on Sunday at the George H.W. Bush ’48 Field in New Haven. The Elis hoped to rebound as they opened conference play, the most important part of their season.

In the first game of the series, Jimmy Chatfield ’24 got the scoring started with a homer to left field in the fourth inning to bring Jeff Pierantoni ’24 home, giving the Bulldogs a 2–0 lead. In the fifth, Pierantoni singled to right field to drive teammate Jake Williams ’24 home, scoring the third and last run for the Bulldogs. 

The Bulldogs held the lead until the top of sixth, when the Big Red scored four runs to take a 5–3 lead. The Bulldogs were not able to even the score with any further runs and the game ended 5–3.

In the top of the eighth, Daniel Cohen ’26 relieved Reid Easterly ’24 on the mound, and right-handed pitcher Colton Shaw ’25 had four strikeouts in 2 innings. 

In their first game on Sunday, the Bulldogs got their season back on track with a dominant 12–2 victory. The Bulldogs blew the game wide open in the first inning, driving in eight early runs. Shaw had a two-run single, bringing Davis Hanson ’26 and Chatfield home. Williams also had a two-run single in the first, bringing Ben Metzner ’23 and Shaw home.

“In the second game I felt we had a lot of energy and came together as a team to bounce back from the game one loss,” Hayden Sobecki ’25 said.

Easterly started on the mound for the Blue and White and pitched a strong game. In the top of the eighth, Cleary took over for Easterly. 

In their night game on Sunday, the Bulldogs fell with a close loss of 7–5. Cornell started strong in the first two innings, scoring five runs and taking a 5–1 lead into the third. 

In the bottom of the third, Williams singled to center field, bringing Alec Atkinson ’24 home and scoring the second run for the Bulldogs. Atkinson homered for the Blue and White in the bottom of the fourth, bringing the score to 5–3 against the Big Red Bears. 

The score stayed 5–3 until the top of the seventh when the Big Red homered to left field to bring a run home, making the score 6–3. In the bottom of the eighth, Shaw doubled, bringing Pierantoni and Hanson home. Pierantoni and Hanson scored the last two runs for the Blue and White, finishing the game with a close final score of 7–5.

“We have been attacking the little things because we know that is what will win us games,” Shaw wrote to the News. “Executing the small details on both sides of the ball has been crucial for our success so far, so if we can hammer those things in now we will be in good shape for these upcoming games.”

Looking ahead, the Bulldogs will continue their season with a game against Sacred Heart (11–9, 7–2 Northeast) on Wednesday. The Blue and White will then continue Ivy play with a three game series against Brown University (3–14, 1–2 Ivy) this weekend.

The post BASEBALL: Bulldogs compete in packed two weeks of season play appeared first on Yale Daily News.

Of the men’s team, Siow Yee Xian ’24, Maxwell Orr ’25, Arav Bhagwati ’26 and Nikhil Ismail ’25 competed in the CSA Individual Championships. Xian and Orr competed in the A Division Pool Trophy, while Bhagwati and Ismail competed in the B Division East Molloy Cup. Merritt Wurts ’25 and Taylor Clayton ’25 played in the doubles championship as partners. 

“I think the atmosphere of the whole event is really nice,” Wurts wrote to the News. “It’s very laid back in comparison to the regular season. It’s also a great opportunity to play with one of your friends. Doubles still has the competitive edge but in the end we’re all just there because we enjoy the game.”

Of the women’s team, Elisabeth Ross ’24 played singles in the A Division Ramsay Cup and Whitney Taylor ’26 played singles in the B Division Holleran Cup.  

On Friday, Xian lost in a close 3–2 match against his Princeton University opponent, Karim Elbarbary. Later in the day, he defeated his Rochester opponent, Yash Fadte, 3–0.

Orr fell to his Harvard University opponent, ​​Marwan Tarek, 3–0, but rallied to beat his University of Virginia opponent,​​ Omar El Torkey, 3–1 on the same day. Both Xian and Orr moved on to the consolation semifinals.

“My personal highlight this weekend was upsetting the top seeds as a No. 7 seed, and making the final,” Bhagwati wrote to the News. “Since I was seeded lower, I played with no pressure which allowed me to play freely … playing this tournament has given me a huge confidence boost which I will bring into next season.”

Bhagwati had a strong performance on Saturday, beating his Chatham opponent Sebastian Vaca Sanchez and Cornell University opponent Aaron Liang 3–0, which moved him on to the national semifinals. 

Ismail beat his Colby College opponent Youssif Mostafa 3–0 on Friday, but fell to his St. Lawrence University opponent Lewis Anderson 2–3. 

In their opening match of the doubles bracket, Wurts and Clayton defeated their St. Lawrence opponents Tray Denman and Henry Worden. 

Among the women’s team, Taylor defeated her Middlebury College opponent Lindsey Burnham 3–1, but fell to her Princeton opponent Caroline Spahr 3–0. Taylor finished 5–8 in her draw in the Holleran Cup. Ross fell to both her Harvard opponent Marina Stefanoni and Stanford opponent Si Ma, finishing 13–16 in her draw in the Ramsay Cup. 

On Saturday, Bhagwati, playing individually, and Wurts and Clayton, playing doubles, both beat their opponents. Bhagwati beat his Drexel opponent Jose Andres Lopez 3–2, and Wurts and Clayton beat their Middlebury opponents 3–1. Bhagwati, Wurts and Clayton advanced in their respective divisions.  

Wurts and Clayton won both their matches on Saturday against their Brown University and Middlebury opponents. 

In consultation matches on Saturday, Xian rallied hard to beat his Harvard opponent Ido Burstein 3–1, while Orr fell to his University of Pennsylvania opponent Nathan Tze Bing Kueh 3–1. The next day, Bhagwati competed in the finals for the Molloy East Championship, falling to his St. Lawrence opponent Lewis Anderson 3–1. No. 7 Bhagwati finished second in the Molloy East Championship. 

Wurts and Clayton competed in the doubles semifinals, losing to their Naval Academy opponents Millen Randell and Henry Sparkman 3–1. The Bulldog pair finished 3–4 in the Intercollegiate Doubles Championships. 

“One of the most challenging aspects of Individual Championships is competing after the team season has finished,” assistant coach Tate Miller wrote to the News. “Every one of our players demonstrated perseverance and a strong mindset to give themselves the best chance on court. Seeing the group we brought down to Philadelphia support each other and fight for the All American status is something I truly enjoyed.”

Xian competed in the Pool Trophy consolation finals, ultimately losing to his UPenn opponent Nathan Tze Bing Kueh 3–2.  

The men’s and women’s squash teams have officially finished regular season and tournament play. They will have a short break before they begin practicing and preparing for the 2023-2024 season. 

The post SQUASH: Bulldogs compete in CSA Individuals and Doubles Championships appeared first on Yale Daily News.

The Bulldogs won their first game but ultimately fell to the Spiders on Sunday. 

“​​I feel like getting back on the field and seeing everyone compete again was really special,” Colton Shaw ’25 wrote to the News. “Getting some of the new guys involved as well as seeing the upperclassmen play again was something I had been looking forward to for a while. I think focusing on the little things in practice will get us over the hump. Taking care of the small details like sharpening up our plays and throwing strikes will help us compete at a higher level.”

On Friday, the Blue and White secured a 9–6 win over the Spiders to begin their season on the right foot. First year Beck Milner ’26 got things started with a homer to center field to bring Shaw and Jimmy Chatfield ’24 home, making it a 3–0 lead in the top of the first. This was Milner’s first official at-bat as a Bulldog. 

In the top of the third, Jeff Pierantoni ’24 was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Pierantoni advanced to first and brought Carson Swank ’23 home, bringing the Bulldogs to a 4–3 lead. In the top of the eighth, Shaw homered to left field, bringing AJ Gaich ’23 home and advancing the Bulldogs to an 8–5 lead. 

“My favorite moment of the weekend was our first practice at Richmond on Thursday,” Milner wrote to the News. “After an early morning and a long day of travel, finally reaching the warm weather, the buzz around the team was incredible.”

Chatfield started on the mound for the Bulldogs, with Easterly relieving in the top of the third. Rookie Tate Evans ’26 made his debut as a closer and pitched a scoreless ninth for the Bulldogs. 

The Bulldogs’ 9–6 victory was head coach Brian Hamm’s first win in a Yale uniform. 

On Sunday, the Bulldogs had a doubleheader, ultimately falling to the Spiders in both games. 

To start the first game on Sunday, both Gaich and Chatfield homered in the top of the first to give the Bulldogs an early 2–0 lead, and it seemed like the Bulldogs would keep their momentum going. In the top of the third, Chatfield singled, bringing two runs home.  

However, the Spiders fought back, keeping the game close throughout, and the Bulldogs held just a 6–5 lead after six innings.

In the top of the seventh, Shaw scored off of a double down the left field line by Swank, in what would turn out to be the Bulldogs’ last run of the game. Trailing 7–5 with just three innings to play, the Richmond offense sprung to life, scoring four runs in the bottom of the seventh to reclaim the lead.

Richmond tacked on two more in the bottom of eighth, and the Spiders’ defense stifled the Bulldogs late, giving up no runs in the last two innings.

The Bulldogs had eight hits and seven RBIs in the 11–7 defeat. 

“We need to continue to focus on our approach at the plate,” Hayden Sobecki ’25 wrote to the News. “We did a solid job of executing this past weekend at Richmond, but there’s more we can improve on leading into this weekend.”

In their second game of the day on Sunday, Martin scored the first run for the Bulldogs off of a single from Davis Hanson ’26 to left field. In the top of the fourth, Max Imhoff ’25 singled up the middle to bring Gaich and Robert Ciulla ’23 home. 

While the Bulldogs offense maintained a steady pace, the Spiders’ bats were explosive in the last game of the series. Three home runs in the first three innings set the tone for the game, and the early lead proved insurmountable as the Spiders cruised to a 16–6 victory. 

“I am most excited to be a part of this team of players and coaches; we are having a great time working hard, competing, getting better every day, enjoying the camaraderie, and representing Yale,” Hamm said. “We are a very young team that doesn’t have much experience playing at the college level, so I am looking forward to watching us grow and improve throughout the season.”

Looking ahead, the Bulldogs will travel to Montgomery, Alambama to compete against Alabama State in a three game series, with a doubleheader on Saturday and a game on Sunday.  

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The men competed at Trinity College’s George A. Kellner Squash Courts in Hartford, Connecticut. The Bulldogs entered the tournament as the No. 4 seed and finished third in this year’s Potter Cup with wins over the University of Virginia (13–4, 0–0 MASC) and the University of Pennsylvania (16–3, 5–1 Ivy). 

“The past weekend proved that we are one of the best teams in the country,” assistant coach Tate Miller wrote to the News. “The squash that the men played was absolutely brilliant and all of them should be proud of the teamwork and passion that they displayed, and we will be going into the offseason with plenty of confidence for next season.”

The Bulldogs played the Cavaliers back in November to start Yale’s 2022-2023 regular season, beating UVA with the same score of 6–3. 

On Saturday, the Bulldogs played in the semifinals against the undefeated No. 1 Harvard University team (16–0, 6–0 Ivy). The Blue and White fell to the Crimson 6–3. There were many close matches against the Crimson, with Brian Leonard ’24 and Maxwell Orr ’25 both losing their matches with a tight scoreline of 2–3. 

On Sunday, the Bulldogs competed in the 3/4 playoffs against the University of Pennsylvania and played their last matches of the tournament. The men had a hard fight and rallied to beat the Quakers 5–4, which placed them third in the tournament. 

“The team showed incredible grit and resilience on Sunday in the 3/4 playoff after losing to Harvard in a heartbreaking semifinal,” Nikhil Ismail ’24 wrote to the News. “We were able to bounce back from that loss and take down a team that we hadn’t beaten in 7 years in what was a true team effort. Everyone from positions 1–14 contributed to our success this season on and off the court and I think this weekend proved that.”

Ismail was last on for the Bulldogs in a game-deciding match, with the Bulldogs and the Quakers tied 4–4. He battled to beat his opponent 3–2, turning the victory over to the Bulldogs. Merritt Wurts ’25 played an important role for the Bulldogs by also winning with a close match of 3–2. 

This was an exciting win for the Blue and White, as the men broke their 10-match losing streak against the Quakers. 

“We proved to ourselves that we belong up there with the best teams in the country,” team captain Eric Kim ’23 wrote to the News. “It’s been a privilege to captain this group of guys this year. They made my job easy and although we didn’t reach our goal of winning a national championship, I’d rather lose with this team than win with another.”

Kim is the only graduating senior seeded in the top nine. 

Looking ahead, some of the Bulldogs will compete in the CSA Individual and Doubles Championships at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during the weekend of March 1. 

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After a weekend of competition, the women fell to Trinity College (18–1, 0–0 NESCAC) and Drexel University (13–4, 0–0 MASC) and rallied to beat Cornell University (9–8, 5–2 Ivy) in the Howe Cup.  

On Friday, the women began CSA Championship play against No. 1 Trinity, falling 0–9 to the Bantams. 

“I think this weekend of competition taught our team to really believe in the process,” Meghna Sreedhar ’25 wrote to the News. “We had some tough competition but were able to find successful moments in all of our matches by sticking to the game plan and working for every point. My personal highlight of the weekend was watching my teammates put in their best efforts for our final matches of the season.”

On Saturday, the women continued into the consolation set of matches. The Bulldogs fell to the No. 4 Dragons 2–7. The Blue and White fought hard, with Whitney Taylor ’26 and Joy Qu ’26 both losing their matches with close scorelines of 2–3. 

On Sunday, the Bulldogs rallied after a long weekend to compete in their final match of the Howe Cup against No. 6 Cornell. The Bulldogs were victorious over the Big Red 5–4. Sreedhar, Mika Bardin ’26, Lindsay Westerfield ’25, Qu and captain Brianna Jefferson ’23 won their matches for the Bulldogs. 

“The team faced tough opponents this past weekend, but showed grit to flip the Cornell result from earlier in the season, demonstrating that the more determined team will come out victorious,” assistant coach Tate Miller wrote to the News. “I will always remember watching Joy Qu come back from 10–7 down in the fifth game against Cornell and clinching the match for the Bulldogs.”

Yale women’s squash entered the 2022–2023 Howe Cup as the eighth seed and finished seventh in this year’s National Collegiate Women’s Varsity Team Championship. The top five finishers in this year’s CSA championships were Harvard (14–1, 6–0 Ivy), Trinity, University of Virginia (13–7, 0–0 MASC), Drexel and Columbia (5–8, 3–3 Ivy).  

Last year, the Bulldogs entered the tournament as the fifth seed and finished fourth. 

“I am really proud of the team for their tenacity this season,” Jefferson wrote to the News. “We had a lot of setbacks with injuries and such, but I am so glad that we were able to finish strong through nationals.”

Harvard women’s squash won this year’s Howe Cup. The Crimson has won the CSA Team National Championships every year since 2015, except 2021 when there was no tournament play due to COVID-19. 

Looking ahead, the Bulldogs will compete in the College Squash Association Individual and Doubles Championships at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center in Philadelphia, PA during the weekend of March 1. 

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On Saturday, the men played Western at the University of Rochester’s squash center, beating the Mustangs 9–0. Eight out of the nine ladder players beat their opponents 3–0. 

“Going into Nationals it was good to get some more match experience under our belts,” Maxwell Orr ’25 wrote to the News. “There were a lot of solid wins throughout the entire ladder over the weekend, when at this level of college squash nothing is a guarantee. We are looking to build off these results and make some strides in the next couple weeks as we prepare for a championship run.” 

The Bulldogs have five wins and zero losses against Western since 2011. In 2021, the men beat the Mustangs in a commanding 9–0 showing. 

On Sunday, the Bulldogs competed against the University of Rochester at the Lyman Squash Center, the Yellowjackets’ home court. 

“The matches this weekend were a good test of the team’s adaptability and mental agility,” assistant coach Tate Miller wrote to the News. “Looking forward, we know that both Men’s and Women’s Team Nationals will test our talented teams and are preparing our teams to enjoy and embrace that challenge.”

The Bulldogs beat the Yellowjackets 7–2. Eric Kim ’23, Brian Leonard ’24, Arav Bhagwati ’26, Jed Burde ’24 and Siow Yee Xian ’24 all beat their opponents in dominant 3–0 games.

Since 2011, the Bulldogs have nine wins and seven losses against the Yellowjackets. The Bulldogs beat the Yellowjackets last season with a score of 8–1. 

Looking ahead, both the men’s and women’s (5–5, 3–3 Ivy) squash teams are preparing for the College Squash Association Nationals Championship. The men are competing at Trinity College in Hartford, CT and the women are playing at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA. 

“After finishing out our regular season, our coaches have done a fantastic job identifying where we can improve,” men’s captain Eric Kim ’23 wrote to the News. “We like where we’re at physically, but can always improve and will hope to make more strides in the next two weeks. Competition is the fun part so we’re looking forward to our first match at nationals after a hard two week training block.”

The CSA Team Championships will be held over the weekend on February 24 through 26.

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