Big Green Fall in Game One, Rally in Game Two Slugfest

Friday, March 21

Bradenton, Fla.

10:00 AM

Dartmouth College

3-7

Army

4-11

Army

Dartmouth

Big Green Fall in Game One, Rally in Game Two Slugfest

3/21/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Dartmouth

Game One Box

Game Two Box

BRADENTON, Fla. ? After Army took game one by the score of 14-7, the Dartmouth baseball team rallied with six runs in the top of the ninth and held on to defeat the Black Knights, 19-18, in game two of a twinbill.

The teams combined to hit 12 homeruns over the two games and each team crossed the plate 58 times in seven-plus hours of baseball.

In game one, junior Michael Pagliarulo (Winchester, Mass.) went 4-for-5 with a run scored and a run batted in, while classmate Johnathon Santopadre (Vacaville, Calif.) collected four RBI with one swing as he posted his first collegiate homerun with a grand slam along with a 2-for-4 game.

Sophomore Robert Young (Cleburne Texas) got the start in game one and threw six innings giving up seven runs on 11 hits, while fanning six.

Army struck first with a single run in the first on an RBI double to right center from Kevin McKague. The Black Knights had back-to-back singles before McKague stepped to the plate and put Army on top 1-0 in the top of the first.

The Black Knights increased their lead to 5-0 on a grand slam by Cole White. Army loaded the bases on a double, hit by pitch and walk before Robert Young came back with back-to-back strikeouts, but White found his pitch and put it over the right center fence.

In the top of the sixth inning, Army got its lead man on, but when the Black Knights tried to move him to second with a sacrifice, but the bunt was popped up and Santopadre charged the play and made a diving catch then threw the runner out at first for the double play.

The great defensive play led to some offense for the Big Green as Pagliarulo belted his second homerun of the season to straight away center field to close the gap to 5-1.

Army answered the Big Green in the next half inning with five runs on five hits, all with two outs, to push the lead to 10-1. McKague got things started with a homer to right center, followed by a bases clearing double from Clint Moore that increased the lead for the Black Knights. They added one more in the eighth on a sacrifice fly to give themselves an 11-1 advantage.

Dartmouth clawed itself back into the game thanks to patient at-bats that loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth. Pagliarulo led off the inning with a double, followed by walks from both sophomore James Wren (Granbury, Texas) and junior Raymond Allen (Longwood, Fla.). Freshman Jeff Onstott () was hit by a pitch that plated Pagliarulo, which made the score 11-2. The big play came from Santopadre, who took a 0-2 pitch deep to right field for a grand slam and his first collegiate homerun cut the deficit to 11-6.

The Black Knights plated three more runs in the ninth, highlighted by a solo homerun from Tony Capozzi. Dartmouth loaded the bases in the bottom half, but could only manage one run on a double play as Army defeated the Big Green, 14-7.

In game two, the Black Knights scored 14 runs in the first three innings and held off a charging Big Green squad to edge Dartmouth 15-13.

After the Black Knights plated those 14 runs, senior Bobby Steinsdoerfer (Crystal Lake, Ill.) entered the game and shutdown the Army offense, going 4.1 innings allowing just one run on one hit, while striking out three. He closed out his performance retiring 10 Army batters in a row.

Bell led the Big Green with two homeruns, 11 total bases and four RBI. Senior co-captain Damon Wright (Dallas, Texas) also connected on a homerun, which was his third in as many games.

The Black Knights got out to an early lead with a three run homer to right field from McKague to put Army up 3-0 after one inning of play.

In the second inning, Army's Chris Simmons looked to have belted another homerun for the Black Knights, but Santomauro played the wind and robbed him of a round tripper. The Black Knights, however, added two runs on back-to-back homers by Capozzi and Moore.

Dartmouth fought back as the Big Green exploded for seven runs on six hits to take a 7-5 lead in the third frame. Bell led the way during the rally with a three-run blast to right field for his first of two homers in the game. Freshman Brandon Parks (Mission Viejo, Calif.) plated two runs as well with a single to the opposite field.

Army answered with nine of its own in the bottom of the inning retake the lead at 14-7. Moore hit his second round tripper that scored two runs, followed by a two-run double from Joey Henshaw and a RBI triple by Capozzi.

Both teams recorded single runs in the fourth inning as Bell connected on his second homer of the contest, while Army got its run with a sacrifice fly to make it 15-8.

Wright inched the Big Green closer with another deep blast in the sixth for his third in the last three games. After a wild pitch allowed a run to score, Wright sent a ringing double down the left field line that cut the lead to 15-13 in favor of Army.

In the top of the ninth, Dartmouth loaded the bases with no out and capitalized with five runs. Pagliarulo took one off the shoulder and Wright walked to plate two before freshman Jason Brooks (Westlake Village, Calif.) chopped one to the shortstop for a productive out as Wright scored. The load damage came when pinch hitter Brett Gardner (Bellevue, Wash.) put one past the diving shortstop to allow two more to score. The Big Green ended up taking a 19-15 lead in the last of the ninth.

The Black Knights, however, did not go quietly as they loaded the bases and Capozzi found room down the right field line, which cleared the bases and shrunk the lead to 19-18 for the Big Green. After giving up the double, senior Kyle Zeis (Solana Beach, Calif.) wasted no time with the final out as he caught Moore looking to end the game.

Dartmouth (4-7) will head back to IMG Academy tomorrow as the Big Green faces Northern Iowa at IMG Academy at 3:00 p.m.