Ninth-Inning Rally Falls Short in 8-7 Loss

Wednesday, March 18

Stockton, Calif.

7:00 p.m.

Dartmouth College

0-3

Pacific

7-9

Dartmouth

Pacific

3/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

Boxcore

STOCKTON, Calif. ? After nearly three weeks, the Dartmouth baseball team took to the field again, but the Big Green could not pull out their first win of the season as Pacific shortstop Ben Gorang smacked a pair of homers to lead the host Tigers (7-9) to an 8-7 victory on Wednesday afternoon at Klein Family Field. Dartmouth (0-3) scored twice in the ninth to pull within a run, but closer Thomas Berolzheimer finally retired the side for his fourth save of the year.

Pacific held a tenuous one-run lead in the eighth at 6-5 when pinch hitter Joe Olveira tripled with one out and Gorang followed with his second long ball of the game ? and the season ? for insurance runs that proved to be what decided the game.

Freshman shortstop Joe Sclafani (Palm City, Fla.) started the Dartmouth rally in the ninth against Berolzheimer with an infield hit. One out later, junior Nick Santomauro (North Caldwell, N.J.) walked and senior Mike Pagliarulo (Worcester, Mass.) followed with his third hit of the game, a single through the right side to score Sclafani and send Santomauro to third.

Junior Brett Gardner (Bellevue, Wash.) made the score 8-7 with his fly to left, allowing Santomauro to stride home. But Berolzheimer induced a grounder to the shortstop, who flipped to second for the force and the final out, snuffing out the rally.

Pagliarulo team-high three hits included a pair of doubles as he scored twice and drove in a run to lead the 11-hit Big Green attack. Gardner had two hits and two RBIs, while senior Johnathon Santopadre (Vacaville, Calif.) had a pair of knocks including a triple.

The five Tiger batters in the second through six slots in the order each drove in a run, while clean-up hitter Mike McKeever was 2-for-3 with a double. Gorang, batting ninth in the order, finished the afternoon 2-for-4 with his two bombs and three RBIs.

Pacific got on the board first when Nick Longmire drew a two-out walk, McKeever was hit by a pitch and J.B. Brown rapped an RBI single.

In the top of the third, Dartmouth got the run back on a sacrifice fly off the bat of junior Jim Wren (Granbury, Texas) to plate Santopadre, who had tripled to lead off the frame.

But Pacific scored three times in its half of the third. Joey Centanni started things off with a lead-off single, then came around on a Brian Martin double to right. An error allowed Martin to go to third, and McKeever delivered an RBI single one out later. After a grounder to first advanced McKeever to second, Kurt Wideman ripped a double into the left-field corner for the third run and a 4-1 Tiger lead.

The Big Green knocked out Pacific starter Jamie Niley in the fourth, however, with two runs of their own. A walk, an error and a hit batter loaded the bases with one out. Santopadre reached on an infield single to score Pagliarulo, and one out later, Sclafani was plunked to force in Gardner from third. The Tigers called upon Larry Holscher from the bullpen, and he got the third out on strikes to allow Pacific to hold its one-run lead.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Tigers answered with two runs of their own. Gorang launched a solo shot with one out, and after a two-out walk, Longmire laced a triple to center.

Santomauro wasted no time at the plate in the fifth, crushing a shot to dead center on the first pitch of the inning for his first four-bagger of the year. The Big Green threatened to score more following a pair of one-out singles, but a double play grounder brought an end to the inning.

Freshman Kyle Hendricks (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) settled in after that triple in the fourth, retiring the last seven batters he faced. In his six innings on the mound, Hendricks (0-2) allowed six runs on seven hits, three walks and a hit batter while striking out two in his second collegiate start.

A two-out double by Pagliarulo in the seventh allowed Gardner brought the deficit to one at 6-5 with an RBI single on an 0-2 pitch.

Sophomore reliever Dan Ternowchek (Glenmoore, Pa.) came on to pitch the seventh and got into trouble when the lead-off hitter reached on an error then went to third on a McKeever double with one out. Yet Ternowchek escaped the jam thanks to a liner to third and a grounder to short.

Holscher (1-1) picked up the victory for the Tigers, tossing 3.1 innings of relief while yielding five hits and two runs, fanning three.

The Big Green continue their eight-game California road trip tomorrow evening at San Jos? State at 9 p.m. (EDT). Pacific next heads up to Spokane, Wash., to play a three-game series at Gonzaga, beginning on Friday evening at 6:30 p.m. (PDT).