Six-Run Ninth Sends Big Green to First Victory of 2009

Tuesday, March 24

San Luis Obisbo, Calif.

3:00 PM

Dartmouth College

1-8

San Jose State

16-4

Dartmouth

San Jose State

Senior Allen Featured in Thursday's Valley News

Six-Run Ninth Sends Big Green to First Victory of 2009

3/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. ? Senior Ray Allen (Longwood, Fla.) drew a walk with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth to force in the go-ahead run and help Dartmouth defeat San Jos? State on Tuesday afternoon at Cal Poly's Baggett Stadium, 7-4. The victory ended an eight-game skid for the Big Green (1-8) and gave head coach Bob Whalen the 350th triumph of his career, while the Spartans (16-4) had their seven-game winning streak snapped.

Trailing 4-1 entering the ninth, freshman Joe Sclafani (Palm City, Fla.) singled up the middle to start off the inning against Spartan closer Anthony Vega. Whalen sent freshman David Turnbull (St. Louis, Mo.) ? with just one collegiate hit to his credit ? up to bat, and Turnbull stroked a double to the gap in right-center. When sophomore Sam Bean (Needham, Mass.) hit a grounder to third, the Spartans tried to get Sclafani coming to the plate to no avail, allowing Bean to reach base and Sclafani to score to make it 4-2 with nobody out.

Looking to put the tying runs in scoring position, the Big Green put on a bunt, only to have it popped up to first in foul ground for the first out. But sophomore Jeff Onstott (Houston, Texas) laced a single to left to load the bases and bring junior Nick Santomauro (North Caldwell, N.J.) to the plate. He did not disappoint by sending a double down the left-field line to tie the game at four.

Freshman Joe Sclafani

San Jos? State elected to walk senior Mike Pagliarulo (Winchester, Mass.) to load the bases and set up a force at any base. Vega then got the second out on strikes, but his control failed him as he walked Allen on five pitches. Sclafani, who began the inning with his single, finished what he started by capping the inning with a two-run single, sending Vega (0-2) to the showers.

The bottom of the ninth still loomed as Whalen went to sophomore closer Ryan Smith (Greenlawn, N.Y.) to get the final three outs. Smith quickly obliged with the first, fanning a pinch hitter, but then drilled the ninth hitter with a pitch. A single by Craig Hertler brought the tying run to the plate in the form of Karson Klauer, but he grounded into a force out putting runners on the corners with two out. Another hit batter loaded the bases for clean-up hitter Kyle Bellows, who entered the game hitting .418. Bellows got hold of a 2-1 pitch but junior Brett Gardner (Bellevue, Wash.) ran it down in front of the fence, nailing down the victory for Smith's first save of the season.

Junior Ben Murray (Grants Pass, Ore.) picked up the win by tossing a scoreless eighth inning to improve to 1-1 on the season.

Freshman right-hander Kyle Hendricks (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) pitched efficiently and effectively, but had to settle for a no-decision. He needed just 80 pitches to get through seven innings, surrendering four runs ? only two earned ? on nine hits with one walk and one strikeout. Twice he faced runners on first and second with one out, but induced double plays to escape each of those tight spots.

A scoreless tie in the fourth was quickly unknotted by San Jos? State when Klauer doubled to lead off the inning and Jason Martin belted the next pitch for a triple to score Klauer. Bellows followed with a sacrifice fly to center for a 2-0 lead.

Martin reached on an error to lead off the sixth, which led to a pair of unearned Spartan runs. With one out, Danny Stienstra doubled to send Martin to third, and Jacob Bruns also doubled down the left-field line, which only scored Martin as Stienstra held at third. But it turned out not to matter when Tyler Heil lofted a fly to center, sending Stienstra home with the fourth Spartan run.

The Big Green finally touched San Jos? State ace Scott Sobczak for a run in the seventh when senior Johnathon Santopadre (Vacaville, Calif.) singled with two outs and scored on an Onstott double to center.

Sclafani finished the afternoon with three singles in four official at-bats, serving as the catalyst for the six-run ninth. Santopadre, Onstott, Santomauro and Allen each banged out a pair of knocks to help bolster the season-high 13-hit Big Green attack.

Stienstra had three hits to lead San Jos? State while Martin and Bruns each added two as the Spartans finished the day with 10 hits overall.

Dartmouth plays the final contest of its eight-game California trip against 12th-ranked Cal Poly tomorrow evening at 9 p.m. (EDT). The Spartans play again this evening against the Mustangs of Cal Poly at 6 p.m. (PDT).