Ivy Play Begins for Baseball at Penn, Columbia

Last Week in Review
After dropping three last weekend at Santa Clara, Dartmouth had lost eight straight to open the season, its worst start in 27 years. But against San Jos? State this past Tuesday, the Big Green pulled off a dramatic 7-4 victory to end the slide, scoring six runs in the ninth to steal the win. Ray Allen forced the winning run across the plate by drawing a bases-loaded, two-out walk during the uprising.
Freshman Joe Sclafani bookended the Big Green's biggest inning of the year with singles ? starting the uprising with a knock before capping the rally with a two-run safety. Junior Nick Santomauro tied the game with a two-run double, helping set up Allen's watchful-eye heroics.
The bats continued their assault the next night, but 12th-ranked Cal Poly methodically scored in every inning to defeat Dartmouth, 14-9. Sclafani had four RBIs, including a three-run double, while Allen led the team with three hits to extend his hitting streak to six games.

The Overall Record vs. Penn
Dartmouth has played the Quakers 156 times over more than a century and holds a slim 80-75-1 advantage overall. The longest Big Green win streak in the series is nine games from 1936-40, while Penn has had a seven-game run as its best twice, from 1975-79 and again in 1982-85. Head coach Bob Whalen is 21-15 against the Quakers.

The Overall Record vs. Columbia
The rivalry heated up last year with the Lions' Ivy playoff victory over Dartmouth, but the Big Green have had the upper hand in 158 total encounters on the diamond at 92-66. Three times Dartmouth has won eight straight against Columbia, including the first eight beginning in 1891 and again in 1920-23. The most recent streak came during Coach Whalen's first three years, 1990-92. But the Lions have had a seven-game streak of their own against Whalen in 2001-04. Overall Whalen is 28-16 against Columbia.

Probable Starting Pitchers
?    Getting the nod in the Ivy League opener is the team co-captain, junior LHP Robert Young (0-2, 9.00), who is coming off an 11-6 loss at Santa Clara last Saturday in which he allowed 13 hits and seven runs in six innings. Toeing the slab in game two versus Penn will be junior RHP Ben Murray (1-1, 2.57). Murray allowed just two earned runs in his lone start to date, then picked up a win by tossing a scoreless eighth prior to the Big Green's six-run rally to beat San Jos? State.
?    At Columbia, Dartmouth will turn to rookie RHP Kyle Hendricks (0-2, 4.91) who has deserved a better fate than his record suggests. He has allowed just two earned runs in two of his three starts thus far and threw just 80 pitches in seven innings against San Jos? State while getting a no-decision. As to the final starter of the weekend, it will likely come down to who is available, perhaps freshman RHP Cole Sulser (0-1, 16.88).

Scouting the Quakers
?    One of just two teams in the Ivy League with a winning record in non-conference play at 10-7, Penn features a strong offense (.315 average, 19 homers) and solid pitching (5.25 ERA).
?    Right fielder Jeremy Maas has gotten off to a great start with a .532 average in 47 AB, but has not started the last five games, appearing only as a pinch-runner in a 10-5 win over Villanova on Wednesday.
?    The left side of the infield ? third baseman Dan Williams (.366) and shortstop Derek Vigoa (.339) ? are the only Quakers to start every game so far.
?    First baseman William Gordon is the biggest power threat with six jacks, but also leads the squad with 12 strikeouts.
?    Returning ace Todd Roth got off to a rough start this season with a 6.95 ERA in 22 innings. But the junior right-hander has pitched well his last two outings, spanning 8.2 innings, allowing just three runs.
?    Sophomore RHP Paul Cusick has been Penn's best pitcher to date at 4-0 with a 2.84 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 25.1 innings.
?    The defense has kicked the ball around a bit, however, with 36 errors and a .946 fielding percentage.

Scouting the Lions
?    It has been a rough start to the season for Columbia at 2-16. Granted, 10 of those 18 games have come against ranked opponents ? head coach Brett Boretti must be a masochist. But the Lions did get one win against #23 Lamar to start the month of March, 15-8.
?    Catcher Dean Forthun leads the team with a .305 average, while third baseman Mike Roberts is at an even .300 with one of the team's four homers, but also 21 strikeouts in 70 at-bats. The Lions are batting just .241 as a team.
?    Columbia likes to put pressure on opposing defenses. Despite the win-loss record, the Lions have stolen 29 bases in 35 attempts.
?    Six different pitchers have started at least once for the Lions, with Joe Scarlata taking his turn five times thus far. Columbia sports a 6.95 ERA, and Geoff Whitaker's mark of 5.48 leads the squad.
?    Opponents have hit .313 against Lion pitchers with an average of one long ball a game.
?    Columbia has committed 30 errors ? 13 players have at least one ? and owns a .954 fielding pct.

What's Up Next
Dartmouth returns home to play the first game on its new FieldTurf surface at the renovated Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park on Wednesday against Siena at 2 p.m. Next weekend the Big Green host Princeton and Cornell for doubleheaders at noon on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

Schedules