Big Green Brings Perfect Ivy Record to Biondi Park

First of Home Ivy Games
After a successful debut of Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park on Wednesday, Dartmouth gets to host its first Ivy League opponents at the facility in Princeton and Cornell this weekend. The Big Green have gone 12-7 in the Ivy home opener under head coach Bob Whalen, winning five of the last six.

Last week in Review
The Big Green made the christening of the new ballpark a memorable one, scoring five times in the last of the eighth to take an 8-6 victory against Siena. Those five runs came on just one hit as Dartmouth walked four times in the inning and had another hitter reach base on an error before junior Nick Santomauro lined a game-winning two-run double. Sophomore Ryan Smith pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save of the year, giving freshman Marco Mariscal his first collegiate victory after his 1.2 scoreless innings of relief.

Probable Starting Pitchers
?    Why mess with a good thing? Dartmouth will go with the same four starters that helped it sweep a pair of doubleheaders on the road last weekend. First up is junior LHP Robert Young (1-2, 7.58) who picked up his first win of the season at Penn last Saturday. He did not allow a run in six of his seven innings on the mound, but an eight-spot in the fourth was his only blemish. The second game of the doubleheader will see junior RHP Ben Murray (2-1, 3.38) toe the rubber. He has won his last two outings, including a quality start (6.1 IP, 3 ER) at Penn last week.
?    On Sunday, rookie RHP Kyle Hendricks (1-2, 3.55) gets the ball from Coach Whalen. The reigning Co-Pitcher of the Week for the Ivy League will try to duplicate his success at Columbia, a five-hit shutout. Freshman strikeout artist Cole Sulser (1-1, 11.66) wraps up the weekend. The right-hander leads the team in strikeouts at nearly one per inning (14 in 14.2 IP) and fanned six in 6.2 frames in his win over the Lions.
?    Princeton will send a pair of right-handers to the hill in David Hale (1-1, 2.70) and Brad Gemberling (3-0, 5.88). Both are striking out more than 10 batters per nine innings this season.
?    Cornell will likely offer up LHP Mickey Brodsky (1-1, 3.50) and RHP Tony “Scootch” Bertucci (1-1, 4.15) to start the twinbill games. Both threw well in a split with Yale on Tuesday with Bertucci picking up a win by hurling six scoreless innings.

The Overall Record vs. Princeton
The history between these two schools goes back a long time ? more than 125 years. Since the first game played in 1880, Dartmouth has tried to take the Tigers by the tail on 164 occasions, going 76-88 overall. At the start of this decade, Princeton won 11 of 12 games, but the Big Green have had the advantage recently, taking eight of the last 11 contests. Last year Dartmouth swept a twinbill down in Jersey, 5-4 in eight innings and 8-5. In addition, the Big Green have faced the Tigers in the Ivy Championship three times since 2000, but lost all three series.

Scouting the Tigers (8-10, 1-3)
?    Princeton fared fairly well against non-conference opponents, taking 3-of-4 from both William & Mary and Navy. The schedule also featured a pair of games against North Carolina (ranked number one at the time), which the Tigers lost by a combined score of 23-1. In Ivy play, Princeton split two with Yale, then was swept by Brown.
?    The offense has struggled of late, scoring three or fewer runs in four of the last five games ? and was two outs from falling victim to a seven-inning perfect game versus Yale.
?    Four starters are batting over .300, led by shortstop Greg Van Horn at .418. Overall the team is batting .285 with 11 homers ? Van Horn, DH Brian Berkowitz and Sam Mulroy each have two, while Berkowitz leads the team with 17 RBIs.
?    Pitching has been a strength of Princeton over the years with plenty of heat, and this year is no different. Brad Gemberling has whiffed 29 in 26 innings and is 3-0, but has been a bit homer prone, coughing up five. Opponents hit just .221 against David Hale, and he has struck out 24 batters in 20 innings. Matt Grabowski (3.86 ERA) and Ryan Makis (2.63) make up a solid tandem in the bullpen.
?    If you're looking for an obvious Achilles' heel, look no further than the defense, last in the Ivy League with a .935 fielding percentage.

The Overall Record vs. Cornell
While this series dates back “only” 103 years (compared to 129 for Princeton), there have been just eight fewer games than agains the Tigers. Dartmouth holds a 82-73-1 advantage and has beaten the Big Red 10 of the last 13 encounters. Last year the Big Green swept a doubleheader in Ithaca as the offense broke out the bats in a big way with 11-1 and 18-11 victories.

Scouting the Big Red (4-12, 2-2)
?    California may have been unkind to Dartmouth, but Cornell did not manage even one win on the West Coast, losing all nine games there. The Big Red also lost their games right before and after the trip, making it an 11-game skid. But splits with Brown and Yale have put Cornell tied atop the Gehrig Division standings after the first weekend.
?    Cornell is hitting .262 on the season, ahead of only Columbia which is at .251. Third baseman/quarterback Nathan Ford leads the team at .339 with three homers. Outfielder Nate David is hitting .304 with three homers as well, while Jadd Schmeltzer leads the team with 11 RBIs.
?    The staff ERA may be 6.93, but in the four Ivy games the Big Red yielded less than five runs per game. Mickey Brodsky is the proverbial crafty left-hander with a 3.50 ERA and a .220 average against him, hile Schmeltzer (2.84) and Bertucci (4.15) have shown promise in a couple starts.
?    Defensively this is a solid club. Ford and Scott Hardinger at short make up a strong left side of the infield with just five errors between them. Cornell has also foiled 32 percent of would-be basestealers with Adam Jacobs being behind the dish most of the time.

What's Up Next
The Big Green added a game to their schedule and will host Saint Anselm College next Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. Next weekend Dartmouth will continue its 11-game homestand with a four-game set against Brown, currently one game behind the Big Green in the Rolfe Division standings. Doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday will begin at noon.

Schedules