Completed Event: Baseball versus Cornell on April 27, 2025 , Win , 7, to, 4
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Cornell on Tap for Ivy Baseball Championship
5/1/2009 2:30:00 PM | Baseball
Ivy League Championship Series
Dartmouth and Cornell square off in the Ivy Championship Series at Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park this weekend. The Big Green own the conference's best record at 16-4, finishing one game ahead of Brown in the Rolfe Division. Cornell, on the other hand, finished in a tie with Princeton at 10-10 in the Gehrig Divison. Those two played a one-game playoff in Ithaca on Wednesday, which the Big Red won, 9-0, thanks to a nine-run first.
This is the Big Green's fifth trip to the Ivy Championship Series since the divisional format was implemented in 1993, but they are still looking for their first conference title since 1987 and sixth overall.
The audio and video streams of the championship series are available free online, as are the live stats.
Last Time Against the Big Red
Just four weeks ago, the two color-coded schools played a doubleheader on this field with Dartmouth sweeping the two slugfests, 13-8 and 14-11. Cornell jumped out to an early 7-3 lead in the first game, only to have the Big Green put a six-spot on the board in the fourth, highlighted by a three-run homer off the bat of junior Jim Wren that gave Dartmouth the lead for good. A nine-run second inning in game two helped the Green build a 13-3 lead through seven frames. Freshman Cole Sulser was solid on the mound for Dartmouth, allowing just two earned runs over those seven innings, striking out eight. The Big Red rallied in the eighth for six runs, however, to make it interesting. But sophomore closer Ryan Smith got the final four outs to preserve the win.
Probable Starting Pitchers
? Junior LHP Robert Young (4-3, 4.96) has opened every conference weekend, winning four of his five starts. He did not face the Big Red this year, but is 1-1 in his career against them with two seven-inning complete games and a 3.21 ERA. In the second game (in which Dartmouth will serve as the designated visiting team) junior RHP Ben Murray (4-1, 3.83) will bring his impeccable control to the mound. He ranks among the top 25 in the country in fewest walks per nine innings, plus has the third lowest ERA of any pitcher in the Ivy League (minimum 1 IP per team game played).
? Should game three be played, Dartmouth will turn to rookie RHP Kyle Hendricks (5-2, 4.41), the team's leader in victories. He won each of his five Ivy starts, becoming the first Big Green pitcher to win five conference games since Conor Brooks and John Velosky in 2000.
? Cornell will counter with sophomore RHP Jadd Schmeltzer (2-2, 3.55) in the first game. Like Young, he did not pitch in the two-game series four weeks ago, but he sports the team's top ERA among the starters. Game two will possibly feature sophomore LHP Mickey Brodsky (1-3, 5.40), but the southpaw was roughed up by the Big Green last month as he allowed seven runs in just one-plus innings. The Big Red list junior LHP Matt Hill (2-6, 6.47) for the possible third game, but don't be surprised to see him bumped up in the rotation with sophomore RHP Corey Pappel (2-2, 4.84) coming back for game three on three-day's rest after his dominating performance (6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 11 K) in the Gehrig Division playoff against Princeton on Wednesday.
The Overall Record vs. Cornell
This series dates back 103 years with Dartmouth holding an 84-73-1 advantage while beating the Big Red in 12 of the last 15 encounters. But this is the first time the two squads have met in the Ivy Championship. The Big Green have swept doubleheaders from Cornell the last two years, averaging 14 runs in the four games.
Scouting the Big Red
? This is just the second appearance in the Ivy Championship for Cornell, having lost its only other appearance to Harvard in 2005.
? Cornell tied for the Gehrig Division title with Princeton, then defeated the Tigers in a one-game playoff on Wednesday in Ithaca, 9-0, with all nine runs being scored in the first inning.
? The Big Red averaged 5.25 runs per Ivy League game, fifth in the league, while batting .311. They also stole more bases than any other team with 22 in the 20 contests.
? The pitching staff posted the league's third best ERA in league games at 5.35 ? Dartmouth was second at 4.89.
? Of the Ivy's top four overall batting averages this year, two belong to Big Red hitters. Freshman outfielder Brian Billigen is second only to Santomauro with a .384 average, while third baseman Nathan Ford is fourth in the league at .373. Ford also leads the team with eight home runs.
? Aside from the starters mentioned previously, closer David Rochefort has been close to lights out for the Big Red with a 2.74 ERA and seven saves, striking out 31 while walking just five in 23 innings. But he does have three losses on his record as well. And reliever Stephen Osterer has a 3.26 ERA in 19.1 innings, but of his seven earned runs allowed, four came at Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park.
? The defense ranks third in the league with a .963 fielding percentage overall, but its .961 mark in league play only places them sixth.
Rolfe Division Champs Once Again
Dartmouth took care of business last weekend by wrapping up the Rolfe Division title, giving Dartmouth its second straight Rolfe crown and fifth in 10 years. Now the target is the Ivy Championship, which eluded the Big Green in its four other appearances in the series. Princeton proved to be a thorn in Dartmouth's side the first three times, sandwiching a three-game victory in 2001 around sweeps in 2000 and 2004. Last year, the Big Green fell to Columbia in a wild three-game affair. The last conference title ? and NCAA berth ? for Dartmouth came in 1987.
Players Mentioned
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