Big Green Nine Rebound to Split Twinbill at Army

Sunday, May 24

West Point, N.Y.

12:00 p.m.

Dartmouth College

26-16

Army

34-18

Dartmouth

Army

Big Green Nine Rebound to Split Twinbill at Army

5/24/2009 7:15:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Dartmouth

Game One Box | Game Two Box

WEST POINT, N.Y. ? Senior Ray Allen (Longwood, Fla.) homered in both ends of the doubleheader at Army to help Dartmouth split the twinbill with the host Black Knights. The Big Green (27-16) held a 7-2 advantage in the ninth of game one, only to have Army (34-19) come up with six runs to steal away the victory. In the nightcap, a balanced offensive attack and splendid relief job by junior Ben Murray (Grants Pass, Ore.) after a long rain delay sent Dartmouth to an 11-3 triumph.

Allen got the doubleheader off on the right foot by belting a three-run shot in the first inning for a quick lead. He also drove in the fourth Big Green run in the third by teaming up with senior Mike Pagliarulo (Winchester, Mass.) on back-to-back doubles. Junior Jim Wren (Granbury, Texas) followed with a run-scoring single to put Dartmouth up, 5-0.

Meanwhile, junior left-hander Robert Young (Cleburne, Texas) was making quick work of the potent offense of Army, which came into the game batting .335 on the season. No more than one batter reached base against Young in any of his six innings, and he faced the minimum batters in his final four frames thanks to three double plays of the 6-4-3 variety.

It wasn't until the seventh when Army finally got on the board when Clint Moore greeted sophomore Dan Ternowchek (Glenmoore, Pa.) by smacking a solo homer, his 10th of the year.

In the eighth, the Big Green got that run back and added another. Junior Brett Gardner (Bellevue, Wash.) began the inning with a double and senior Kyle Evans (Springfield, Mo.) walked. Following a sacrifice bunt by senior Johnathon Santopadre (Vacaville, Calif.), freshman Joe Sclafani (Palm City, Fla.) plated Gardner with a single before sophomore Jeff Onstott (Houston, Texas) lofted a sacrifice fly to make it 7-1.

After Army touched up Ternowchek for one more in the eighth, Dartmouth turned to sophomore closer Ryan Smith (Greenlawn, N.Y.) in the ninth. But Smith did not have it on this day as Moore singled to start the inning. Smith fanned the next hitter, only to yield a triple and a double to the next two Black Knights. After a hit batter, a fly ball had Army down to its final out.

That out never came, unfortunately, as pinch hitter Tony Capozzi singled to bring the Black Knights within two. Zach Price then walked and Andy Ernesto tied the game with a two-run double. The Big Green elected to walk Moore to set up a force at any base, but Kevin McKague foiled the strategy by delivering the game-winning single.

Tyler Anderegg (6-2) got the victory for Army by pitching a perfect ninth.

In the second game, the Black Knights put one on the board in the first inning thanks to singles by Price, Joey Henshaw and McKague. The lead was short-lived, however, as Pagliarulo walked in the second and scampered to third on an Allen single off of Joey Henshaw (1-1). Although Wren bounced into a double play, Pagliarulo came home to tie the score at one.

Junior Nick Santomauro (North Caldwell, N.J.), the Ivy League Player of the Year, gave Dartmouth a 3-1 lead in the third with a two-out, two-run single to score Santopadre and Sclafani, who had singled and walked, respectively.

The speed of freshman Jake Carlson (Woodlands, Texas) helped the Big Green score their fourth run in the fourth as he singled and promptly stole second ? his second swipe of the game. After senior Jack Monahan (Overland Park, Kan.) worked a free pass, Santopadre banged another single to score Carlson.

In the bottom half, J.P. Polchinski swatted a lead-off triple and scored on a grounder to short just. Then with a 1-1 count on Price, lightning and rain cause a delay of about an hour. When play resumed, Dartmouth replaced freshman hurler Kyle Hendricks (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) with Murray, who struck Price out to end the inning.

Murray (6-1) held Army in check the rest of the way, surrendering just one run on four hits in 5.1 innings and tying a career high with six strikeouts.

The Dartmouth bats did not let up, as Pagliarulo, Allen and Wren each drove in a run in the sixth. Then Allen began the ninth with his team-leading 10th homer of the year, one shy of the Dartmouth single-season record. Wren doubled, and one out later Monahan doubled freshman pinch runner David Turnbull (St. Louis, Mo.) home. Santopadre also doubled to put the Big Green in double figures, and Santomauro tacked on an RBI single to finish the scoring.

Allen tied a career high with four RBIs in the opener, while he and Santopadre led the offense with three hits and a pair of RBIs in the nightcap. Santomauro chipped in a pair of hits and three RBIs as well.

Dartmouth now awaits its fate in the NCAA Regionals. The pairings will be announced on Monday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN.