Baseball Finishing Florida Trip with Three at Bethune-Cookman

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Wrapping Up in Florida
•    This three-game series against Bethune-Cookman brings Dartmouth's 11-game spring trip to an end.
•    Should the Big Green win the series, they would finish the trip with a winning record for the first time since the 2000 squad went 6-5 in Florida. That team finished the season with a 29-14 record overall with a Rolfe Division crown.

The Florida Trip
•    Dartmouth has split its first eight games on its Florida swing, knocking off Bucknell, Long Island, Bradley and Northwestern.
•    Three of the Big Green's four losses have been by a total of four runs, falling by one run to both #22 Ohio State and Illinois.
•    As a team, Dartmouth is hitting .345 on the trip with four players — Jeff Onstott, Joe Sclafani, Ennis Coble and Zack Bellenger — all hitting at least .400.
•    The pitching staff ERA may be 7.20, but the pitchers aren't beating themselves having issued just 10 walks in 65 innings (1.4 per nine innings).
•    If you take out the 25-10 loss to Akron, the pitchers have posted a 4.26 ERA over 57 innings, issuing just seven walks while striking out 46.
•    The four victories on the spring trip are the most for the Big Green since 2004 when they went 5-6.

The Overall Record vs. Bethune-Cookman
•    These are the first games between these two teams on the diamond.

Scouting Report for the Wildcats
•    After starting the season 1-7, Bethune-Cookman has won 12 of its last 15 games, including a nine-game winning streak that came to an end Wednesday evening against North Florida.
•    The Wildcats were 8-0 at home until that 3-2 loss last night to UNF.
•    The team batting average stands at .327 while opponents have managed to hit just .263 against Wildcat hurlers.
•    Power has been abundant for the B-C bats with 36 long balls in just 23 games. Peter O'Brien leads the team with eight jacks, while Ryan Durrence has seven and Emmanuel Castro five.
•    Nearly all the pitchers have an ERA between 4.20 and 6.20. Although they have yielded on average exactly one hit per inning, they have also walked more than five batters per nine innings.
•    The Bethune-Cookman fielders have been a bit susceptible to booting the ball with 41 errors and a .951 fielding percentage. The regular starters on the infield have 24 of those errors, including 11 by the shortstop.

Probable Starting Pitchers
•    The Big Green will be finishing up a stretch of seven games in five days, so the staff is a little thin. Sophomore RHP Kyle Hendricks (1-1, 5.40) gets the ball for the first game against the Wildcats. Last time on the mound, he struck out a career-high 11 batters in six innings while allowing one earned run in a 14-2 win over Long Island.
•    The second game will bring freshman LHP Kyle Hunter (1-0, 4.50) to the mound for Dartmouth. The rookie was superb in his first collegiate start against Bradley, surrendering just one run over seven innings in a 2-1 triumph.
•    The Dartmouth pitcher for the third game of the series is yet to be determined.
•    Bethune-Cookman will counter with LHP Ali Simpson (3-1, 4.62), who has been victimized a bit by poor defense with eight unearned runs scoring on his watch, RHP Rayan Gonzalez (3-2, 4.26) who has yielded just 14 hits in 25.1 innings, and RHP Julio Morales (2-1, 5.57) with 22 strikeouts in 21 innings thus far.

Exciting Rallies Go for Naught
Twice in two days, Dartmouth found itself trailing by seven runs entering the final inning of play. Yet the team refused to roll over, mounting rallies against #22 Ohio State and Illinois that nearly brought about improbable victories. Against the Buckeyes, the Big Green had been shut out entering the ninth before piecing together five hits, two walks and three errors into six runs. With the tying run at third and two outs, Ohio State finally secured the win with a strikeout to end the game. Then versus Illinois, the Green trailed 8-1 in the seventh when the Illini pitchers lost the strike zone, walking six hitters in the frame. Add in a couple of base hits, and Dartmouth had the tying run at second base before being subdued.

Whalen on Verge of Wins Record
Now in his 21st season as the Big Green head coach, Bob Whalen sports a 381-401-1 record at Dartmouth and needs just three more victories to become the program's all-time winningest head coach. Former New York Giant pitcher Jeff Tesreau currently holds the mark with 383 wins during his 28-year tenure from 1919-46.

Rookies Making Their Mark
The freshman class has already established itself as a big contributor to the 2010 Big Green. At the plate, Zack Bellenger and Ennis Coble have produced some strong numbers with Bellenger hitting .379 with a team-best five doubles and Coble posting a .364 average while leading the squad with 11 runs and a .488 on-base percentage. Meanwhile, on the mound, southpaws Kyle Hunter and Michael Johnson have combined for a 3.86 ERA in 21 innings.

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