Baseball Outlasts Brown in Slugfest to Take the Series

Wednesday, April 28

Providence, R.I.

12:00 p.m. (new time)

Dartmouth College

21-13, 11-5

Brown

12-27, 9-7

Dartmouth

Brown

Baseball Outlasts Brown in Slugfest to Take the Series

4/28/2010 3:30:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

Boxscore

PROVIDENCE, R.I. —
Wednesday, April 28, 2010

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The wait for the conclusion of the four-game Ivy League series between Dartmouth and Brown was worth the wait as the Big Green scored their most runs in three weeks, defeating the host Bears by a final of 13-10 on Wednesday afternoon at Murray Stadium. The victory gave the series to Dartmouth (21-13, 11-5 Ivy), three games to one, to help it build a two-game cushion over Brown (12-27, 9-7 Ivy) in the Rolfe Division standings with four conference games remaining.

Three Dartmouth players cranked home runs, including freshman Zack Bellenger who was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with a pair of walks, a sacrifice fly, three runs scored and two RBIs. Sophomore shortstop Joe Sclafani had three hits as well to help pace the 13-hit Big Green attack.

Dartmouth needed just about all the offense it could muster as Brown rallied back from a 10-3 deficit to put the outcome of the game in doubt. The Bears homered five times in the game, with four in the final three innings, before Big Green closer and all-time Ivy saves leader Ryan Smith recorded the final out on a fly ball to the base of the fence in right-center.

The Brown pitching staff could not quiet the Dartmouth bats all afternoon as the Big Green scored in seven of the nine frames. Sclafani led off the game with a ringing double, and sophomore Jake Carlson was hit by a pitch before freshman Chris O'Dowd singled home the first run with Carlson taking third. Senior Jim Wren followed with a fly to left to plate Carlson to give Dartmouth an early 2-0 lead.

Graham Tyler duplicated Sclafani's double for Brown to start the bottom half and scored on consecutive singles by Josh Feit and Matt Colantonio. But freshman Kyle Hunter got a double-play grounder to help him emerge from the inning with just the one run scoring.

In the second, Brown replaced starter Rob Wilcox with Heath Mayo (the second of eight pitchers on the day for the Bears), whose first pitch of the day was sent over the fence in left by junior Jason Brooks for his fourth home run of the year. When Bellenger walked and went to third on a double by senior Brett Gardner, Mayo was lifted in favor of Brad Kottman, who was greeted by Sclafani with an RBI single.
Sclafani stole second, but both he and Gardner died on the bases when Kottman got a pair of strikeouts and a pop to second.

Feit tripled with two outs in the third and scored on another Colantonio single to make it 4-2, but Dartmouth answered in the fourth on Bellenger's lead-off clout over the center-field fence, his third long ball of the season.

The Big Green scored an unearned run in the fifth on a Bellenger sacrifice fly before Feit belted the first Bear four-bagger of the day with one out in the bottom of the fifth. A hit batter and a single put runners on the corners with two outs when Dartmouth head coach Bob Whalen went to the bullpen, summoning sophomore fireman Cole Sulser. He was up to the task, getting a called third strike to end
the threat and preserve the 6-3 lead.

In the sixth, Dartmouth loaded the bases on a single and a pair of walks before Matt Boylan -- the fifth Brown pitcher -- came in and hit junior Jeff Onstott with a pitch, forcing in a run. The Bears tried to turn two to end the inning when freshman Ennis Coble hit a grounder to second, but the rookie beat the relay throw to first, allowing O'Dowd to score. The Big Green tacked on two more in the seventh when Gardner blasted a two-run homer to left, his first of the year, scoring Bellenger.

Trailing 10-3, Brown started its comeback with a pair of solo homers by Colantonio and Ryan Zrenda off Sulser in the seventh, the first round-trippers Sulser had surrendered this year in more than 41 innings. Senior Robert Young came in and was touched for an RBI double before Smith entered with two outs in the seventh and got the final out with the score sitting at 10-6.

Zrenda hit another home run in the eighth, a two-run blast, to cut the deficit to two, but Dartmouth again answered. Carlson doubled to start the ninth, went to third on an O'Dowd single and sophomore David Turnbull was hit by a pitch to load up the bases. Onstott walked to force in a run before the final pitcher of the day, John Murphy, was brought in from the pen. Coble drove in another run on a fielder's choice grounder, and Brooks lofted a sacrifice fly to give the
Green a five-run cushion.

Brown immediately made Dartmouth uncomfortable in the bottom half when Mike DiBiase led off with his six homer of the year. After Chris Tanabe walked, Smith retired the next two hitters. But Feit would not let the Bears die quietly, delivering an RBI single. That would be all as Smith got Colantonio on a long fly to right to end the three-hour, 35-minute game.

Sulser (6-0) got the win in relief of Hunter with 1.2 innings of work, while Smith got his Ivy-leading sixth save. Wilcox (0-4) took the loss for giving up the two runs in the first inning.

Eight of the nine players in the Big Green lineup had at least one RBI, with five notching two.

Feit was 4-for-6, falling a double short of the cycle, while Zrenda was 3-for-5 with his two homers and three RBIs to lead the Brown offense that collected 15 hits.

Dartmouth begins its final Ivy series this Saturday at Harvard with a doubleheader
at noon.