Baseball Set for Ivy Championship Series at Columbia

Complete Game Notes | Video and Audio (Free!) | Live Stats

Ivy Championship Streamed Free
The Columbia Lions are tentatively planning to stream the games, both video and audio, free of charge to fans wanting to catch the action from their computer. Dartmouth fans can go to the Live Events section of the Multimedia tab at DartmouthSports.com, and the links will be available once the broadcasts have begun shortly before the first pitch. Live stats will also be available on the Dartmouth web site.

To Defend a Championship
Dartmouth earned the right to defend its 2009 Ivy League title in the championship series by virtue of winning the Rolfe Division for the third consecutive year and sixth time in the last 11 seasons. The Big Green clinched the crown on the last day of the season in a 9-0 whitewashing of Harvard behind the two-hit pitching of sophomore Kyle Hendricks and six RBIs of junior Jason Brooks.

To successfully defend its title, Dartmouth will have to do so on the road at Columbia, which won the right to host the championship by producing the conference's best record at 14-6. The Lions secured first place in the Gehrig Division last Friday with a doubleheader sweep of Penn, then claimed home-field advantage with one more win over the Quakers on Saturday.

These two teams split a doubleheader in their only encounter of the year in Hanover as Columbia won the first game, 5-2, before the Big Green rebounded in the nightcap, 9-4.

Last Week in Review
Needing just one win in their final four games of the season against Harvard, the Big Green stumbled a bit at first, dropping a conference doubleheader for the first time in three years last Saturday. Sloppy play in the field led to eight unearned runs scoring against Dartmouth that day — as many as the team has allowed in every other game combined this year. But the Green righted the ship on Sunday in impressive fashion as Kyle Hendricks tossed a two-hit shutout while Jason Brooks went 3-for-3 with six RBIs in a 9-0 blanking of the Crimson. Brooks drive in the first four runs of the game and was just a single shy of the cycle. He got that single and then some the next game as well, going 3-for-4 with two more RBIs as Dartmouth rallied for a 9-7 victory with five runs in the eighth inning. The Big Green are 5-1 the last two years when either trailing or tied going into their half of the eighth. Freshman Matt Peterson came up with the biggest hit — a two-run double for his first collegiate hit — giving Dartmouth the lead for good. Freshman Kyle Hunter got another no-decision despite leaving the game after six innings with a 3-1 lead. The rookie is just 1-0, though Dartmouth is 6-1 when he starts as he has not allowed more than three runs in any start.

The Overall Record vs. Columbia
•    After splitting the two games against Columbia last month, Dartmouth has a winning percentage of .586 (95-67) against the Lions, its best against any Ivy opponent.
•    Two years ago these two schools met in the Ivy Championship Series in Hanover, which Columbia won in a thrilling three-game series. The Big Green would take great satisfaction out of returning the favor on the Lions' home field.
•    Dartmouth head coach Bob Whalen boasts a 31-17 mark against Columbia in his 21 seasons at the helm of the Big Green program.
•    The first game in the series took place just over 109 years ago to the day when Dartmouth defeated the Lions, 11-5, on April 7, 1891.

Probable Starting Pitchers
•    As is Dartmouth's custom over the past two seasons, senior LHP Robert Young (3-4, 4.91) will throw the opener of the series. He has not had much luck against the Lions in his career, however, suffering an 0-3 record against them with an ERA of 6.14. But Young also had an 0-3 record against Yale in his career before tossing a shutout against the Bulldogs three weeks ago. Sophomore RHP Kyle Hendricks (4-4, 4.62) is expected to get the ball for game two, coming off the best start statistically of his career. If the Big Green win game one, Hendricks would be pitching in the fourth possible clinching game of his career — he is 3-0 in three starts in such contests having won the division clincher both last year and this year, as well as the Ivy Championship clincher against Cornell last year. His ERA in those games — 1.69. Game three, if necessary, will likely depend on how the staff is used in the first two games, but rookie LHP Kyle Hunter (1-0, 3.33), who is third in the conference in ERA, is a strong candidate. But senior RHP Ben Murray (3-5, 9.14) could get the nod with his 6-2 career mark against Ivy schools, or even RHP Cole Sulser (6-0, 4.06) if he isn't utilized out of the pen on Saturday.
•    If Columbia sticks to its weekend pattern, RHP Pat Lowery (4-3, 3.70) would square off against Young in game one. The 6-5 sophomore defeated Dartmouth last month, 5-2, allowing two runs on five hits and a walk with five strikeouts in six innings. The nightcap of the doubleheader will be the domain of RHP Dan Bracey (4-4, 3.74) who is tied for the league lead in strikeouts with 51. He has only pitched against the Big Green twice in relief in his career, totaling two innings, four hits, a run, a walk and a strikeout. For a possible decisive third game, RHP Tim Giel (3-1, 6.39) is the probable pitcher. The freshman's only loss did come against Dartmouth, however, allowing seven runs in 4.1 innings of a 9-4 Green triumph.

Scouting Report on the Lions
•    Columbia is tough to beat on its home field with a 15-3 record this season at Robertson Field.
•    Like Dartmouth, the Lions did not lose a conference series all year.
•    Six regulars are batting over .300, led by Jon Eisen at .370, while Alexander Aurrichio and Dario Pizzano provide the bulk of the power with 13 and 11 home runs, respectively.
•    Although the Lions hit nearly 60 points higher than Dartmouth with nine more home runs in the league, the Big Green actually scored more runs — 123-121.
•    Columbia is perhaps the most daring team in the league with an Ivy-leading 63 stolen bases in 79 attempts. Nick Crucet is 17-of-20 while Eisen is 10-of-12 on the base paths.
•    The Lions will take a walk as well, averaging four per game, second in the conference only to Dartmouth's 4.24. Jason Banos, who was the league's player of the week last week, is tied for second in the Ivy with 29 bases on balls.
•    The pitchers have the best ERA in the league at 5.37 overall and 4.10 in conference play.
•    The top two starters — Pat Lowery and Dan Bracey— have held opponents to paltry averages of .222 and .234, respectively.
•    Geoff Whitaker is the workhorse out of the bullpen with 36.2 innings in 14 appearances (two starts) and three saves, but Derek Squires leads the team with four saves in just 13.2 frames.
•    The one thing that could make the difference in the series is defense as the Lions have committed 75 errors this year which have led to 59 unearned runs. Those numbers are better in conference play, however, with just 21 errors and 16 unearned runs.

Playing the ICS on the Road
While this is Dartmouth's sixth trip to the Ivy Championship Series (all in the last 11 seasons), the Big Green have only participated in it on the road once before, that coming in their first championship in 2000 at Princeton. The Tigers won both games on Saturday, 5-2 and 4-3, keeping Dartmouth from earning its first NCAA Regional bid since 1987. It took nine years before the Big Green could break through and get that bid as Dartmouth defeated Cornell at Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park last year in three games.

Rolfe Division Three-Peat
With the 9-0 victory over Harvard in the first game of a doubleheader on Sunday, May 2, Dartmouth clinched its third consecutive Rolfe Division title. Another one next year would match Harvard (1996-99) for most consecutive Rolfe Division crowns, but the Big Green have a long way to go to catch Princeton, which won nine straight Gehrig Division titles from 1996-2004.

Schedules