Regional Guide for Dartmouth's Seventh Trip to NCAAs

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Coral Gables Regional
Dartmouth was assigned a four seed at the regional site hosted by the Miami Hurricanes (40-17), ranked 11th in the nation in the coaches poll. Joining the Big Green are #20 Texas A&M (40-19-1) and Florida International (36-23), both of which won their respective conference tournaments. The Aggies and Golden Panthers will play the first game at noon on Friday, June 4, while the Big Green will take on Miami at 4 p.m.

All the games at this regional will be televised by ESPNU with Clay Matvick providing all the action and former major leaguers Eric Byrnes and Kyle Peterson providing insight and analysis. In addition, Dartmouth will provide an audio broadcast via the Dartmouth Sports Network online with Drew Galbraith and Rick Bender bringing all the details to life for Big Green fans.

Dartmouth in the NCAAs
This is the seventh trip to an NCAA Regional for the Big Green and second straight having played in Chapel Hill last year. Dartmouth lost to the seventh-ranked Tar Heels in the first game, 5-2, before being eliminated by Kansas the next day, 16-0.

The last Dartmouth victory at a regional came in 1987 when Mike Remlinger shut out Michigan in the first game in Atlanta, 4-0. But the most memorable postseason appearance for the Big Green came in 1970 when they won the District I Playoffs, knocking off Providence and Connecticut, to advance to Omaha for the College World Series. Dartmouth then beat Iowa State, 7-6, before dropping the next two to Florida State and USC.
Dartmouth first qualified for the NCAAs back in 1958 before making three appearances in the four-year span of 1967-70.

Ivy Champs for 2nd Straight Year
Dartmouth is playing in its second straight NCAA Regional and seventh overall after defeating Columbia in the best-of-three Ivy Championship Series held in New York. The host Lions won the first game handily, 13-2, before the Big Green rallied in games two and three to avenge losing the ICS to Columbia two years earlier in Hanover.

While Dartmouth won the Ivy League crown, it did not have one player among the All-Ivy first team. Leading the offense has been freshman catcher Chris O'Dowd (.382/.489/.664) and junior first baseman Jason Brooks (.357/.394/.608). O'Dowd was selected as the Ivy League Co-Rookie of the Year despite being slowed by mono during the first few weeks of the season, while Brooks earned second-team league honors with 42 RBIs which ranks fifth in the conference.

Pitching and defense, however, have been the staples of this team. Rarely will the Big Green beat themselves as the pitching staff has walked fewer batters per nine innings (1.89) than any team in the country for the second straight year, plus hit fewer batters than anyone. The defense, meanwhile, ranks 22nd nationally with a .974 fielding percentage which has led to just 18 unearned runs scored against Dartmouth, again fewest in the nation.

Scouting Report on the Hurricanes
•    This is the record 38th consecutive year Miami has participated in the NCAA Regionals and is hosting for the 23rd time.
•    The Hurricanes are ranked as high as 11th in the polls (Collegiate Baseball) and as low as 20th (Baseball America).
•    After beating Florida State in its first game of the ACC Tournament, Miami lost to Boston College, 12-10, in 12 innings and to Virginia, 12-8.
•    Power and speed are the primary components of the Hurricane offense with 91 home runs and 94 stolen bases as a team.
•    Switch-hitting catcher Yasmani Grandal, expected to be taken in the first round of the MLB Draft next week, is batting a robust .422 with 22 doubles, 14 homers, 56 RBIs and 52 walks, 13 of which are intentional.
•    Third baseman Harold Martinez leads the team with 19 round-trippers, while 11 players have hit at least five long balls.
•    Outfielder Zeke DeVoss and shortstop Stephen Perez have stolen 44 bases in 52 attempts.
•    The pitching staff is anchored by left-hander Chris Hernandez with an 8-3 record and 3.02 ERA, striking out 95 batters in 89.1 innings.
•    Opponents are hitting just .248 against Miami hurlers, including a .181 average against reliever E.J. Encinosa in 48.2 innings (61 strikeouts).
•    Daniel Miranda and David Gutierrez have split most of the closing duties with five saves apiece.
•    Miami is a strong defensive team with 67 errors in its 57 games for a .970 fielding percentage.

The Overall Record vs. Miami
Dartmouth has played three games against the Hurricanes, all in Coral Gables back in 2000. The Big Green won the first game, 6-5, before faltering in the final two, 10-8 and 6-1.

Scouting the Aggies
•    Texas A&M is making its 26th appearance in the NCAA Championship and fourth straight.
•    Collegiate Baseball has the Aggies ranked 20th in the nation, while Baseball America has them sitting in 22nd.
•    Texas A&M won all four of its games in the Big 12 Tournament, allowing just 10 runs total to claim the league's automatic berth.
•    Shortstop Brodie Greene is the only player to play or start in all 60 Aggie games, and with good reason as he leads the team in 12 offensive categories including the three slash stats (.392/.461/.661) with 96 hits, 16 doubles, 7 triples, 12 homers, 50 RBIs, 67 runs and 23 stolen bases.
•    Four other players are batting at least .310, with Joe Patterson at .356 and Matt Juengel at .354.
•    The Aggies are just as speedy as Miami, though not as efficient stealing bases, swiping 104 bags in 147 attempts (70.7 percent success rate).
•    Five pitchers provide a majority of the innings for Texas A&M, led by starter Barret Loux who is 10-2 with a 2.53 ERA while ranking among the top 10 nationally in strikeouts (126) and whiffs per nine innings (11.8).
•    The opposition is hitting just .243 overall against the Aggie staff, with reliever John Stilson dominating at .172 with a 0.87 ERA and 106 strikeouts in 72.1 innings.
•    Swingman Michael Wacha leads the team with 100.1 innings while posting a sparkling 2.42 ERA.
•    The A&M defense is ranked in the middle of the Division I pack with 87 errors in 60 games.

Scouting the Golden Panthers
•    This is the first trip to an NCAA Regional for Florida International since 2002 but ninth overall since joining the Division I ranks in 1983.
•    The Golden Panthers became the third team in Sun Belt Conference history to lose its first game in the league tournament then come back to win the title with five straight victories.
•    Florida International is batting a whopping .339 as a team (18th nationally) with a .423 on-base percentage and .500 slugging percentage.
•    The talk of the college baseball world is FIU shortstop Garrett Wittels who owns a 54-game hitting streak, four shy of the Division I record. For the season he leads the team with a .412 average, 96 hits and 58 RBIs, plus is one of three Golden Panthers with a team-high 19 doubles.
•    Of the 16 players that have stepped to the plate this year for FIU, 12 are hitting at least .300 and five have hit at least eight home runs with Jabari Henry leading the way with 11.
•    Center fielder Pablo Bermudez and second baseman Junior Arrojo provide most of the team's speed with 21 and 20 stolen bases, respectively.
•    The team ERA of 5.37 is solid, but no one pitcher stands out as each has an ERA of at least 4.40.
•    Scot Rembisz (9-4, 4.75 ERA) tops the team in wins and strikeouts (79) in 91 innings.
•    Eric Berkowitz has been the team's closer primarily with nine saves but a 6.22 ERA in 55.0 frames.
•    The Golden Panthers have had their struggles in the field with 103 errors and a .953 fielding pct.

All-Ivy Honors for the Big Green
While Dartmouth won the Ivy Championship for the second straight year, the team did so without the benefit of one player being named to the All-Ivy first team, something that had not happened for the league champ since Dartmouth shared the EIBL crown in 1963 with Columbia and Navy. Still, catcher Chris O'Dowd was chosen as the conference Co-Rookie of the Year and earned honorable mention honors along with sophomore right-hander Kyle Hendricks. Selected to the second team were junior first baseman Jason Brooks, sophomore shortstop Joe Sclafani, sophomore outfielder Jake Carlson and sophomore reliever Cole Sulser.

Statistical Trends
•    Dartmouth continues to lead the nation in fewest walks issued per nine innings at 1.89. The next closest team is Florida at 2.28.
•    Three Big Green pitchers are among the top 50 nationally in fewest walks per nine as well, led by freshman Kyle Hunter who is sixth at 1.01. The others are sophomore Cole Sulser (30th, 1.54) and senior Robert Young (46th, 1.70).
•    That control extends to not hitting batters, either, as Dartmouth has hit just 25 opponents with pitches, fewer than any team in the nation.
•    Sulser leads the Ivy League with 55 strikeouts despite pitching primarily out of the bullpen, while Kyle Hendricks is tied for third with 51.
•    Senior Jim Wren ranks eighth at Dartmouth with 111 career RBIs.
•    Junior Ryan Smith leads the conference in saves for the third straight year with six to extend his Dartmouth and Ivy career record to 24.
•    Freshman catcher Chris O'Dowd leads the league in on-base percentage (.489), is third in slugging (.664) and fourth in batting (.382).
•    Both Ennis Coble and Jason Brooks are tied for the league lead with five triples.
•    After driving in 17 runs in the last 11 games, Brooks ranks fifth in the Ivy League with 42 RBIs.
•    Joe Sclafani is third in the conference with 30 walks drawn.
•    The defense owns the best fielding percentage at this regional at .974, which is 22nd nationally.

Whalen Reaches Milestone Win
The 15-10 victory over Columbia in the second game of the Ivy Championship Series marked the 400th win for Dartmouth head coach Bob Whalen. More than likely, he probably enjoyed his 401st — the Ivy title clincher — more than number 400. Earlier in the year, he surpassed former major league pitcher Jeff Tesreau (1919-46) as the program's all-time winningest coach and currently sports a 402-412-1 (.494) record.

Schedules