Defense of Consecutive Ivy Titles Begins at Columbia

The Games: Dartmouth (10-4, 0-0) at Columbia (9-9, 0-0) and Penn (8-10, 0-0)
Locations: Robertson Field (300), New York, N.Y.; Meiklejohn Stadium (850), Philadelphia, Pa.
First pitch at Columbia: Doubleheader Saturday, April 2 at noon
First pitch at Penn: Doubleheader Sunday, April 3 at noon
Series Record vs. Columbia: Big Green lead, 97-68
Series Record vs. Penn: Big Green lead, 83-76-1
Columbia Live Video — Big Green Insider on Saturday
Penn Live Audio — Big Green Insider on Sunday
Columbia Live Stats | Penn Live Stats
Complete Game Notes

Ivy Title Defense Begins
This weekend the Dartmouth Big Green embark on a quest for their third straight Ivy League title in the same manner that they finished off the second one — playing at Columbia. Dartmouth defeated the Lions, two games to one, in the Ivy Championship Series last May, and now have an opportunity to become the first league squad to win three consecutive crowns since Harvard (1997-99).

Games Available Online
Subscribers to Big Green Insider on the official web site for Dartmouth athletics — DartmouthSports.com — will be able to keep up with the action live this weekend. Columbia is streaming video of the doubleheader on Saturday, while Penn will provide an audio broadcast. Check the Dartmouth site for information on how to subscribe to Big Green Insider.

Last Week in Review
•   The Green played one mid-week game, defeating Siena, 16-11, in the home opener. It was the first time Dartmouth had ever hosted a baseball game in Hanover during the month of March.
•   Every starter in the lineup had at least one hit, while eight of the nine drove in at least one run.
•   Sophomore Chris O'Dowd cranked his third home run of the season, extending his hitting streak to 21 games dating back to last season.
•   Taking the credit for the win on the mound was freshman lefty Mitch Horacek, who threw two perfect innings in a scheduled shortened start.

Last Time Against the Lions
As mentioned above, the Big Green defeated Columbia on the Lions' turf in the Ivy Championship Series, two games to one, exacting revenge for Columbia knocking off the Green in the 2008 ICS that was played in Hanover. The Lions hammered Dartmouth in the first game, 13-2, as Pat Lowery went the distance, allowing just solo homers to Jake Carlson and Zack Bellenger. The next game later that day was a wild affair with the Big Green prevailing, 15-10. Dartmouth bashed three more long balls, the last a grand slam off the bat of Jim Wren in the eighth, making a winner out of reliever Cole Sulser. In the rubber game, Kyle Hunter earned the win with Sulser recording a save by throwing the final 3.1 innings in an 11-5 triumph for the title.

The Overall Record vs. Columbia
•   Dartmouth has squared off against the Lions 165 times, owning an 97-68 record.
•   Over the last decade, the series is all even with each side winning 13 games and one Ivy Championship Series.
•   Dartmouth head coach Bob Whalen has a 31-17 mark in games against Columbia.
•   The 120th anniversary of the first game played between the two schools will take place on April 7. Dartmouth beat the Columbia Athletic Club that day in 1891, 11-5.

Scouting Report on the Lions
•   Columbia brings a .500 record on the season into the weekend with two wins over Holy Cross, South Alabama and Florida Gulf Coast, plus victories over Central Michigan and Illinois.
•   The Lion offense has been solid, ranking third in the league in scoring at 5.7 runs a game thanks to an aggressive style that has led to 30 stolen bases.
•   Outfielders Dario Pizzano (.406/.455/.594) and Nick Cox (.395/.452/.487) are the cogs of the offense, as Pizzano tops the team with 17 RBIs and Cox leads the league with 11 stolen bases.
•   First baseman Jason Banos (.318/.400/.477) has missed the last six games. His status for Saturday is unknown.
•   The only pitching staff in the Ivy League that has been more effective than Dartmouth's to date has been Columbia's with a 3.78 ERA. Opponents have hit just .251 against the Lion hurlers.
•   Dan Bracey (2-2, 3.13) has been the top starter for Columbia, while projected staff ace Pat Lowery (0-3, 5.48) has had command problems with 18 walks in just 21.2 innings.

Probable Starting Pitchers
• For the Columbia twinbill, sophomore LHP Kyle Hunter (2-1, 1.50) will likely get the ball from Coach Whalen. The southpaw has not allowed an earned run in his last 14.1 innings with victories over Akron and UMBC. The second game could see junior RHP Kyle Hendricks (2-1, 1.35) take the mound for the Green. He has been the Ivy League Pitcher of the Week each of the last two weeks and is third in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings with 28 in just 20 frames (12.6).
• The Lions will likely counter with RHP Dan Bracey (2-2, 3.13), who has allowed the opposition to hit just 2.41 off of him. For game two, I'm guessing RHP Geoff Whitaker (2-2, 4.37) gets the call with peripheral numbers very similar to Bracey (both have walked seven and struck out 15).

Last Time Against the Quakers
Dartmouth split a two-game series in Hanover with Penn last April, faltering in the first game, 9-5, before rebounding for a 3-2 win in 11 innings. Jim Wren scored three of the Green's five runs in the opener, going 3-for-3 with a double and a homer. But Quaker pitcher Vince Voiro handled the rest of the lineup as he went the distance for the win. A pair of Chris O'Dowd doubles were instrumental in Dartmouth tallying its two runs in the second game before Jake Carlson delivered a walk-off single in the 11th. Ryan Smith got the win with four innings of relief of Kyle Hunter, who surrendered just a two-run jack in his seven innings.

The Overall Record vs. Penn
•   This series, like the Columbia one, dates back to 1891. Dartmouth has the advantage against the Quakers as well, but only at 83-76-1.
•   The Big Green have won five of the last six meetings, while Penn won five of six before that.
•   Coach Whalen is 23-16 against Penn during his tenure, including a 4-2 mark in extra innings.

Scouting Report on the Quakers
•   At 8-10, Penn has had one winning streak of three games and one losing streak of three games.
•   These are the final two games of an eight-game homestand for the Quakers, who split the first four with two wins over Lafayette.
•   Penn's bats have produced 5.3 runs a game with Jeremy Maas (.408/.488/.634) leading the way with four homers, 17 runs and 14 RBIs.
•   Brandon Englehardt is the only other Quaker batting over .300 (.346) while leading the team with 16 RBIs.
•   The starting rotation has been quite good as the highest ERA of any starter is 4.38. Overall, Penn sports a 4.60 ERA.
•   Vince Voiro leads the team with a 2.67 ERA and 32 strikeouts, but has been victimized by some shaky defense with seven unearned runs that have led to him recording a 1-3 record thus far.
•   The Quakers have not gone very deep into their bullpen yet, with just three other pitchers throwing more than 5.1 innings.
•   Defensively, Penn is in the middle of the pack of the conference with a .959 fielding percentage and has turned just eight double plays.

Probable Starting Pitchers
• Against Penn, Dartmouth fans should not be surprised to see sophomore LHP Michael Johnson (2-0, 0.82) in the first game. He picked up the first Big Green win of the season down at UCF with two scoreless innings of relief, than tossed the first five frames of a combined shutout versus Long Island. Game two is up in the air, but my money is on RHP Cole Sulser (1-0, 4.24) if he doesn't pitch (too much) out of the bullpen in any of the first three games. He is second in the Ivy League only to his teammate Hendricks in strikeouts per nine innings (11.12).
• If the Quakers stick with the rotation they used for the last four games before the weekend, the Green can expect to face a pair of left-handers. I, however, am betting they switch it up so RHP Paul Cusick (2-2, 3.94) and LHP Chris McNulty (1-2, 4.38) take the mound for the two games. I have been wrong before …

What's Up Next
One non-conference game is on the slate next week at Quinnipiac on Wednesday. Dartmouth returns home next weekend to play host to Cornell and Princeton for a pair of Ivy doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday.

Home-Opening Victory
Dartmouth won its four straight home opener and ninth in the last 10 years by defeating Siena on March 30, 16-11. It was the first game the Big Green have hosted in Hanover in the month of March. The final score does not truly indicate that the outcome was never really in doubt as the Green built a 12-0 lead through three innings as every starter had at least one hit and eight of the nine drove in at least one run.

Streaking at Home
The win over Siena extended Dartmouth's home winning streak to 11 games, tied for the fourth-longest in the country with … well, I can't remember and Warren Nolan's web site has been down all Friday. If I remember correctly, New Mexico State has the longest active streak at 16 games. Arizona is one of the teams tied with Dartmouth, and there are 13- and 12-game streaks on the line.

Best Start in 13 Years
The last time Dartmouth had a better record after 14 games came in the 1998 season when the Big Green found themselves at 11-3. A word of caution to Dartmouth fans, however — that third loss was the first of four straight in the Ivy-opening weekend.

O'Dowd Hits Black Jack
Sophomore Chris O'Dowd finished his rookie campaign having hit safely in the final seven games, and he has continued right where he left off with hits in each of the first 14 contests in 2011, giving him a hit streak of 21 games. In one of those games against UMBC, he belted two home runs, the first multi-homer game of his career, and his most recent hit to extend the streak was a round-tripper against Siena.

Double-Digit Hits Key to Victory
Each time Dartmouth has collected at least 10 hits in a game this year, it has won. When the Big Green have had fewer than 10 hits, they have lost. Pretty simple math, really.

Schedules