Senior Day with Rolfe Division Title on the Line

The Games: Dartmouth (24-10, 10-6) vs. Harvard (9-32, 5-11)
Locations: Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park (1,300), Hanover, N.H.; O'Donnell Field (1,600), Cambridge, Mass.
First pitch at Dartmouth on Saturday: Doubleheader at 1 p.m.
First pitch at Harvard on Sunday: Doubleheader at 1 p.m.
Series Record vs. Harvard: Crimson lead, 128-102
Live Video (Saturday only) — Big Green Insider
Live Audio (Saturday only) — Wayne Young '72 (play-by-play), Orli Kleiner '12 (analyst)
Live Stats (both days)
Complete Game Notes

Senior Day
Dartmouth baseball will honor its senior class before the first game of the twinbill against Harvard, approximately 15 minutes before the first pitch. Be sure to get there early to show your appreciation for the eight seniors that make up the winningest class in Big Green baseball history. The octet picked up their 100th win last Sunday in the second victory over Brown, and currently owns a 103-64 record for a .617 winning percentage. The most wins by any class had been 91 by the Class of 2000, a mark that was surpassed back on April 6 at Quinnipiac after a 16-8 triumph.

Donation Day, Too
As is the case every year for the doubleheader against Harvard, the Dartmouth baseball team is collecting donations at the gate with the proceeds going toward the Friends of Dartmouth Baseball. Suggested donations are five dollars for adults and three for youths. Head coach Bob Whalen and the entire team thank you for your generous support.

Down to the Wire
Dartmouth is in contention for its fourth consecutive Rolfe Division crown, entering the weekend tied for first with Yale at 10-6. Should the two teams remain tied at the conclusion of play this weekend, the two would meet in a one-game playoff at Yale on a date to be determined. The winner of the division will advance to the Ivy Championships Series, at a site to be determined by the best record in the league. Princeton has the edge right now with a 12-4 mark in the Gehrig Division.

Last Week in Review
•    Trailing Yale by two games in the standings, the Big Green made up that ground with a four-game sweep of Brown while the Bulldogs will splitting their four-game set at Harvard.
•    Dartmouth had to rally from a 3-1 deficit in the first game, beginning with a solo homer by freshman Jeff Keller in the fourth before a five-run fifth gave the Green a 7-3 win.
•    Sandwiched between a pair of 11-run games was a 2-1 pitchers' duel on Monday with senior Jeff Onstott providing a walk-off double to help Kyle Hendricks earn his first Ivy win of the year.
•    On Wednesday, the Big Green extended their nation-leading home winning streak to 22 with a 7-1 win over Hartford. Senior Jake Pruner provided an emotional lift by pitching the first two innings, his first action in three years due to elbow surgery.
•    Keller was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week after hitting .538 (7-for-13) with two doubles, two triples, a homer and seven RBIs.

Last Time Against the Crimson
Dartmouth came into its final Ivy series with a three-game lead over Harvard, meaning the Big Green needed just one victory to clinch the division title. The Crimson had other plans, however, taking advantage of their home-field advantage in the first two games by claiming 8-4 and 15-7 victories to move within a game of first. But order was restored the next day in Hanover as Kyle Hendricks twirled a two-hit shutout in a 9-0 triumph to clinch the crown. Jason Brooks drove in a career-high six runs in the games, including three on his second-inning home run to start the scoring. For good measure, Dartmouth rallied from a 7-4 deficit in the eighth with five runs for a 9-7 victory.

The Overall Record vs. Harvard
•    By the end of this series, Dartmouth will have played the Crimson more than any other opponent (Brown took the lead by two games with those four games in the last week). But Harvard holds a 128-102 lead against the Green.
•    Needing every victory it can get, Dartmouth has only once swept Harvard in a four-game series, that coming in 1995. Since 2000, only once have the Big Green not at least split with the Crimson, that coming in 2005.
•    Dartmouth has clinched the division title in the next-to-last game of the series each of the past two years.
•    Since 1923, Dartmouth is 45-35 (.563) when hosting Harvard at Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park.
•    Harvard has been playing at the site of O'Donnell Field since 1898, beating Dartmouth in the inaugural game, 13-7. Since 1923, the Big Green are 34-53 (.391) at the site.

Scouting Report on the Crimson
•    Since beginning the season by winning just three of its first 26 games, Harvard has gone 6-9 with four-game splits with both Brown and Yale.
•    In league games, the Crimson rank last in batting (.234) and runs per game (3.9), sixth in ERA (5.23) and seventh in fielding (.955 percentage).
•    Second baseman Jeff Reynolds leads the team with a .302 average, while designated hitter Marcus Way supplies most of the power with six of the team's 11 home runs and a team-best 21 RBIs.
•    The Crimson will try to make things happen on the basepaths, having stolen 47 bases this year with center fielder Dillon O'Neill leading the way with 12. On the flip side, the team has been caught 26 times.
•    For the entire season, the pitching staff has registered an ERA of 5.91. No less than 20 players have thrown to at least one batter for Harvard this year.
•    The starting rotation has consisted of a pair of right-handers and left-handers (covered in the upcoming note) generally, but LHP Brent Suter — an All-Ivy first-teamer last year — may have been dropped from the rotation with his 7.88 ERA.
•    The bullpen has collected two saves this year, one by RHP Ben Sestanovich (projected to start this weekend) and the other by LHP Will Keuper. No one has pitched in more than 11 games this year.

Probable Starting Pitchers
• As he has all season, LHP Kyle Hunter (4-2, 3.06) will start the series off on the mound for the Big Green. The southpaw made just one mistake against Brown, which turned into a three-run homer (just the second off him in 47 innings), but he won in a route-going performance, 7-3. Up next in game two will be junior RHP Cole Sulser (4-1, 2.59), looking to improve upon his 15-3 career record. He is coming off a victory over the Bears in which he yielded just one run on four hits over seven frames. On Sunday, junior RHP Kyle Hendricks (3-3, 2.30) will pitch the third game of the series. Last week he was one out away from his third career shutout, but still escaped with a 2-1 victory while whiffing nine; he leads the league in strikeouts per nine innings (10.91). Finally, freshman LHP Mitch Horacek (3-1, 7.59) will go for his fourth win in the fourth game. He was one out away from securing that victory, but departed in with two outs in the fifth of an 11-4 win.
• If the Crimson hold true to form, LHP Eric Eadington (0-6, 5.05) will go in game one. His teammates have provided him a total of four runs in his first four Ivy starts, getting shut out each of the last two. Ace RHP Max Perlman (2-4, 1.69) will bring his league-leading ERA to the hill for game two. He beat Yale last weekend in a 1-0 ballgame, allowing four hits and striking out 10. On Sunday, normally LHP Brent Suter (2-4, 7.88) would start the first game, but word has it that RHP Conor Hulse (0-3, 7.58) will get the ball. Opponents are hitting .375 against him. In the finale, RHP Ben Sestanovich (2-1, 2.88) will make his second start, having beaten Yale in his first one.

What's Up Next
Dartmouth's future is very much up in the air. On Tuesday, the Big Green have a game scheduled with Hartford at 3 p.m., but should they finish the regular season tied with Yale atop the Rolfe Division standings, that game may get replaced with a playoff between Dartmouth and the Bulldogs. The date of such a playoff game, however, has yet to be determined. And should the Green win the division, they will play in the Ivy Championship Series next weekend at a site to be determined by the best overall record in the league.

Games Available Online
Fans that want to watch the action of Saturday's doubleheader from the comfort of their own homes can do so through the official web site of Dartmouth athletics — DartmouthSports.com — with Big Green Insider. Both games will be video streamed and available to subscribers of the service. For those who just want to hear the mellifluous tones of Wayne Young '72 and Orli Kleiner '12, they can do so by listening to the free audio broadcast on the web site. And, of course, live stats will be available for all four games as well.

Home Win Streak at 22
The Big Green have won 22 straight contests at Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park following a four-game sweep of the Brown Bears last weekend and a 7-1 win over Hartford on Wednesday. It is the longest current home winning streak across Division I — the next closest team is St. John's at 15 — and the longest streak of success in Hanover for Dartmouth since rattling off 32 straight during the 1923-26 seasons.

Pruner Makes It Back to the Mound
Senior Jake Pruner last pitched for the Big Green as the starter in the decisive third game of the 2008 Ivy Championship Series. Since then, he underwent elbow surgery and plenty of rehab. It looked as if his career was over after missing each of the past two seasons and most of this one. But on April 27, he got the ball to start against Hartford and came through with two innings of one-run ball, even striking out the first batter he had faced. The number of days between starts — 1,084.

Sclafani Ties Season Triples Mark
Junior Joe Sclafani has a penchant for the three-bagger, collecting his seventh of the season in the 7-1 win over Hartford. That triple tied the single-season record at Dartmouth that has stood for 73 years, set by George McLaughlin '40 during the 1938 season. Next on Sclafani's sights is the career record — he is one shy of tying the mark of 16 set by Roberto Balaguer '83 and equaled by Brendan Mahoney '91.

Keller Top Ivy Rookie for the Week
After missing most of three weeks with an injury, freshman Jeff Keller returned with a vengeance to earn Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors on April 26. The third baseman hit .538 (7-for-13) in five games with two doubles, two triples, a home run, four walks, five runs and seven RBIs. His two triples came against Saint Anselm, tying a school record, and he starred in the 11-3 victory over Brown by going 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs.

Iron Ike
Senior Jeff “Ike” Onstott set a new Dartmouth record on April 25 by playing in his 159th career game, besting the mark that was set by Chris Bunker '88 23 years ago. Onstott has played in 84 consecutive games — 160 total — and missed out on just seven in his four seasons on the club. The Big Green are just 2-5 when he does not make at least a cameo on the field. In addition, he ranks among the top 10 in career hits, triples, walks, runs and RBIs.

Sweep Not Uncommon with Brown
Dartmouth pulled off a four-game sweep against Brown to move up into a tie atop the Rolfe Division standings with Yale. But a sweep when these two teams meet is not that uncommon. Over the past 15 seasons, a sweep has been the result, one way or the other, seven times. The Big Green swept Brown in 1997, 1998 and 2000, while the Bears won all four games in 1999, 2005 and 2007. What is uncommon, however, is that this year's sweep was the first for the home team since 1997.

Schedules