Dartmouth on Wrong End of 1-0 Pitchers' Duel

Monday, March 19

Sacramento, Calif.

3:00 PM

Dartmouth College

2-6

Sacramento State

9-11

Dartmouth

Sacramento State

3/19/2012 5:52:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — After splitting the first four games of the series, Dartmouth and Sacramento State engaged in a pitchers' duel that remained scoreless through eight and a half innings on Monday afternoon at John Smith Field. The host Hornets then produced four consecutive singles to start the bottom of the ninth to emerge with a 1-0 win. Sacramento State improved to 9-11 with the victory, while the Big Green fell to 2-6 overall in their first 1-0 game since beating Navy in the 2008 season opener.

Rhys Hoskins greeted Dartmouth reliever Mike Dodakian (0-2) in the ninth with a hard single up the middle after falling behind in the count 0-2. Derrick Chung then hit what might have been a double-play grounder, but Dodakian deflected the ball in an attempt to field it for an infield hit. When Trevor Paine laid down a sacrifice bunt, it rolled right down the third-base line and hit the bag for another infield hit, loading the bases. On the very next pitch, Andrew Ayers laced a sinking liner to right-center that fell in front of a diving David Turnbull in right for the game-winning hit.

Dartmouth had at least one base runner in every inning except the first, and squandered several scoring opportunities. In the top of the ninth, junior Ennis Coble and freshman Nick Lombardi led off with base hits. Following a strikeout, Coble was dead-to-rights on an attempted steal, only to be ruled safe due to the third baseman bobbling the throw. Turnbull was then intentionally walked to load the bases, but Sacramento State closer R.J. Davis wriggled out of his own jam with a strikeout and a fly to left that was caught on the run.

Both starting pitchers proved to be difficult to solve. Big Green freshman left-hander Adam Frank, making his first collegiate start, kept the Sacramento State bats at bay for his six innings on the mound. Only one Hornet reached second base against him, that being David Del Grande with a one-out double in the sixth. But after a foul pop and the only walk issued by Frank, he ended the lone scoring threat against him with a routine pop-up to third. He needed just 72 pitches to finish his six stanzas, allowing four hits and a walk with one strikeout.

Zach Morgan, meanwhile, put goose eggs on the board for seven innings against the Dartmouth lineup. But in four of those frames, the Big Green had a runner in scoring position with less than two outs, yet could not get the clutch hit they needed. Double plays in the second and fifth innings thwarted potential rallies, and another runner caught off third by Chung behind the plate to end the seventh. Morgan ended his day having yielded seven hits and two walks while fanning three.

Freshman right-hander Thomas Olson came on in relief of Frank, retiring six of the seven batters he faced and giving up just a harmless two-out single in the eighth.

A single and an error with Sacremento State left-handed reliever Tyler Hoelzen on the mound in the top of the eighth put runners on first and second with one out. After he induced a foul pop, he gave way to right-hander Hunter Greenwood, who got the right-handed hitting Dustin Selzer out, but just barely as his drive to deep center was flagged down by Kyle Moses at the fence.

Freshman Matt Robinson and Turnbull had two hits apiece as the Big Green collected 10 as a team, all singles. Dartmouth also left 10 men on base, five coming in the final two frames.

Del Grande enjoyed a perfect 4-for-4 day at the plate, but did not figure into the lone run of the game.

Dartmouth has a day off before continuing its nine-game swing in California with a game at Cal Poly on Wednesday at 4 p.m. (EDT). Sacramento State will complete a six-game homestand tomorrow afternoon against Pacific at 2 p.m. (PDT).