Baseball Finishes California Trip at Cal Poly, UC Irvine

The Games: Dartmouth (2-6) at Cal Poly (12-7); UC Irvine (11-8)
Locations: Baggett Stadium (1,734), San Luis Obispo, Calif.; Anteater Ballpark (3,200), Irvine, Calif.
First pitches: 4 p.m. Wednesday at Cal Poly; 9:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday at UC Irvine (all times Eastern)
Series Record vs. Cal Poly: Mustangs lead, 4-2
Series Record vs. UC Irvine: First games
Live Audio — Cal Poly; UC Irvine (Thursday-Friday), (Saturday)
Live Video ($) — Cal Poly only
Live Stats
Complete Game Notes

California Dreaming Part II
•   Dartmouth has four games remaining on its spring break trip to California with a contest at Cal Poly on Wednesday and a three-game series at UC Irvine.
•   The Big Green won two of the five games at Sacramento State in a very even series as the host Hornets outscored Dartmouth by just two runs, 25-23.
•   The rubber game of the series was a pitchers' duel that remained scoreless until Sacramento State scored the lone run in the bottom of the ninth for a 1-0 win. The last 1-0 game the Big Green had played was the 2008 season opener against Navy, which Dartmouth won.
•   Senior David Turnbull has gotten off to a tremendous start this season, hitting an even .500 (11-of-22) with four doubles, six walks and just two strikeouts. He currently owns a nine-game hitting streak dating back to last year.
•   Sophomore Jeff Keller hit safely in each of the first six games, but had to leave the seventh contest before coming to the plate after slamming into the fence at Sacramento State while attempting to catch a fly ball. His status is day-to-day.
•   Rookie pitchers have fared ware out West with LHP Adam Frank tossing six scoreless innings in his first collegiate start and RHP Thomas Olson twirling 5.2 innings without allowing a run in two relief appearances, picking up his first save as well.
•   Last year the Big Green won their fourth straight Rolfe Division title with a 14-6 mark, but fell to Princeton in the best-of-three Ivy Championship Series held at the Tigers' Clarke Field, keeping Dartmouth from winning a third consecutive Ivy Championship.
•   While this won't come into play for a couple of more weeks, the Big Green open the season with a 24-game home winning streak intact, the longest in the country, although South Carolina is gaining at 22. The first home game will take place on March 28 (the earliest ever for Dartmouth).
•   Head coach Bob Whalen is in his 23rd season, sporting an overall record of 435-432-1, including last year's 30-12 mark. In 2010, he surpassed former big league pitcher Jeff Tesreau as the Big Green's all-time winningest coach. Tesreau coached Dartmouth for 28 seasons (1919-46).

Scouting the Mustangs
•   Since winning seven of its first eight games, Cal Poly has gone just 5-6, including its first series loss of the year last weekend at Minnesota.
•   The Mustangs sport an RPI of 48 and are receiving votes in the polls.
•   Shortstop Mike Miller is the catalyst of the offense, batting .349 with 23 runs scored, while center fielder Mitch Haniger provides the most power with five homers, 23 RBIs and a .575 slugging percentage.
•   As a team, Cal Poly is hitting .272 with 10 homers while scoring 5.9 runs per game.
•   The pitching staff sports a strong 3.46 team ERA, but closer Chase Johnson sits at 4.76 with with 15 strikeouts in 11.1 innigs while saving three games.
•   Defensively, the Mustangs are solid as well with a .977 fielding percentage.

The Overall Record vs. Cal Poly
•   This is the seventh time Dartmouth will play the Mustangs, having won two of the first six games.
•   Cal Poly won the first meeting (6-5 in 2001) and the most recent one (14-9 in 2009). The Big Green boast victories in 2003 (5-2) and 2006 (6-4).

Probable Starting Pitchers
•   Junior LHP Kyle Hunter (0-1, 6.75 ERA) will face the Cal Poly lineup in search of his first win after tying for the Ivy League lead with five last year.
•   The Mustangs will counter with RHP Bryan Granger, who is making his first collegiate appearance and start.

Scouting the Anteaters
•   Although UC Irvine won its first three games of the season, it has not won or lost more than two straight since. This past weekend it lost the first of three at Nevada before winning the last two.
•   Like Cal Poly, the Anteaters have a good RPI (63) and are receiving votes in the polls.
•   The strength of the offense is its ability to get on base (.382 OBA) which includes 93 walks and 30 HBPs, both among the top 35 in the country.
•   Jeff Stephens leads the team with a .400 average, but has started just 10 games. Of the two home runs hit by UC Irvine, neither has been hit by a player with an average above .205.
•   The pitching staff will make this squad relevant nationally, having posted an ERA of 2.68 thus far while holding the opposition to a .229 average.
•   Four different pitchers have a save, and the top four relievers have combined for an ERA of 1.00.
•   UC Irvine is strong in the field as well with a .973 fielding percentage with 20 errors in 19 games.

The Overall Record vs. UC Irvine
•   This is the first three games between the two schools on the diamond.
•   Entering the game at Cal Poly, Dartmouth has a 3-16 record all-time against Big West schools.

Probable Starting Pitchers
•   Coming off a complete-game win over Sacramento State is sophomore LHP Mitch Horacek (1-1, 8.25), followed by another left-hander in junior LHP Michael Johnson (1-0, 3.86) on Friday. Johnson allowed just one run in 5.1 innings to pick up the other win over the Hornets. The last starter on the trip will be sophomore RHP Louis Concato (0-1, 6.00), who provided a quality start on Sunday, yielding two runs in six stanzas.
•   For UC Irvine, the trend of right-handed starters facing the Big Green will continue, beginning with RHP Nick Hoover (2-0, 0.00). His last outing was his first start in two years, going 7.2 innings of one-hit ball against Washington State. Next up will be RHP Andrew Thurman (1-1, 3.16), who is second on the team with 21 strikeouts, and then RHP Crosby Slaught (2-2, 2.42), who is holding opposing hitters to a .202 average.

What's Up Next
Dartmouth returns to Hanover to put its 24-game home winning streak on the line against Amherst on March 28. Conference play begins next weekend with a rematch of last year's Ivy Championship Series on March 31 at Princeton followed by a twinbill at Cornell on April Fools Day.

1-0 Rarity
Dartmouth played Sacramento State to a scoreless tie for eight and a half innings on March 19 before the Hornets broke through with the lone run in walk-off fashion. It was the 78th 1-0 game in Big Green history, but first since the season opener in 2008 when Dartmouth beat Navy. In those 78 1-0 games, the Green are 34-44.

Frank Dazzles in Starting Debut
Freshman Adam Frank struggled in his first collegiate appearance at LSU, but shined when given the opportunity to start on March 19 at Sacramento State. The left-hander did not allow a single run over his six innings, throwing 72 pitches while yielding just four hits and one walk with one strikeout. The last rookie to post similar numbers in his first career start was Kyle Hunter, who gave up one run over seven innings against Bradley two years ago.

Turnbull-ing the Corner
Entering his senior campaign, David Turnbull sported a triple-slash line of .263/.313/.347 over 281 plate appearances. The switch-hitter flipped the switch at the plate this year, however, starting the season with a line of .500/.607/.682 in 28 plate apperances, leading the team in all three categories. His six walks have already matched his career high, and his four doubles lead the squad as well.

Two-Out Trouble
As a team, Dartmouth is hitting a solid .303, which ranks 50th nationally. But the Big Green are scoring less than five runs per game, mostly due to its inability to get big hits with two outs. The team average is a robust .320 with runners on base and a respectable .276 with runners in scoring position. But with runners on and two outs it plummets to .204, and when those runners are in scoring position with two gone — just .135.

“Whole Way” Horacek
Sophomore Mitch Horacek had to wait an extra day to make his start due to rain in Sacramento, but it turned out to be worth the way. The left-hander tossed a seven-inning complete game — the first of his career — to lead Dartmouth to its first win of 2012, 12-4, striking out a career-high six batters without issuing a walk.

Schedules