Baseball Falters in Late Innings in 5-2 Loss at Cornell

Monday, April 2

Ithaca, N.Y.

12:00 PM

Dartmouth College

4-13, 1-3

Cornell

16-5-1, 3-1

Dartmouth

Cornell

Sacramento State Takes First in Five-Game Series

Baseball Falters in Late Innings in 5-2 Loss at Cornell

4/2/2012 4:01:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

ITHACA, N.Y. — Dartmouth jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Monday afternoon, only to see host Cornell rally for five unanswered runs to defeat the Big Green, 5-2, in the final game of the opening weekend for Ivy League baseball. Marshall Yanzick drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning to help Cornell (16-5-1, 3-1 Ivy) win its third straight game, while Dartmouth (4-13, 1-3 Ivy) was swept by the Big Red in Ithaca for the first time since 1998.

Junior Ennis Coble figured into both Dartmouth runs that scored, driving home senior Joe Sclafani with the first run on a single in the third, then coming around to score on freshman Matt Robinson's single through the right side. But Cornell right fielder Chris Cruz gunned down sophomore Dustin Selzer at the plate trying to score from second on the play as well, holding the Big Green lead at 2-0.

On the mound, junior Michael Johnson stranded six Cornell runners on base during the first four innings, escaping a bases-loaded jam in the fourth when left fielder Jeff Keller made a sliding catch to retire the side. Frank Hager put the Big Red on the board, however, when he smacked a solo homer — his second in as many days — with two down in the fifth to cut the Dartmouth lead in half.

In the sixth, Brandon Lee stroked his second double of the game and scored one out later on a triple off the bat of Tom D'Alessandro, knotting the score at two apiece. Johnson avoided further damage by getting a grounder to short with the infield drawn in and a routine fly to right.

Johnson was lifted after six innings of two-run ball in favor of rookie right-hander Thomas Olson (0-3), who immediately found trouble by walking the first batter in the seventh. After pumping a strike past Yanzick, the shortstop lined a double into the gap in right-center, allowing Brenton Peters to score all the way from first with the go-ahead run. Olson retired the next two hitters, but Lee provided a big two-out RBI single to make it a 4-2 game.

Dartmouth, which had been quiet offensively since Robinson's run-scoring single in the third, loaded the bases with one out in the eighth. Coble walked to start things off, and after starter Rick Marks got a foul pop for the first out, the Big Red went to the bullpen. Kellon Urbon climbed the hill and promptly surrendered a single to Keller and issued a walk to Robinson to put the potential go-ahead run on base. But the rally died when Urbon got a strikeout and a chopper to first.

Cornell added an unearned insurance run in the eighth when Peters lofted a sacrifice fly to left to score D'Alessandro, who had singled, stolen second and advanced to third on a passed ball. Urbon then proceeded to set down the Big Green in order to preserve the win and pick up his fourth save of the year.

Marks (3-1) earned the victory for the Big Red, hurling 7.1 innings while yielding two runs on five hits and four walks with three strikeouts. He did not allow a hit after the third inning before being pulled with one gone in the eighth.

Keller banged out three of Dartmouth's six hits on the afternoon, including a double. Lee matched those three hits for Cornell, stroking a pair of doubles while scoring a run and driving in another.

The Big Green return to Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park — where they boast the longest home winning streak in the country at 25 games— to start a six-game homestand, beginning on Wednesday when Saint Anselm comes to town for a game at 3:30 p.m. Cornell will play its next six contests on the road, starting with a doubleheader at Canisius on Wednesday at 3 p.m.