Ivy Slate Begins for Baseball at Columbia and Penn

Ivy League Opening Weekend
Following a grueling non-conference slate to start the 2015 season, Dartmouth gets a fresh start with the Ivy League schedule beginning this weekend. First up is a rematch of the 2014 Ivy League Championship Series as the Big Green play a doubleheader at Columbia against the 8-9 Lions in New York on Saturday. The next day, Dartmouth heads over to Philadelphia to take on 4-8 Penn in a noon twinbill.

Dartmouth (2-14, 0-0) at
Columbia (8-9, 0-0) / Penn (4-8, 0-0)
Robertson Field at Satow Stadium, New York, N.Y.
Meiklejohn Stadium, Philadelphia, Pa.

Columbia, Saturday, March 28, Noon DH
Video: Ivy League Digital Network • Live Stats
Game 1: RHP Mike Concato (0-2, 3.86) vs. RHP Kevin Roy (1-1, 4.67)
Game 2: RHP Louis Concato (0-3, 6.00) vs. LHP Mike Weisman (0-1, 5.17)

Penn, Sunday, March 29, Noon DH
Live Stats
Game 1: RHP Duncan Robinson (1-1, 4.50) vs. LHP Ronnie Glenn (0-2, 3.07)
Game 2: TBD vs. RHP Jake Cousins (1-1, 3.14)

Spring Trip in Review
•   Dartmouth played a gauntlet of nine games in just six days while traveling out West. After dropping the first eight (three by a single run), the Big Green finished up with a 7-1 win over Cal Poly.
•   In the first game in California, Dartmouth scored once in the eighth and twice in the ninth to tie Pepperdine, only to have the Wave ride a two-out rally in their half of the ninth to a 6-5 win.
•   In a four-game series at Cal State Northridge, the Big Green mustered a total of six runs. The closest game was the second in which Dartmouth fell behind 4-3 after three innings and neither team scored again.
•   Between two losses to 16th-ranked UC Santa Barbara, the Green had a neutral-site game against UT Arlington slip through their fingers as the Mavericks rallied for two in the seventh to steal the win from Dartmouth, 3-2, ruining the debut of sophomore Jackson Bubala on the mound who tossed six innings of one-run ball.
•   Dartmouth turned a scoreless pitchers' duel through five innings into a 5-0 lead against Cal Poly thanks to two-out, two-run hits by Nick Ruppert and Kyle Holbrook. Duncan Robinson went a career-long eight innings, yielding just the one run on seven hits, to earn his first win.
•   Five regulars hit at least .300 during the trip, including Matt Parisi (.333) and Joe Purritano (.324), the latter of which also swatted seven doubles. Nick Lombardi hit an even .300 and led the team with seven RBIs
•   Like Bubala, Mike Concato deserved a better fate on the mound, posting a 2.16 ERA on the trip but suffering a loss to the CSUN Matadors. He gave up just two runs in a 7.1-inning start, but also closed out the win over Cal Poly with a perfect ninth.

Last Time Against the Lions
After splitting a pair of one-run games in Hanover during the regular season, these two squads were paired up in the Ivy League Championship Series for a second straight year. The Lions managed to win the first two games, 6-2 and 4-1, to claim their second straight league crown.
Both games started well for Dartmouth as it jumped out to a 1-0 lead. But Columbia scored three runs in the fourth inning in each contest, plus muscled up and hit a pair of home runs in both games as well to defeat the Big Green for the title.

The Overall Record vs. Columbia
•   Dartmouth owns a fairly sizable advantage in the all-time series, 103-74.
•   This has become a serious rivalry of late as the two teams have met in the Ivy Championship Series four times in the past seven years. The Lions beat the Green in Hanover in 2008, two games to one, and Dartmouth returned the favor in 2010 on Columbia's home turf. Each of the last two years were also played in New York with the Lions sweeping the series.
•   Dartmouth head coach Bob Whalen has a 37-23 mark in games against Columbia.
•   Columbia has been playing on FieldTurf at its home park — Robertson Field at Satow Stadium — since 2008. The Big Green are 8-5 on it and 16-13 in New York since the divisional format was installed for the Ivy League in 1993.

Scouting the Lions
•   Dartmouth has had the fourth-most difficult schedule to date in the country, but Columbia isn't far behind at ninth having played the likes of Houston and UCF (ratings courtesy of D1Baseball.com).
•   The Lions boast a five-game win streak entering the series after sweeping four from USC Upstate and a 13-10 win in their home opener over Army.
•   The offense is hitting .269 with an average of 5.3 runs per game, led by Joey Falcone who suffered through a rough junior year. But he has found his stroke in 2015, leading the Lions in eight categories.
•   Columbia is an aggressive team on the bases with 23 steals in 28 tries, led by Jordan Serena (8-of-8), Shane Adams (6-of-7) and Will Savage (6-of-8).
•   The staff ERA of 5.42 is misleading due to the competition Columbia has played. The top of the rotation, led by RHP Kevin Roy and LHP Adam Cline, is solid as is the bullpen that has racked up seven saves in the eight victories.
•   In the field, the Lions have been a bit mistake-prone with 29 errors in 17 games for a .954 fielding percentage, well below last year's .975. Opponents have also stolen 18 bases in 25 tries.

Probable Starting Pitchers
•   Dartmouth is going to make the doubleheader a family affair with RHP Mike Concato (0-2, 3.86) throwing game one against RHP Kevin Roy (1-1, 4.67) , followed by RHP Louis Concato (0-3, 6.00) versus LHP Mike Weisman (0-1, 5.17) in the second game.
•   The Concato brothers may be winless between them, but Mike is coming off a 7.1-inning, two-run start at Cal State Northridge (plus a perfect inning of relief against Cal Poly), while Louis has been the victim of some suspect defense to a degree, yielding eight runs (but only three earned) in a loss to CSUN.
•   Roy's walk rate is up this year, but pitched well against USC Upstate a week ago, going 5.2 innings an allowing just one run while walking two in a 4-1 win. Opponents are hitting .338 against Weisman in his 15.2 innings. He went 4.1 frames in his last outing against USC Upstate, allowing two runs on six hits.

Last Time Against the Quakers
Penn became the only team to sweep a doubleheader from the Big Green at Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park since th 2009 renovation, defeating Dartmouth by scores of 4-0 and 7-4. Connor Cuff outdueled Michael Danielak in the first game, which was scoreless through four innings. But a Michael Vilardo homer leading off the fifth was all Cuff needed in his seven-inning shutout.
The Big Green jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second game thanks to homers off the bats of Nick Ruppert and Jeff Keller. But the Quakers rallied to tie the game at four in the fifth, then put three more on the board in the seventh on an Austin Bossart solo shot and a Vilardo two-run double.

The Overall Record vs. Penn
•   The Big Green have a slim lead in the all-time series against Penn with an 85-82-1 record.
•   In the past 17 seasons, each team has seven doubleheader sweeps to their credit while splitting the two games just thrice.
•   Coach Whalen is 26-22 against Penn during his tenure, including a 4-2 mark in extra innings.
•   Penn's Meiklejohn Stadium opened in 2000, and Dartmouth sports a 4-10 record there. Every series has been a sweep for either team at the venue.

Scouting the Quakers
•   Since a 1-8 start, Penn has won three in a row, beating Lafayette twice and Saint Joseph's, 4-2.
•   With a .235 average and just four runs a game, the offense has sputtered a bit out of the gate. But catcher Austin Bossart has been a bright spot, hitting .395 with a .472 on-base percentage, not to mention a surprising 5-for-5 stealing bases.
•   The Quakers have hit seven homers in 12 games, two each by Matt Greskoff and Jeff McGarry.
•   Penn pitchers have posted a combined 3.91 ERA, but more than a third of the runs they have allowed have been unearned due to a .947 fielding percentage (24 errors).
•   Beyond the five pitchers that have started, the bullpen has just one with more than four innings pitched — Mitch Holtz with a 3.38 ERA over 7.1 innings with no walks and seven strikeouts.

Probable Starting Pitchers
•   Dartmouth is going with RHP Duncan Robinson (1-1, 4.50) likely squaring off against LHP Ronnie Glenn (0-2, 3.07). Game two is still a toss-up, but if I were to use my crystal ball, I would say RHP Patrick Peterson (1-0, 3.27) will get his first Ivy start against RHP Jake Cousins (1-1, 3.14).
•   Robinson displayed his 2014 form in his last start, an eight-inning start in which he yielded just one run in a win over Cal Poly with four strikeouts. Since getting roughed up by Texas A&M in his collegiate debut, Peterson has given up just three hits over eight innings with eight strikeouts.
•   Glenn was the Quaker closer when he first arrived, but has become a dependable starter with 17 strikeouts in 14.2 innings, although he has walked 11 batters as well (but none in his last start of five frames). Cousins actually picked up his win in relief of Glenn against Saint Joseph's, hurling four scoreless innings to finish the 4-2 victory.

What's Up Next
Dartmouth has one more game on the road, a Tuesday showdown at Quinnipiac at 3 p.m., before finally opening up at home over next weekend. Cornell comes to town on Saturday for a noon doubleheader, followed by Princeton the following day with another twinbill at 12 p.m.

Keep Up with the Action
The games may not be at Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park, but at least the doubleheader at Columbia will be available for viewing on Big Green Insider via the Ivy League Digital Network.

Lombardi Senior CLASS Candidate
The Senior CLASS Award candidates for baseball were announced on March 24, and for the second straight year, Dartmouth had a player among the 30 listed. Third baseman Nick Lombardi was one of three Ivy Leaguers named to the prestigious group for his work on the field, in the classroom and in the community. Last year, Jeff Keller '14 made it all the way to the group of 10 finalists, which is released midway through the season, with the winner being announced at the College World Series.

Whalen to Coach 1,000th Game
Head coach Bob Whalen is in his 26th season in charge of the Big Green baseball program, and is by far the winningest coach at Dartmouth in any sport with 509 wins. Now he is on the verge of being the head coach for 1,000 games, a total he will reach in the second game of the doubleheader at Columbia on Saturday.

End of Eight-Game Slide
The Big Green suffered through their worst losing streak in six years when it dropped the first eight games in California. But they avoided a winless trip by posting a 7-1 win at Cal Poly on March 23. The win also helped Dartmouth avoid matching its worst 16-game start in program history at 1-15, which first happened in 1978 and again in 1992. The silver lining is that the last time the Green lost eight straight, they ended up winning the Ivy League title (2009).

Robinson Rights the Ship
The win at Cal Poly was possible thanks to a stellar start by Duncan Robinson, who threw a career-high eight innings, allowing one run on seven hits and a walk to go with four strikeouts in 105 pitches. In his previous two starts, he had given up 11 earned runs in 11 innings after shutting out Texas A&M for five frames in the season opener.

Ruppert, Holbrook Come Through
In the midst of a scoreless tie in the sixth at Cal Poly, Dartmouth needed a big two-out hit from Nick Ruppert, who had gone 2-for-24 with runners in scoring position last year. Yet the junior delivered a two-run single to center to put the Big Green on top.
Up next was freshman Kyle Holbrook, mired in a 3-for-42 slump. Again Dartmouth got a big hit, this time in the form of a two-run triple to right-center, and the Green went on to a 7-1 win.

Purritano a Doubles Machine
Through 16 games, junior Joe Purritano has already doubled 10 times this season. His per game rate of 0.63 is third in the nation, trailing a pair of players at 0.68. Two years ago, Jeff Keller '14 led the nation in the catergory with 21 two-baggers in 40 games (0.53).

Lombardi Hits 100 RBIs
Senior Nick Lombardi became the 18th player in Dartmouth history to drive in 100 runs in a career when he drilled an RBI double in the first inning against UC Santa Barbara on March 21. He currently has 101 to his credit, and with a dozen more will break into the Big Green's top 10.

No Double Digits
Through the first 16 games, Dartmouth has not scored more than eight runs in a game, marking the first time since 1982 it has taken the team that long to hit double digits in the run column. I would like to note that the 1970 squad that advanced to the College World Series did not score at least 10 runs until its 17th contest. Coincidence? You decide.

Bubala Makes Beautiful Debut
Injuries have held sophomore Jackson Bubala back in his Dartmouth career, but the right-hander finally got to climb the mound when he started against UT Arlington on March 22. He did not disappoint as he supplied a quality start, surrendering just one run over six innings on four hits and two walks with two strikeouts. He left with a 2-1 lead, but did not get a decision as the Mavericks rallied for a 3-2 win.

Ketchmark Ketches Hold of One
Sophomore Michael Ketchmark managed to slug the first home run of his career in the 3-2 loss to UT Arlington on March 22. The first baseman pummeled the first pitch of his second at-bat in the fourth inning over the fence in left field, giving the Big Green a 2-1 lead. It was the first Dartmouth four-bagger since Joe Purritano went yard at Texas A&M, a span of 12 games.

Dearth of Sacrifice Flies
No one really pays attention to how many sacrifice flies a player hits. It isn't a statistic of prestige, and it has some detractors as well (is a player really sacrificing himself to score a run by purposefully hitting a simple fly ball?). That being said, Dartmouth has yet to hit even one sacrifice fly this year. Only two other teams have not had one this year. I have no idea which two, only that there are two.

Purritano Leading the Offense
The 2013 Ivy League Rookie of the Year, Joe Purritano, suffered through a bit of a sophomore slump with a slugging percentage under .400. But the junior has come out swinging in 2015, hitting .355/.403/.565 to lead the team in each category as well as hits (22), doubles (10), homers (1), walks (5) and runs scored (11). He has seven multi-hit games as well, including a career-high four hits against Northwestern.

Olson Returns to the Mound
Senior Thomas Olson missed all of 2014 after earning All-Ivy honors as a freshman (second team) and sophomore (first team), saving a total of 12 games with an ERA of 1.53 over 53 innings. During the California trip, he made his first appearance of 2015 with a scoreless inning in the 4-3 loss at Cal State Northridge, allowing just a single and striking out one batter.

Ruppert Streak Ends
Nick Ruppert ended his sophomore season having reached base in 10 straight games. He nearly matched that total to start the 2015 campaign, getting on base in each of the first nine contests. But Cal State Northridge finally contained the center fielder and kept him off the bases in the second game of the series. In the 16 games thus far, he has reached base in 14 of them.

Schedules