Parisi Keys 3-Run Ninth to Help Baseball Salvage Split at Penn

Sunday, March 29

Philadelphia, Pa.

12:00 PM

Dartmouth College

3-16, 1-2

Penn

5-8, 1-0

Dartmouth

Penn

Parisi Keys 3-Run Ninth to Help Baseball Salvage Split at Penn

3/29/2015 4:59:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Dartmouth

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — Matt Parisi lined a two-out, two-run double in the ninth inning of the second game of a doubleheader to give Dartmouth the lead, and the Big Green held on in the bottom half to salvage a split with a 4-3 victory. Host Penn (5-9, 1-1 Ivy) got a walk-off single from Gary Tesch in the first game to give the Quakers their own 4-3 triumph after the Big Green (4-16, 2-2 Ivy) had tied the game in the top half with a pair of runs.

Trailing 2-1 in the top of the ninth of the nightcap, Dartmouth put a the tying run on base with one out when freshman Justin Fowler was hit by a pitch. The Big Green hopes dimmed when Penn reliever Nick Pedalino (0-1) got the second out on strikes, by they were renewed as senior Matt MacDowell hit a single to right. Parisi followed by hitting a sinking liner that the right fielder dove for in an attempt to end the game, only to have the ball skip past him. Both runners were able to score on the play and Parisi took third on the throw home as Dartmouth had its first lead of the game at 3-2. Junior Nick Ruppert drove in Parisi with a booming double off the left-field fence for what turned out to be a very important insurance run.

Freshman Patrick Peterson (2-0) had already thrown two scoreless innings in relief, and quickly retired the first two batters on infield pops. But Ryan McKinnon worked him for a walk, and Tesch poked a double into right-center to put the tying run in scoring position. On the very next pitch, Connor Betbeze tried to check his swing, but hit a dribbler up the third-base line for an RBI single. The poor luck did not faze Peterson, however, as he was able to induce one more popup, this time to his catcher, Adam Gauthier, in foul territory to secure the win.

The game was scoreless threw four innings as Big Green right-hander Jackson Bubala and Quaker southpaw Mike Reitcheck, but Penn broke through with single runs in the fifth and sixth to take a 2-0 lead. Austin Bossart delivered a two-out, RBI single in the fifth to plate McKinnon, who had doubled, and singles by Jeff McGarry, Ryan Mincher and McKinnon led to the tally in the sixth.

Reitcheck was lifted after seven innings having thrown 97 pitches while keeping Dartmouth off the scoreboard on six hits and no walks with three strikeouts. Parisi greeted reliever Mitch Holtz with a double to the left-center gap, and Ruppert brought him around with a single to right, cutting the deficit in half and setting the stage for the duo's heroics in the ninth.

Bubala, making just his second career appearance, threw his second straight quality start, allowing two runs on seven hits and a walk over six stanzas while fanning four.

Parisi was involved in all four Dartmouth runs, going 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs, while Ruppert joined him by going 3-for-5 while driving him in twice. Sophomores Michael Ketchmark and Ben Socher each had two safeties in the 11-hit Big Green attack.

Like Parisi, McKinnon had a hand in each of Penn's markers, scoring twice and driving in one while going 2-for-3.

In the opening game, Dartmouth trailed in the seventh and final inning, 3-1, yet rallied to knot the score at three. Ketchmark led off with a walk and Ruppert ripped a double into the left-field corner to put runners at second and third. Freshman Kyle Holbrook advanced both runners with a sacrifice fly, and MacDowell tied the score with a successful squeeze bunt.

But the Quakers did not let the turn of events keep them down as Jonah Campbell worked the count full before poking a single through the right side of the infield. A sacrifice bunt moved him up, and Tesch lined a single to right. A hard-charging Holbrook got Campbell to hold at third, but in his haste, the ball scooted past him, allowing Campbell to score the winning run.

Dartmouth briefly had a 1-0 lead when Ketchmark ripped a leadoff double in the second, went to third on a sacrifice and scored on Holbrook's first sacrifice fly of the game. But Penn answered in its half on a two-out single by Campbell, a passed ball and a Betbeze RBI single to center.

Campbell gave the Quakers the lead in the fifth by starting the stanza with his first career home run. Matt Greskoff supplied an insurance run with a two-out double to score Tesch, who had singled and stolen second.

Connor Cuff (2-1) hurled all seven innings for Penn, yielding three runs on five hits and a pair of walks to go with six strikeouts.

Taking the loss was junior Duncan Robinson (1-2), who allowed four runs, just two earned, on eight hits without issuing a free pass over 6.1 frames while punching out two.

Dartmouth will play again on Wednesday in non-conference action at Quinnipiac (5-15) at 3 p.m. Penn will finish its first Ivy weekend on Monday when it hosts Harvard (10-10, 0-2 Ivy) in a doubleheader starting at noon.

Notes: This is just the fourth time in the past 18 seasons in which Dartmouth and Penn have split the doubleheader. Each team has swept the other seven times in the span … the Big Green have yet to play a home game this year, but will finally get the opportunity to play at Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park — where they have a 76-15 record over the past six seasons — when they host Cornell in a twinbill on Saturday at noon.