Ivy Baseball Weekend Series at Yale Begins Saturday at 1 p.m.

Intradivisional Play Begins
Dartmouth wrapped up its games against the Gehrig Division teams with a 4-4 record to sit atop the Rolfe Division. Now the Big Green must find a way to stay at the top while playing their division rivals, beginning with Yale on the road this weekend. Since starting the season 1-14, Dartmouth has gone 5-5 in its last 10 games.

Dartmouth (6-19, 4-4) at
Yale (9-14, 2-6)
Yale Field, New Haven, Conn.

Saturday, April 11, 1 p.m. DH
Audio: Ivy League Digital Network • Live Stats: Game 1 / Game 2
Game 1: RHP Mike Concato (1-3, 3.54) vs. RHP Chris Lanham (3-3, 5.79)
Game 2: RHP Jackson Bubala (1-0, 3.00) vs. RHP Mason Kukowski (2-1, 3.18)

Sunday, April 12, Noon DH
Video: Ivy League Digital Network • Live Stats: Game 1 / Game 2
Game 1: RHP Duncan Robinson (2-2, 3.38) vs. TBD
Game 2: RHP Louis Concato (0-5, 5.96) vs. TBD

Last Week in Review
•   The Big Green played their first four home games of the 2015 campaign with Cornell and Princeton in town for doubleheaders, splitting both twinbills. The five-game homestand wrapped with Boston College on Tuesday, a 2-0 Eagle victory.
•   Mike Concato was terrific in the opener against the Big Red, but Brian McAfee was even better to help Cornell win the pitchers' duel, 1-0. Concato gave up just four hits and two walks in going the distance, while McAfee retired the final 19 batters he faced while surrendering just two hits.
•   The bats picked up in game two as the Green put two runs up in four separate innings for an 8-5 triumph. Matt Parisi scored three runs and Ben Socher scored twice and drove in two more while Patrick Peterson earned his first collegiate save.
•   Dartmouth got another complete game in the first showdown with Princeton, this time from Duncan Robinson in a 3-1 win. The top three hitters in the lineup had all five hits and provided all three runs with a two-run single by Joe Purritano in the first the winning blow.
•   The Tigers exacted their revenge in the second game, however, shutting out the Big Green on four hits — two by Socher — in a 4-0 contest.
•   The offense struggled again against Boston College two days later, managing just two infield hits in a 2-0 loss, ruining a strong performance by Chris England (6.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER) on the mound.

Last Year Against the Bulldogs
These two teams played five times last year as they tied for the division lead, forcing a one-game playoff for the right to advance to the Ivy League Championship Series. The Big Green won that showdown, 11-4, and took three of four in the regular season, all at Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park.

In the first game, Nick Lombardi backed the pitching of Beau Sulser with a pair of home runs and drove in four as Dartmouth rolled, 8-2. The offense continued to pour it on in the second game, banging out 13 hits in a 12-3 triumph. Nick Ruppert scored three runs, Thomas Roulis drove in three (and both hit a triple) and Dustin Selzer supplied three knocks with a pair of doubles.

The next day, Yale rebounded behind a four-hit shutout by Chris Lanham in a 6-0 contest. Richard Slenker was the offensive star for the Bulldogs, reaching base three times and providing two RBIs. The final game of the series was the tightest as Yale took a 2-0 lead in the fifth, only to have the Big Green knot the score in the bottom half on a two-run single by Adam Gauthier. A Selzer RBI double in the sixth and a Matt Parisi run-scoring single in the seventh sent the Big Green to a 4-2 victory as Duncan Robinson picked up the win with four scoreless innings of relief.

The Dartmouth bats were in full gear for the playoff game as everyone in the lineup had at least one hit, including three each for Jeff Keller and Bo Patterson. Lombardi tripled and homered while driving in four, and a seven-run third all but ended the game. The only bad news for the Big Green was Sulser leaving the game after a pop in his elbow in the second, which led to Tommy John surgery.

The Overall Record vs. Yale
•   The two teams have met 213 times on the diamond with the Bulldogs leading 120-92-1, although Dartmouth has won 18 of the last 24.
•   Yale has hosted the Big Green for 93 games since the steel and concrete structure was built in 1928, with Dartmouth going 33-59-1 in that time.
•   Since the divisional format was instituted in 1993, the Green are 19-25 in New Haven against Yale. They have never swept the four games, but have won 3-of-4 four times (1999, 2003, 2009 and 2013).
•   Big Green head coach Bob Whalen enters this game with a 48-43 mark versus Yale.
•   The first game in the series took place 133 years ago when the Big Green defeated Yale, 6-3.

Scouting the Bulldogs
•   Since winning five of six early in the season, Yale has struggled of late, dropping 10 of its last 13 contests. Two of those wins came at Princeton, however, though the Elis lost their other six Ivy games coming into this weekend.
•   The offense that averages 5.2 runs per game is led by Eric Hsieh, who has an astounding slash line of .447/.587/.500. Yes, a .587 OBP. Those numbers garnered him a spot on the Golden Spikes Award Watch List, made up of 60 college players.
•   Three others are hitting over .300 in Richard Slenker (.337), Green Campbell (.315) and David Toups (.303), but the Bulldogs have hit just three home runs as a team.
•   Pitching has been problematic outside of relievers Mason Kukowski (3.18 ERA) and Drew Scott (3.38). The staff ERA fell below nine (8.77) with a shutout of Fairfield on Wednesday, and nine times Yale has yielded 10 or more runs in a game.
•   Dartmouth barely leads the Bulldogs in team fielding (.9729 to .9727), but these two have been the best in the Ivy League in the field this year. Yale catchers have thrown out about 21 percent (11 of 52) of would-be base stealers as well.

Probable Starting Pitchers
•   Dartmouth is sticking with its weekend rotation that produced four quality starts against Cornell and Princeton, beginning with RHP Mike Concato (1-3, 3.54). The sophomore suffered a tough loss to the Big Red last Saturday despite allowing just one run on four hits while hurling all seven innings. Yale will counter with RHP Chris Lanham (3-3, 5.73), who threw a four-hit shutout last year against the Big Green but was roughed up for six runs in 2.1 innings in the playoff game.
•   The second game will feature sophomore RHP Jackson Bubala (1-0, 3.00) against RHP Mason Kukowski (2-1, 3.18) making his first collegiate start after 14 relief appearances. Granted, this is just Bubala's fourth start, though he has produced a quality start in each of his first three, going six innings each time and allowing one, two and three runs, respectively.
•   Yale has not announced its starters for Sunday, but Dartmouth will go with junior RHP Duncan Robinson (2-2, 3.38), coming off a brilliant 3-1, seven-inning complete-game victory over Princeton, followed by senior RHP Louis Concato (0-5, 5.96), who deserved better in his last outing after yielding three runs over six-plus stanzas in a 4-0 loss to the Tigers.

What's Up Next
Dartmouth has a rare mid-week doubleheader scheduled at UMass Lowell on Tuesday at 3 p.m. The Big Green then return home next weekend to host Brown in a key four-game Ivy League series with noon doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday.

Keep Up with the Action
All four games this weekend at Yale can be heard live on the Ivy League Digital Network as the Bulldogs will provide audio commentary from Yale Field. The broadcasts are free to anyone with an internet connection; visit IvyLeagueDigitalNetwork.com for more information.

Pitching, Defense Shining of Late
Since starting the season with one win in its first 15 games, Dartmouth has turned a corner, splitting its last 10 contests. It certainly has helped that the pitching staff has posted a 2.80 ERA in that span and the defense has committed just four errors for a sparkling .989 fielding percentage. Only once in those 10 games have the Big Green allowed even five runs, and that was an 8-5 victory over Cornell. As a result, the staff ERA has dropped from 6.64 to 5.10 and the team fielding is back on top of the Ivy League (where it has been the last three years) at .973.

Offense Searching for Answers
The offense has sputtered a bit this season, but over the last five games has really struggled having been shut out three times. The team batting average has fallen to .232, its lowest since 1992, and the scoring average of three runs per game places the Big Green third-to-last nationally. But with Yale's team ERA also third-to-last in the country, something will have to give this weekend.

England Continues Mastery of BC
Entering the game against Boston College on April 7, senior Chris England had a 2-0 record against the Eagles in two starts, beating them as a freshman, 9-6, and again last year, 2-1. He certainly pitched well enough to defeat BC this year, hurling 6.1 innings and yielding just three hits and one earned run while striking out a career-high four batters. It was not to be for the big right-hander, however, as the Bostonians revolted and overthrew England's taxing performance by shutting out the Big Green in the 2-0 contest. He is now 2-1 with a 3.12 ERA over 17.1 innings against the Eagles in his career.

Seven Straight Quality Starts
In each of the last seven games, Dartmouth starting pitchers have thrown at least six innings and not allowed any more than three earned runs, the qualifications for a “quality start.” Both Duncan Robinson and Jackson Bubala have had two of those quality starts, while Mike and Louis Concato, and Chris England have provided the other three.

Four Splits vs. Gehrig Teams
Dartmouth beat every team in the Gehrig Division during the first two weekends of Ivy play, but also lost to each of the four teams as it split all four doubleheaders. Since divisional play began in 1993, the Big Green had only split all four twinbills just once, that coming in 2010. Good omen for Dartmouth — it won the Ivy League crown that year.

Easy Parisi in Ivy
Senior Matt Parisi has been Dartmouth's best hitter against the Ivy League thus far, boasting a .367 average (11-for-30) in the eight games with four doubles, a triple, eight runs and three RBIs. Only three other players have hit above .200 against conference pitching — Ben Socher (.308), Nick Ruppert (.304) and Adam Gauthier (.571 in seven at-bats). To top it off, Parisi has also played flawlessly at shortstop, fielding 36 chances without an error.

Robinson Cruise-os Against Tigers
In the seven-inning game against Princeton on April 5, junior Duncan Robinson surrendered just six hits and an unearned run without walking a batter to go with a career-high eight strikeouts in the 3-1 victory. In three career starts against Ivy teams, the right-hander has allowed a total of two earned runs over 21 innings, yet is just 1-2 due to six unearned runs.

Peterson Saves the Game
Dartmouth was rolling with a 6-1 lead in the seventh inning of the nightcap against Cornell when the Big Red got a three-run double to close the gap to two. Freshman Patrick Peterson came in from the bullpen and escaped a first-and-third, one-out jam by getting a third strike and snaring a line drive. He then proceeded to get the last six outs of the game to earn his first career save in the 8-5 win. Both of the Big Green's saves this year have been recorded by freshmen with Sam Fichthorn getting the other.

Eight-Run Outburst
The eight runs scored by the Big Green bats in the 8-5 win over Cornell on April 4 matched a season high set against Bucknell back on March 8. Matt Parisi reached base three times and scored three runs, while Ben Socher smacked a triple and drove in two.

League-Leading Defense
Dartmouth has led the Ivy League in fielding percentage in each of the past three seasons and was second the year before that. This year is no different with the Big Green at .973, just ahead of Yale's .973 for the top spot; no one else is within 15 points of the two teams.

Schedules