Home Opener This Weekend Versus Cornell, Princeton

Home Opener on Ivy Weekend
After 20 games away from Hanover, Dartmouth finally gets to play on Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park when the Big Green host Cornell on Saturday and Princeton on Sunday, both in noon doubleheaders. Dartmouth's record may only be 4-16, but with three wins in their last five games after playing the fourth-most difficult non-conference schedule to date, the Big Green are showing signs that they can successfully extend their streak of consecutive Rolfe Division titles to eight.

Dartmouth (4-16, 0-0) vs.
Cornell (6-14, 3-1) /
Princeton (4-17, 1-3)
Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park, Hanover, N.H.

Cornell, Saturday, April 4, Noon DH
Video: Ivy League Digital Network • Live Stats
Game 1: RHP Mike Concato (1-2, 4.29) vs. RHP Brian McAfee (3-1, 1.16)
Game 2: RHP Jackson Bubala (0-0, 2.25) vs. LHP Eric Upton (1-1, 4.50)

Princeton, Sunday, April 5, Noon DH
Video: Ivy League Digital Network • Live Stats
Game 1: RHP Duncan Robinson (1-2, 4.15) vs. LHP Keelan Smithers (1-4, 4.39)
Game 2: RHP Louis Concato (0-4, 6.41) vs. RHP Luke Strieber (0-2, 7.07)

Last Week in Review
•   Prior to canceling a mid-week game at Quinnipiac due to poor field conditions, Dartmouth split a pair of doubleheaders on the road — the first at Columbia, the second at Penn — during the opening weekend of Ivy play.
•   The Big Green beat the Lions in the first game of the twinbill, 5-4, as Mike Concato pitched a seven-inning complete game. Eight of the nine starters in the lineup had at least one run or one RBI while Matt Parisi collected three singles.
•   Columbia exacted its revenge in the nightcap, holding the Green to a season-low three hits (two by Adam Gauthier) in a 4-1 Lion victory.
•   Both games against the Quakers came down to last-inning heroics. First, Dartmouth scored two runs in the seventh on a Kyle Holbrook sacrifice fly and a Matt MacDowell squeeze bunt, tying the game at three. But Penn walked off in the bottom half to take the 4-3 game.
•   In the second game, the Big Green trailed 2-0 going into the eighth before finally getting a run on the board. Dartmouth then tallied three more in the top of the ninth — all with two outs — as Parisi lined a two-run double for the lead and Nick Ruppert added an insurance run with a double of his own. Good thing, too, as the Quakers scored a run and had the tying run on third before Patrick Peterson induced a foul pop to end the game.

Last Time Against the Big Red
Last year, these two teams played a pair of one-run games to start the Ivy League campaign. Cornell won the first game, 3-2, thanks to a two-out, walk-off single in the seventh off the bat of J.D. Whetsel. Beau Sulser suffered the loss as he went the distance, while Big Red lefty Michael Byrne pitched into the sixth, and Eric Upton got the win.
Dartmouth rebounded in the second game despite falling behind, 3-0, after six innings. A four-run seventh, keyed by a Joe Purritano two-run single, put the Big Green on top, only to have Cornell tie the game in the eighth on a bases-loaded walk. But Thomas Roulis drove in the winning run in the 11th to make a winner out of Duncan Robinson, who tossed five innings of relief.

The Overall Record vs. Cornell
•   Dartmouth has squared off against the Big Red 174 times, owning a 92-81-1 record.
•   The Big Green have won 20 of the past 30 meetings, dating back to the 2002 season. That includes the 2009 Ivy Championship Series, which the Green won, two games to one.
•   Cornell is 2-7 at Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park and 19-24 in Hanover since 1970, but has lost 19 of the last 24 here.
•   Dartmouth head coach Bob Whalen has a 33-23 mark in games against Cornell.
•   The first games in the series took place on April 10-11, 1906, with Cornell winning both games.

Scouting the Big Red
•   Like the Big Green, Cornell had a rough start to its season, posting a 3-10 record through 13 games before taking three of four in the first Ivy weekend. During the week, the Big Red lost two road games — 23-11 at Richmond and 11-5 at Towson.
•   Although hitting just .244, the offense has gotten good production from Dan Morris (.356, 10 doubles, 12 RBI), Kevin Tatum (.343, 16 RBI) and Spencer Scorza (.293, 1 HR, 15 RBI).
•   Cornell hasn't run much, but has generally been successful when stealing (12-of-14) with no one player owning more than two swipes.
•   Even with the two bloated scores during the week, the Big Red ERA is still 4.58 with two starters under 2.00 and a bullpen anchored by Paul Balestrieri (3.06 ERA, 17.2 IP, 3 saves).
•   Cornell is fielding just .954 as a team, next-to-last in the Ivy League, while allowing 30 unearned runs. But nearly one-third of opposing base stealers have been gunned down.

Probable Starting Pitchers
•   The first game will feature a matchup of control artists as Dartmouth will send sophomore RHP Mike Concato (1-2, 4.29) to the mound against Cornell's RHP Brian McAfee (3-1, 1.16). The younger Concato has walked just one batter in 21.0 innings, the fourth-best ratio in the country, and is coming off a complete-game win at Columbia. McAfee is the early front-runner for Ivy Pitcher of the Year with a WHIP of 7.0 while holding opponents to a .198 average while walking just two in 31.0 innings.
•   For the nightcap, Coach Whalen will turn to another sophomore RHP in Jackson Bubala (0-0, 2.25). In his first two career outings the last two weekends, he has pitched six innings in each start and allowed a total of three runs. Cornell will have LHP Eric Upton (1-1, 4.50) toe the slab for his first start of the season. Control is his specialty as he has walked just one batter in 14.0 innings thus far in 2015.

Last Time Against the Tigers
Princeton swept a doubleheader from the Big Green last year, winning the first game, 3-0, before rallying for a 4-3 triumph in the finale.
Cameron Mingo outdueled Michael Danielak in the opener as each pitcher hurled six innings and yielded five hits. But one of the Tiger hits was a Danny Hoy home run in the first, and Dartmouth never recovered.
The Big Green were enjoying a 3-2 lead in the seventh of the nightcap thanks to a Nick Lombardi RBI double and an infield hit off the bat of Bo Patterson that scored another run in the sixth. But Princeton strung together four consecutive two-out singles in its half of the seventh to reclaim the lead, then held off Dartmouth to finish the sweep.

The Overall Record vs. Princeton
•   The Tigers have the advantage in the all-time series, going 95-84 against Dartmouth.
•   Over the last 10 seasons, however, the Big Green have won 15 of the 23 meetings.
•   Princeton was the next-to-last Ivy team to win a game at Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park and is 1-5 at the venue. The Tigers are 19-21 on the site since the field was dedicated in Red Rolfe's honor in 1970.
•   Dartmouth head coach Bob Whalen has a 24-34 record against the Tigers.
•   The two teams first met on the diamond in 1880 with Princeton winning both contests, 2-0 and 9-4. The Tigers won 17 of the first 18 games.

Scouting the Tigers
•   Remember how Dartmouth has the fourth-most difficult non-conference schedule to date? Well, Princeton is fifth on that list, so its 4-17 record is about as misleading as the Big Green's. LSU and Maryland both swept three-game series from the Tigers, contributing to a 2-13 start. And two of their three losses last weekend were by one run.
•   Princeton is hitting .263 as a team, but Billy Arendt (.364, .558 slugging, 16 runs) and Danny Hoy (.325, 4 HR, 19 RBI) have been forces in the lineup, and two other regulars are hitting over .300.
•   The staff ERA of 6.53 is a bit misleading due to the schedule, but at the same time, the Tigers have surrendered 36 unearned runs with the lowest fielding percentage (.953) in the league).

Probable Starting Pitchers
•   In game one, the Big Green will have junior RHP Duncan Robinson (1-2, 4.15) climb the hill in an attempt to subdue Princeton. Last week he was stuck with a 4-3 loss at Penn in part due to two unearned runs. The Tigers will counter with LHP Keelan Smithers (1-4, 4.39) who shut Dartmouth out for 4.1 innings last year.
•   To conclude the weekend, senior RHP Louis Concato (0-4, 6.41) will go for his first win of the 2015 season. Last week at Columbia, he allowed four runs in 4.2 innings but did strike out five. Princeton has RHP Luke Strieber (0-2, 7.07) ready to go. In four starts, he has thrown just 14.0 innings and allowed the opposition to hit .339.

What's Up Next
Dartmouth has a mid-week game scheduled at home against Boston College on Tuesday before starting a seven-game road swing the next day at Holy Cross. Over the weekend, the Big Green will play a four-game set at Yale in a rematch of the Rolfe Division playoff game from last year.

Keep Up with the Action
All four games this weekend against Cornell and Princeton can be seen live on Big Green Insider via the Ivy League Digital Network. Wayne Young '72, a catcher on the 1970 College World Series team, is back for another year of calling the action with a cadre of students helping out with analysis. Visit ILDN.com to subscribe to the network.

Whalen Reaches 1,000
Not years. That would be a really long time. In the second game of the doubleheader at Columbia on Mach 28, Dartmouth head coach Bob Whalen coached his 1,000th game with the Big Green, more than any coach in any sport in the college's long history. Like Cy Young, his 511 victories are the standard to which all other coaches are judged. Well, maybe not judged, but they both do have 511 wins.

Tough Break — Literally
Catcher Adam Gauthier had a nice start to his 2015 season, starting half of the first 20 games behind the dish while hitting .364 with three doubles and four RBIs. But the junior suffered a blow during practice at the end of March, breaking his hand to put an end to his season. Matt MacDowell, a first-team All-Ivy selection in 2013, will get the lion's share of the duties behind the dish.

Final Inning Good a Time as Any
In each of the two games in the doubleheader at Penn on March 29, Dartmouth had scored the grand total of one run heading into the final frame. But in both instances, the Big Green were able to at least tie the score to give the Dartmouth faithful hope of a victory. The rally ended in disappointment in the first game as Penn recovered from allowing the Green to tie the score at three with a walk-off hit in the bottom half. But in the nightcap, the three Dartmouth runs in the ninth were just what was needed as the bullpen fought off a Quaker rally for a 4-3 victory.

Ruppert, Parisi Doubling Up
Junior center fielder Nick Ruppert hit a robust .462 in the first four Ivy games, and he hit exactly one double in each of those contests as well. The last two-bagger brought home what turned out to be the winning run in the ninth of a 4-3 triumph at Penn. Meanwhile, senior shortstop Matt Parisi was nearly as productive with a .412 average and three doubles over the weekend. He was even responsible for each of the four runs in that win over the Quakers, scoring twice and driving in the other two, both with two outs in the ninth to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead.

Holbrook Sac Fly Machine
Through 18 games, not a single Big Green hitter had recorded even one sacrifice fly. Quirk of the stats, perhaps, but freshman Kyle Holbrook made up for it by swatting not just one, but two sacrifice flies in the opener at Penn on March 29. And with the other run coming home on a perfect suicide squeeze by Matt MacDowell, one could say Dartmouth sacrificed itself for all three runs.

Rookie Bullpen Duo
Both right-hander Sam Fichthorn and southpaw Marc Bachman had less than stellar starting debuts while out in California, but the pair has pitched quite well out of the bullpen. In 8.1 relief innings, Fichthorn sports a 2.16 ERA, including a save, while Bachman has a 2.79 ERA in 9.2 innings having allowed just seven hits and two walks to go with five strikeouts. Combined the duo has a 2.50 ERA.

Bubala Starts Strong
Injuries 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. His next outing was another quality start, allowing two runs over six stanzas at Penn on March 29. Despite the excellent effort, he did not get a decision in either game.

Mike Concato Watches DIY Shows
Well, the younger Concato must watch them because in order for him to win a game, it seems he has to throw a complete game. All three of his career victories have come when he has thrown a complete game — two last year (both shutouts) and the latest at Columbia on March 28. He picked up a 5-4 win in the seven-inning contest, yielding the four runs on eight hits and one walk (his only one this year in 21.0 IP) with a season-high five strikeouts.

Big Green Banter
•   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 .969, three points behind Yale for the top spot; no one else is within 10 points of Dartmouth.
•   Joe Purritano took the collar last weekend, but he is still tied for the league lead with 10 doubles.
•   Perhaps Michael Ketchmark should lead off for the Big Green. The sophomore is 8-for-19 (.421) with a .500 on-base percentage when leading off an inning (though Parisi is hitting .393 himself).
•   No less than five regular starters are hitting at least .300 with runners in scoring position, led by Purritano at .385.
•   Ketchmark got off to a slow start this year, but over the last 13 games is hitting .356 (16-for-45).
•   He isn't the only hot hitter with Nick Ruppert batting .372 (16-for-43) over the last 14 contests.
•   Since getting roughed up at then-14th-ranked Texas A&M in his first collegiate appearance, Patrick Peterson has an ERA of 0.82 over 11 IP.

No Double Digits
Through the first 20 games, Dartmouth has not scored more than eight runs in a game, marking the first time since 1981 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, so what's a few more?

Schedules