Completed Event: Baseball versus Cornell on April 27, 2025 , Win , 7, to, 4
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Season Opens in Florida at Snowbird Classic
2/26/2016 2:29:00 PM | Baseball
Season Opener
• Dartmouth begins its 144th season of varsity baseball with three games at the Snowbird Classic in Port Charlotte, Florida, against Iowa, Villanova and Indiana State.
• Head coach Bob Whalen enters his 27th season with an overall record of 528-496-1, the only coach in Dartmouth history to win 500 games in any sport. In 2010, he surpassed former big league pitcher Jeff Tesreau as the Big Green's all-time winningest coach. Tesreau coached Dartmouth for 28 seasons (1919-46).
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• Dartmouth is 12-14 in the first game of the season under Whalen, having lost to 14th-ranked Texas A&M last year, 4-3.
• Last year the Big Green won their eighth straight Rolfe Division title by a league record nine games as they won all 12 games against the other teams in their division. But in the best-of-three Ivy League Championship Series, Dartmouth fell to Columbia held at the Lions' Satow Stadium for a third straight year, keeping the Green from winning their third Ivy title in the past seven seasons.
• Dartmouth won a school-record 32 victories in 2013, giving the Ivy League a 30-win team for a three consecutive years; Cornell won 31 in 2012 and Dartmouth had an even 30 in 2011. The streak was broken in 2014, but Columbia posted 34 last year. Before this stretch, no Ivy team had reached 30 since Harvard in 1998, and the feat has been acomplished just 10 times ever.
• The Big Green had six players earn All-Ivy recognition, led by RHP Duncan Robinson who was the Ivy League Pitcher of the Year.
• Joining Robinson on the All-Ivy First Team were reliever Patrick Peterson and shortstop Matt Parisi, the latter of whom graduated.
• Designated hitter Joe Purritano was selected in the 30th round of the MLB Draft by the Cincinnati Reds, but he chose to return to Dartmouth for his senior season. The Big Green have had a player taken in the draft in 10 of the past 12 years.
• Dartmouth has one player currently playing in the big leagues, that being Kyle Hendricks '12 who is 15-9 with a 3.49 ERA in 45 career starts with the Chicago Cubs. Ed Lucas '04, who played for the Miami Marlins in 2013-14, is a non-roster invitee this spring with the Seattle Mariners.
The Overall Record vs. Opponents
• Dartmouth has squared off against Iowa three times, losing all three with the most recent a 4-3 defeat on the day my son was born 12 years ago.
• The Big Green have a slightly longer history with Villanova, going 4-8 against the Wildcats. The first game of the series was played in 1906, which Villanova won, 4-1, but Dartmouth won the last encounter, 6-4, in 2003.
• As for Indiana State, this is the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
Scouting the Opponents
• Iowa, which finished second in the Big 10 last year and was a two-seed at the Missouri State Regional, suffered a three-game sweep at Dallas Baptist to open the season and lost its initial game at the Snowbird Classic to Indiana State. The Hawkeyes collected just 13 hits at Missouri State, and though the ERA was good at 3.38, seven of the 16 runs they allowed were unearned.
• Villanova had the difficult task of traveling to 12th-ranked Houston and was swept by a combined score of 27-4. Todd Czinege had four of the Wildcats' 13 hits with a triple and a homer, and Ryan Doty struck out nine in a five-inning start.
• Indiana State has won four of its first five games, beating Oral Roberts twice and splitting two with Little Rock before its win over Iowa. Kaden Moore hit .467 in the first four games while Andy Young reached base at a .700 clip. The pitching staff posted a 3.55 ERA and the defense did not commit an error.
Probable Starting Pitchers
• It should be no surprise that the honor of starting opening day goes to senior RHP Duncan Robinson (6-2, 2.62 in 2015), the Ivy League's Pitcher of the Year last year. Junior RHP Jackson Bubala (1-0, 3.90) will climb the hill for the Big Green against Villanova, while sophomore RHP Clay Chatham (0-0, 2.70) will make his first collegiate start against Indiana State on Sunday.
• Iowa is scheduled to send RHP C.J. Eldred (0-0, 2.25), the son of former major leaguer Cal Eldred, to the mound against the Big Green for his first collegiate start, while Villanova will follow with RHP Ryan Doty (0-1, 5.60). It is not known who Indiana State will throw on Sunday.
What's Up Next
Dartmouth will return to the state of Florida next weekend when it takes on the top-ranked team in the country, the Florida Gators, in a three-game series.
150th Anniversary
Baseball was the first varsity sport at Dartmouth, playing its first game in 1866. Some of the scores from the early days look more like football scores, including a 40-10 loss to Amherst that year before avenging the defeat the next season, 30-24. The college will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the sport on April 9 when the Big Green host Penn in an Ivy League doubleheader.
Going for 9th Straight Rolfe Title
Dartmouth has won eight straight Rolfe Division titles, the second-longest streak for any team in either division in the Ivy League since divisions were instituted 23 years ago. Princeton won nine straight Gehrig Division crowns from 1996-2004 and has 11 total in the 23 seasons. The Big Green have the most Rolfe titles with 11, all of which have come in the last 16 years.
Big Green Favorite in Rolfe Division
The various college baseball media outlets have picked Dartmouth to win its ninth-straight division title after winning the Rolfe Division by a league-record nine games last year. But the Big Green are still looking for their first Ivy League crown since 2010 having lost the Ivy League Championship Series each of the past five years, all on the road.
Preseason Pitcher of the Year
Senior RHP Duncan Robinson is the consensus Preseason Pitcher of the Year in the Ivy League after winning the honor last year as a junior by going 6-2 with a 2.62 ERA in 65.1 innings while striking out 52 and walking just 12. He is the fourth Big Green pitcher to earn the award (including Mike Remlinger in 1987 when it was still the EIBL) and first since lefty Russell Young in 2008.
Other Preseason Honors
Dartmouth is the consensus pick to win the Rolfe Division in the Ivy League for a ninth consecutive year. Only CollegeSportsMadness.com provided preseason all-conference teams during the preseason, with two Big Green players being selected for the first team and four for the second team. Duncan Robinson and Mike Concato were both first-team pitchers, while sophomore reiever Patrick Peterson, DH Joe Purritano, and outfielders Nick Ruppert and Ben Socher were pegged for the second team.
Big Green Are Road Warriors …
As is custom for Dartmouth, it will begin the season on the road for an extended period, despite the unseasonably warm weather and lack of snow in New England this year. The first 18 games (and 22 of the first 23) are scheduled to be played away from Hanover with the home opener slated for March 30 when Quinnipiac comes to town. The first Ivy League games at Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park will take place the weekend of April 9-10 with doubleheaders against Penn and Columbia.
… But Love the Homestead
Dartmouth enters the 2016 season with a 84-19 record (.816) at its home venue, Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park, one of the best home records over the past seven seasons. Last year the Big Green went 8-4 in the games they hosted, but lost their only two non-conference home games.
Beating the Rolfe Teams
Last year, Dartmouth won all 12 of its games against the other teams in the Rolfe Division, just the second time since divisions formed in 1993 that an Ivy squad has won all 12 games against the other schools in its division (Harvard in 1997). Dating back to 2014, the Big Green have won 18 straight against the Rolfe Division teams. And against Harvard specifically, Dartmouth has won 13 straight and 21 of the last 22 meetings.
2015 All-Ivy Honors for the Green
After winning the Rolfe Division for an eighth-straight year then falling in the best-of-three Ivy Championship Series at Columbia, Dartmouth had no less than six players earn All-Ivy recognition, including RHP Duncan Robinson as the Pitcher of the Year with SS Matt Parisi and RHP Patrick Peterson joining him on the first team. On the second team were 3B Nick Lombardi and RHP Mike Concato, while OF Nick Ruppert earned honorable mention for the second-straight year.
Purritano Drafted by Reds
Designated hitter Joe Purritano was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 30th round of the MLB Draft last June, though the New Jersey native decided to return to Dartmouth for his senior season. His selection is the 13th of a Big Green player in the past decade, though he is the only one who of the six with eligibility remaining to not sign. The last Dartmouth player to return to Hanover was Josh Faiola, a 32nd-round pick of the Baltimore Orioles in 2005. He was chosen again next year by the Orioles in the 24th round.
Looking for More Offense
Last year Dartmouth hit just .254 as a team with a .319 on-base percentage, its lowest figures since sporting a .227 average and .297 OBA in 1992. Between 2008 and 2013, the Big Green hit .307 while getting on base at a .390 clip, but saw those figures dip to .273 and .340 in 2014 before the further drop last year. And the 2015 slugging percentage of .343 was more than 100 points than the .457 posted from 2008-13.
Trio Returning from Injuries
Last year, Dartmouth had three players sit out the season due to injuries, and all three are back chomping at the bit to get back on the field. Senior Thomas Roulis was an All-Ivy honorable mention at second base in 2014 but will shift over to shortstop for his final year of eligibility. On the mound, the Big Green welcome back RHPs Michael Danielak and Beau Sulser, both of whom were in the weekend rotation two years ago. While it is uncertain as to whether or not they will rejoin the starting rotation, their presence on the staf will be quite welcome.
Co-Captains
After going through the 2015 season with a single captain, Dartmouth will feature co-captains this spring. Right-hander Duncan Robinson and shortstop Thomas Roulis will share the duties, a role the latter was to fill last year before an injury ended his season before it began.
Not Settling for Spares
Well, this isn't bowling, but if there is one thing the Big Green pitching staff does, it throws strikes. For the past seven years, the staff has been one of the stingiest in the country in terms of issuing free passes. In both 2009 and 2010, the Big Green hurlers walked fewer batters per nine innings than any other Division I team. In each of the next three years, they ranked among the top 15, placing third in 2011 at 2.24 behind only Florida (1.82) and Dayton (2.18), eighth in 2012 at 2.33, and 13th in 2013 at 2.52. The last two years has seen some regression, but Dartmouth was still in the top 50 at fewer than three per game.
Big League Bloodlines
Over the past decade, Dartmouth has had three players that had a father with big league ties. First was first baseman Mike Pagliarulo '09 whose father of the same name manned the hot corner with the Yankees, Padres, Twins, Orioles and Rangers over 11 seasons (1984-93, '95), hitting 134 homers in his career. Then came catcher Chris O'Dowd '13, son of Dan O'Dowd who served as the general manager for the Colorado Rockies for 15 years through 2014. Now the Big Green have Adam Charnin-Aker, whose father Jack Aker pitched as a reliever in the big leagues for 11 years (1964-74) with the Kansas City (then Oakland) Athletics, Seattle Pilots, Yankees, Cubs, Braves and Mets, going 47-45 with a 3.28 ERA and 124 saves in 495 appearances.
MLB Watch
Ed Lucas, a member of the Dartmouth Class of 2004, made his major league debut with the Miami Marlins on May 30, 2013 just nine days after his 31st birthday. The utility man played in 163 games for the Marlins over two seasons, and is currently a non-roster invitee with the Seattle Mariners this spring.
A little more than one year later, Kyle Hendricks '12 made his MLB debut with the Chicago Cubs and finished his rookie year with a 7-2 record over 13 starts with a 2.46 ERA. Last year, Hendricks was in the rotation all season and went 8-7 with a 3.95 ERA. He also became just the fourth Ivy Leaguer to start a postseason game on the mound.
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