Completed Event: Baseball versus Cornell on April 27, 2025 , Win , 7, to, 4
Final
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Return Trip to Florida Starts at Russ Matt Invitational
3/15/2016 3:38:00 PM | Baseball
Third Time's A Charm
Dartmouth has already had two trips to the state of Florida without any luck, so perhaps the third time will bring a few victories. This time, the Big Green start out at the Russ Matt Invitational with six games against Northern teams before going local for six more games against Stetson, North Florida and USF.
But Dartmouth will need to shake off a bit of rust having just completed winter exams. The last games the Green played came a week and a half ago at top-ranked Florida.
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Last Time Out in Review
• The No. 1 Gators swept the three-game series from Dartmouth, though not without difficulty as the Big Green lost game two in 12 innings and led the third game 3-0 before Florida rallied in the middle innings.
• Dartmouth was shut out on just two hits in the first game of the series. Sophomore Kyle Holbrook collected both knocks in the 7-0 loss.
• A two-out error in the ninth allowed the Big Green to tie the second game at three, only to have the Gators launch a walk-off homer leading off the 12th in a 4-3 defeat.
• The slumbering bats woke up a bit in the series finale as Dartmouth plated six runs (more than the first five games combined) on a dozen hits. Junior Michael Ketchmark went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and Holbrook belted a solo homer while scoring three times on the afternoon.
• Junior Jackson Bubala did not make it out of the fifth inning of game two due to issuing five walks, but he surrendered just two runs on two hits.
• The pitching staff allowed only five hits in the 12-inning defeat.
• Ketchmark hit the first home run of the season for Dartmouth, a solo shot against heralded prospect A.J. Puk. It was the first Big Green long ball against a left-hander pitcher since the 2014 season.
• Holbrook and Ketchmark accounted for nearly half (nine) of the team's 20 hits in the series with Holbrook going 5-for-10.
• Senior Beau Sulser made his first appearance on the mound since 2014 after suffering an arm injury.
Overall Record vs. Russ Matt Field
• Dartmouth has a winning record against every team it will play at the Russ Matt Invitational with a combined mark of 16-8.
• While the Big Green have played both Bradley (2013) and Bucknell (2015) in the recent past, it has been 21 years since they squared off against Maine, the alma mater of head coach Bob Whalen. And it's been even longer — 27 years — since they took on Lehigh.
Quick Scout of the Four Teams
• Bucknell will play Dartmouth in its final game in Florida just as the Big Green are starting. The Bison were 5--8 entering Tuesday's action with seven games decided by one or two runs. Brett Smith is the lone regular hitting over .300 on a Bison team batting .249, while the pitching staff has a collective 5.60 ERA, led by Mike Castellani (2-1, 3.18).
• Bradley pushed over .500 at 7-6 after besting Bucknell three times. Tyler Leffler leads the Braves with a slash line of .339/.397/.500, while the team is batting .270 with a little pop. The pitchers have a 4.62 ERA with a solid rotation, but the bullpen has been better thanks to Eric Schuermann (1-0, 1.12 in 16 IP).
• Lehigh comes to Florida on an eight-game skid after opening the season with a three-game sweep of Norfolk State. The offense is led by Patrick Donnelly and his .378 average as the Mountain Hawks are batting .264/.325/.368 on the season. The pitchers sport a 5.93 ERA, but the defense has been solid with 10 errors in the 11 games.
• Maine may be 4-11, but it has played one of the top 20 toughest schedules in the country, including a three-game series at Clemson and another at Miami. Danny Casals is the table setter (.456 OBP) and Colin Ridley the muscle in the middle of the lineup (.618 SLG), while ace Justin Courtney (1-1, 1.00) leads the Black Bear pitching staff that sports a 5.53 ERA.
Probable Starting Pitchers
• No one told me who is going to pitch in Florida, so I'm going to guess Dartmouth keeps its first three intact, starting with senior RHP Duncan Robinson (0-2, 8.00), the Ivy League's Pitcher of the Year in 2015. He gave up five runs in five innings to top-ranked Florida last time out. Junior RHP Jackson Bubala (0-1, 9.82) threw better in his second start, allowing two runs over 4.1 innings, but has battled some control issues. In the first game of the doubleheader, expect sophomore RHP Clay Chatham (0-2, 8.59) to toe the slab after pitching well his first four innings against the Gators before tiring in the fifth. As for the rest of the trip, the other two starters listed on page 1 (RHP Cole O'Connor, RHP Adam Charnin-Aker) are pure guesses. But someone has to start. (Yeah, I had the order all messed up, but I did get O'Connor right as one of the other starters.)
• As for the Big Green opponents at the Russ Matt Invitational, I have even less of a clue who will start, if that's even possible. So let's see if my guesses come close. For Bucknell, playing for a fifth straight day, anyone could be the guy, but we'll say RHP Max Kra (0-0, 9.35). (I was way off — LHP Jack Grabek (0-0, 6.75) will make his first collegiate start.)
• I'll conjecture RHP Matt Dennis (3-1, 4.26) will get the nod for Bradley on four days' rest after throwing 101 pitches in a 12-4 win over Bucknell on March 12. (Nope again. Braves sending LHP Ben Olson (0-1, 7.00) to the mound.)
• As for Lehigh, I'd be shocked not to see a pair of right-handed Kevins — Long (0-1, 6.39) and Boswick (0-1, 3.86) — and perhaps LHP Matt Kozemchak (0-1, 8.44). (Well, I got one right. Boswick started the first game, and Lehigh did throw a left-hander, but it was Ethan Frohman.)
• For the alma mater of head coach Bob Whalen, let's go with RHP John Arel (0-2, 4.74), who has struck out 20 in 19.0 IP. Gotta impress the alum!
What's Up Next
Dartmouth will continue its spring break trip with a single game against Stetson before taking on North Florida for two games and USF for three.
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.
0-6 Start Slowest Since …
… last year. Dartmouth lost its first six games in 2015 before beating Bucknell. Could it be a case of déjà vu with the Bison on tap to start the Florida trip? The Big Green went 1-11 last year before turning things around and ending the season with a 21-22 record, including an 11-game win streak.
Slow Start Not Unusual
It is not unusual for a Northern team to struggle early in the season with outdoor practices before the first game practically unheard of in the region. Since 2000, the Big Green have won 11 Rolfe Division titles. Eight times they have started with a losing record through six contests, and five of those seasons overlap with division titles. Many of the struggles have been due to aggressive scheduling with games against ranked teams like Pepperdine in 2006, LSU in 2012, FIU and TCU in 2014, Texas A&M last year and Florida this season. But Dartmouth has had some early season successes as well, winning the Dairy Queen Classic hosted by Minnesota in 2013 en route to an 8-0 start and a school-record 32 wins.
Close Calls at No. 1 Florida
In its first games against the nation's top-ranked team since 2010, Dartmouth nearly pulled off a pair of upsets when it traveled to the University of Florida on March 4-6. The Gators handled the Big Green in the first game, 7-0, but Dartmouth tied the second game in the ninth before falling on a walk-off homer in the 12th, 4-3. In the series finale, the Green jumped out to a 3-0 lead before UF rallied, then held off the visitors in an 8-6 final. Since 2006, Dartmouth is just 3-27 against ranked opponents (winning two games in 2014) with five one-run losses.
Holbrook Back in the Swing
The offense may be struggling after six games with a .187 average, but sophomore Kyle Holbrook found his stroke at top-ranked Florida. In the three games, he went 5-for-10 with his first home run of the year, boosting his slash stats on the year to .300/.300/.500. The early surge is good to see after a terribly slow start as a rookie in 2015, hitting .127 through the first 22 games before rebounding to post a .439 average over the final 18 contests.
Danielak Returns to Form
Junior Michael Danielak missed out on the 2015 season with an injury after suffering through a 1-5, 5.26 campaign in 2014. But the right-hander has shown his stuff is back in two appearances out of the bullpen thus far, throwing two perfect innings against Indiana State and shutting out Florida for 4.1 frames before giving up the walk-off homer in the 12-inning, 4-3 loss. In all, Danielak has a 1.42 ERA in 6.1 stanzas while yielding just three hits and two walks to go with four strikeouts.
Ketchmark Launches Off a Lefty
Not only did junior Michael Ketchmark hit the first home run of the 2016 season for the Big Green, but he did it against Florida's heralded left-hander A.J. Puk. With two gone in the second inning of the second game in Gainesville, Ketchmark wasted no time, yanking the first serving over the fence in left for his fourth career four-bagger. It was also the first home run against any left-hander by a Dartmouth hitter since Nick Lombardi '15 belted a grand slam on April 22, 2014 against Saint Anselm southpaw Mack Flynn.
Sulser Back on the Mound
Like Michael Danielak, senior Beau Sulser did not pitch in 2015. His last appearance had been his start in the Rolfe Division playoff game against Yale on May 4, 2014 in which he was forced to leave in the second inning with an injury. Sulser finally made it back with his relief outing in the series finale at No. 1 Florida on March 6. The right-hander gave up two runs in two innings, the first scoring on a double steal attempt, the second coming after getting the first two outs in his second stanza. A healthy Sulser would be a huge boost to the pitching staff, whether as a starter or reliever.
Offense Shakes Off Rust
Sometimes it takes a few games to get the bats going after hitting indoors during the preseason. It didn't help that the Big Green lineup went up against some impressive pitchers in the first six games. But after managing a combined five runs and 27 hits in the first five games, Dartmouth smacked the Gator pitching staff for 12 hits and six runs in the series finale, including a 3-for-4 afternoon for Michael Ketchmark and Kyle Holbrook's first homer of the year. Ketchmark also had two RBIs, the first instance of a Big Green batter driving in more than one run in a game this year.
Fowler Still the Odd Duck
As a rookie in 2015, Justin Fowler for some reason hit incredibly well in odd-numbered innings with a .370 average (10-for-27), compared to just .080 (2-for-25). He has continued in that same vein thus far in 2016, going a perfect 2-for-2 in the odd innings, 2-for-8 (.250) in even innings. Sample size, schmample size. It's all in good fun …
Back-to-Back Blankings
For the second time in the past two seasons, Dartmouth found itself on the wrong end of a shutout score in consecutive contests, this time courtesy of Indiana State (3-0 on Feb. 28) and No. 1 Florida (7-0 on March 4). Last year Boston College and Princeton threw back-to-back shutouts against the Big Green. But prior to that, the ignominious distinction had not occurred against Dartmouth since 1986 when Springfield College and Columbia turned the trick — less than a week after Navy twirled shutouts in both ends of a doubleheader.
Getting Some Relief
Dartmouth had trouble in the first inning during its first trip, allowing a total of seven runs to quickly fall into a hole in of each of the first three games. But the bullpen performed admirably aside from one outing as five of the six relievers combined to record a 1.80 ERA over 15 innings with 17 strikeouts. Junior Chris Burkholder had the longest outing, yielding just an unearned run over a career-high five innings against Iowa with a career-best five punchouts, while sophomore Patrick Peterson and junior Michael Danielak shut out Indiana State for five frames with six strikeouts.
Feinstein Makes Fine Debut
While Dartmouth was suffering a 14-1 loss at the hands of Villanova on Feb. 27 (its worst defeat since a 17-2 game at 16th-ranked UC Santa Barbara last March), freshman Matt Feinstein was making quite the impression. The outfielder was a perfect 4-for-4 and scored the lone Big Green run. With more performances like that, he could force his way into the lineup on a more regular basis.
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