Completed Event: Baseball versus Cornell on April 27, 2025 , Win , 7, to, 4
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Six More Games Against Florida Schools
3/22/2016 11:59:00 AM | Baseball
Playing the Locals
Dartmouth just finished playing six games in Florida at the Russ Matt Invitational against four other Northern schools, picking up wins against Bucknell, Lehigh and Maine. But its trip to the Sunshine State is just half over with six more against schools from inside the state borders.
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First up is a single game at Stetson on Tuesday night, then two more at North Florida, neither of which the Big Green have ever clashed with on the diamond. The spring break trip will conclude with a three-game series at USF, a team Dartmouth has played just twice previously (both losses) with the last encounter in 1989.
Last Week in Review
• Dartmouth began its third and final trip to the state of Florida with its first victory of the year, 6-4 over Bucknell.
• Following a 7-2 loss to Bradley and a twinbill sweep by Lehigh, 5-4 and 15-7, the Big Green concluded its Russ Matt Invitational appearance with two wins against two different opponents at two separate locations — 5-4 over Lehigh in Winter Haven, and 4-2 over Maine in Lakeland.
• Beau Sulser, making just his second appearance since returning from an arm injury that kept him off the field last spring, earned the victory in relief against Bucknell with three solid stanzas.
• The other two victories featured nine-inning complete games, the first for both Duncan Robinson and Michael Danielak. The two combined to strike out 21 without a walk (with Robinson amassing a career-best 12), and Danielak made his first start in just over 23 months as he also missed 2015 with an injury.
• Dustin Shirley hit five extra-base hits in the six games, including three triples, two of which came against Bucknell to tie a school record.
• Freshman Matt Feinstein continued to make the most of his opportunities in the field, going 7-for-14 in three starts, and is now hitting .550 (11-for-20) on the season.
• Dartmouth will likely be without the services of two starting outfielders — Kyle Holbrook and Nick Ruppert — as they were banged up last week.
Overall Record vs. Florida Teams
• This is the first time Dartmouth will square off against either Stetson or North Florida.
• In the only two meetings with USF, the Big Green scored one run each time in losing to the Bulls in 1984, 10-1, and again in 1989, 7-1.
Quick Scout of the Three Teams
• Stetson comes into the game on Tuesday with a 12-9 mark having played all but three of its games on its home field of Melching Field. Coming off a three-game series victory over Winthrop, the Hatters lean on a strong pitching staff that boasts a 3.24 ERA. But the offense is hitting just .253 without a single regular topping .300, though John Fussell leads Stetson with a .296 average and 14 RBIs.
• North Florida enters the week with a 13-9 record and will play Bethune-Cookman on Tuesday before the two-game set with the Big Green. The Osprey bats have been booming with a slash line of .309/.389/.439, led by Keith Skinner (.425/.543/.548) while Corbin Olmstead is the main power source (5 HR, 29 RBIs). Bryan Baker is the ace of the staff despite his 1-2 record as he owns a 1.76 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 30.2 innings.
• As for USF, the 12-9 Bulls rely on three outstanding starters and a lockdown closer in Tommy Eveld (0.93 ERA, 5 saves), and as a team own a 4.11 ERA while striking out 10.4 batters per nine innings. At the plate, USF is hitting just .249/.345/.377 led by David Villar's .318 average. Expect to see the running of the Bulls during the series as they are 32-of-36 stealing bases with Luke Maglich a perfect 14-of-14.
Probable Starting Pitchers
• This week I have the starters for all six games, in the order they will throw. Amazing, I know. To begin the week at Stetson, senior RHP Beau Sulser (1-0, 5.40) will make his first start since the Rolfe Division playoff game in 2014. He has two relief appearances this year, earning the win last time out with three innings against Bucknell.
• At North Florida, junior RHP Jackson Bubala (0-2, 13.50) will try to right the ship after getting knocked out in the first against Lehigh last week. The next night, sophomore RHP Clay Chatham (0-3, 8.03) gets another shot at his first collegiate victory in his fourth start of the year.
• Opening the three-game set at USF will be freshman RHP Cole O'Connor (0-0, 4.00) who impressed in five innings against Bradley in his first collegiate start, yielding two runs on six hits over five frames with six strikeouts.
• Saturday will feature reigning Ivy League Pitcher of the Year Duncan Robinson (1-2, 6.00). The right-hander went the full nine innings against Lehigh on Sunday, striking out a career-high 12 batters in the 5-4 win.
• Wrapping up the trip will be junior RHP Michael Danielak (1-1, 1.17), who also hurled a nine-inning complete-game on Sunday, besting Maine, 4-2. He surrendered just one earned run while fanning a career-high nine in his first victory since April 27, 2014.
• Starters for the opposition? Not enough time to do that. I'm on a deadline.
What's Up Next
Dartmouth returns to New England to play its home opener on Wednesday against Quinnipiac at 3 p.m. before starting Ivy League play at Princeton and Cornell over the weekend. The weather forecast currently calls for cloudy skies with a high of 48 for the home opener. Positively balmy!
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 the Distance
When Duncan Robinson twirled a nine-inning complete game in a 5-4 victory over Lehigh on March 20, it was the first CG of nine innings by a Dartmouth pitcher in nearly five years (Cole Sulser vs. Cornell on April 9, 2011, struck out 13 in a 4-2 win). That's a span of 197 games. It took all of four hours or so for another one to occur as Michael Danielak defeated Maine, 4-2, later that same day. Oddly enough, Kyle Hunter also threw nine innings against Cornell on that day in 2011, but did not get a complete game as Dartmouth nipped the Big Red in 10 innings, 3-2.
So Many Strikeouts
Not only did Duncan Robinson and Michael Danielak pitch nine innings for the first time in their careers on March 20, they also each set career highs in strikeouts. First, Robinson set 12 Lehigh batters down on strikes, the most by a Big Green pitcher in just over three years; Michael Johnson had a dozen in seven innings of a 6-0 win over North Dakota on March 18, 2013. The pitcher that threw the last two innings in that game? Robinson. Danielak then proceeded to fan nine Maine Black Bears in his route-going performance, topping his previous best of six set two years ago. Even more impressive is the fact that neither Robinson nor Danielak walked a batter.
Sophomores Step Up
In both victories against Lehigh and Maine on March 20, the games were tied in the late innings only to have a Big Green sophomore deliver a clutch hit to break the deadlock. Dustin Shirley stroked a two-out, RBI single with two outs in the eighth to lift Dartmouth to a 5-4 win over the Mountain Hawks. Then against Maine, Justin Fowler ripped a two-out, two-run single to snap the tie and send the Green to a 4-2 triumph.
Hit Streak on Hold
Outfielder Kyle Holbrook extended his hitting streak to eight games with singles in both ends of the doubleheader against Lehigh on March 18. But he was forced from the second game with an injury, and he missed the last two games of the Russ Matt Invitational. His status for the rest of the trip is unknown, as is that of outfielder Nick Ruppert, who left Sunday's game against Lehigh after being hit by a pitch.
Feinstein Just Fine at the Plate
Freshman Matt Feinstein has made the most of his opportunities thus far, hitting a whopping .550 in 20 at-bats. In his first five starts, the outfielder has four multi-hit games, including a 4-for-4 in his collegiate debut against Villanova. In the last three games of the Russ Matt Invitational, Feinstein went 7-for-14 (.500) with a double, four runs and an RBI.
Tripling His Pleasure
Dustin Shirley hit his third triple of the year in a 5-4 loss to Lehigh on March 18 and is fifth in the country in triples per game. His first two came in the same game, tying a Big Green record. The second triple drove in two runs in the ninth to lift Dartmouth to a 6-4 victory over Bucknell. The Big Green hit four three-baggers in that game, tying another record last accomplished in 2011 against Saint Anselm.
Beau Back in the Win Column
Senior RHP Beau Sulser missed the entire 2015 season recovering from an injury suffered in the Rolfe Division playoff game against Yale in 2014. He had not earned a victory since the previous game, a 4-2 win over Harvard in which he allowed the two runs over 6.1 innings. Against Bucknell on March 16, he was credited with a win once again after entering the game in the seventh with the score tied at two and hurling three innings in which he yielded one earned run as Dartmouth rallied for a 6-4 victory.
Closer Gets a Start
Last year, RHP Patrick Peterson started one game and dazzled by twirling five scoreless frames while allowing one hit and striking out seven. But he went on to serve as the Big Green closer, going 4-0 with six saves in 13 appearances on the season. With little work in the early going, Coach Whalen got Peterson some innings by starting him against Bucknell, and he did an admirable job over six stanzas, giving up just two runs, though he did not get a decision in the 6-4 victory. Peterson is still expected to serve in the closer's role this season.
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