Ivy League Schedule Gets Under Way This Weekend

Ivy Season Begins
Dartmouth enters the Ivy League portion of the schedule with a 5-14 record and having lost five of its last six games, but a look back at last year shows that a slow start is not an indicator of the level of future success. Last year the Big Green were just 2-14 when they played their first conference contest and went on to win the Rolfe Division by a league-record nine games with a 16-4 mark.

	Dartmouth (5-14, 0-0) at Princeton (7-10, 0-0)/ Cornell (6-9, 0-0) Clarke Field (1,000)/Hoy Field (1,000) Princeton, N.J./Ithaca, N.Y.
	Princeton, Saturday, April 2, Noon (DH) Video: Ivy League Digital Network \| Live Stats Game 1: RHP Duncan Robinson (2-2, 4.00) vs. RHP Luke Strieber (1-2, 3.52) Game 2: RHP Cole O'Connor (0-1, 3.86) vs. RHP Chad Powers (2-2, 4.38)
	Cornell, Sunday, April 3, Noon (DH) Video: Ivy League Digital Network \| Live Stats Game 1: RHP Michael Danielak (1-2, 2.21) vs. LHP Michael Byrne (1-1, 4.50) Game 2: RHP Beau Sulser (1-0, 2.84) vs. TBA

No one in the Ivy League enters the weekend with a winning percentage better than .412, so who will emerge at the top of the heap when all is said and done is anyone's guess right now.

Last Weeks in Review
•   Dartmouth played six games in Florida to conclude its spring break trip, beating Stetson in 10 innings, 2-1, and taking one of three at USF on the strength of a 1-0, 4-hit shutout by senior Duncan Robinson, who earned Ivy League Pitcher of the Week honors for the second time in his career.
•   On Wednesday, the Big Green had their home opener, but Quinnipiac spoiled the day by escaping with a 5-4 win over Dartmouth. The Green are 84-20 at Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park and 24-5 against non-conference teams, but have lost their last three non-league games at the venue.
•   The offense has been hit or miss thus far, hitting just .225 as a team, seventh in the Ivy League, while ranking last in on-base percentage at .289.
•   Michael Ketchmark gave the offense a charge in an 8-6 loss at North Florida, smacking a pair of home runs and driving in three. It was the first multi-homer game by a Big Green hitter since Nick Lombardi slammed two four-baggers against Yale on April 12, 2014.
•   Outfielder Kyle Holbrook has missed the last nine games, shortstop Thomas Roulis has not started six of the last eight and Nick Ruppert sat out the games against Stetson and North Florida, all due to injuries.
•   Michael Danielak has pitched well in his return from injury, boasting the third-lowest ERA (2.21) among qualified Ivy League hurlers.
•   Freshmen are seeing quite a bit of action thus far with a combined 47 starts in the first 19 games. Matt Feinstein has a team-best .385 average while reaching base in all 11 of his starts.

Last Time Against the Tigers
Playing in Hanover last year, these two teams split a doubleheader with Dartmouth taking the first game, 3-1, behind a complete-game effort by Duncan Robinson, but was shut out in game two, 4-0. Robinson allowed just one unearned run on six hits and no walks while striking out eight, and Joe Purritano singled home two first-inning runs for all the big right-hander would need. The nightcap was all Luke Strieber for Princeton as he held the Big Green scoreless on four hits through 8.1 innings before Nick Donatiello got the final two outs for the save. Chad Powers homered for the Tigers, and Ben Socher had two of Dartmouth's four hits.

The Overall Record vs. Princeton
•   The Tigers have the advantage in the all-time series, going 96-85 against Dartmouth.
•   Over the last 10 seasons, however, the Big Green have won 15 of the 23 meetings.
•   Dartmouth has nearly matched the Tigers at Clarke Field, which debuted in the expansion year of 1961, with Princeton owning a 28-26 record.
•   Dartmouth head coach Bob Whalen has a 26-36 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
•   Princeton has played one of the 40 most difficult schedules in the country thus far, according to the Boyd's World website, starting with a three-game series at Louisville and four more against Navy, which is 19-6-1.
•   Only the Tigers have a lower batting average than Dartmouth at .214 while slugging a paltry .266 with 18 extra-base hits in 17 games. The only regular hitting over .255 is Nick Hernandez at .286.
•   Considering the competition, the pitching staff has fared quite well with an Ivy League-best 4.07 ERA while opponents have hit just .260. The top four starters feature a combined 3.38 ERA, while the top two relievers have a 1.37 ERA in 26.1 innings.
•   Defensively, Princeton has been very good with a .976 fielding percentage (second in the league) while turning 26 double plays. Opposing base stealers have been safe 78.4 percent of the time, however.

Probable Starting Pitchers
• For the opener, Big Green ace RHP Duncan Robinson (2-2, 4.00) will climb the hill having thrown consecutive nine-inning complete games, the first Dartmouth pitcher to do so in 10 years. Princeton will counter with RHP Luke Strieber (1-2, 3.52). Both Robinson and Strieber won games in this series last year, and neither allowed an earned run.
• Game two will feature freshman RHP Cole O'Connor (0-1, 3.86) for Dartmouth against RHP Chad Powers (2-2, 4.38) for the Tigers. O'Connor has pitched well in his two starts, allowing five runs on 10 hits over 12.1 innings with one walk and nine strikeouts. Powers generally pitches to contact, having struck out just eight batters in 24.2 innings, but is better known for the home run he hit last year in a win over the Big Green.

Last Time Against the Big Red
Similar to the doubleheader against Princeton, these teams split their two games against each other with Cornell winning one by a shutout. Brian McAfee outdueled Mike Concato in the opener, a 1-0 Big Red victory with the lone run scoring on a Tommy Wagner double in the fourth. The Dartouth bats, after being held to two singles in the loss, got going in game two, scoring eight times to make a winner out of Jackson Bubala. Matt Parisi had two hits and scored three runs, and Ben Socher tripled, scored twice and drove in two in the 8-5 triumph.

The Overall Record vs. Cornell
•   Dartmouth has squared off against the Big Red 176 times, owning a 93-82-1 record.
•   The Big Green have won 21 of the past 32 meetings, dating back to the 2002 season and including both showdowns in the Ivy League Championship Series in 2009 and 2012. Both went three games with Dartmouth winning in 2009 and the Big Red emerging victorious in 2012.
•   Cornell is 36-33 at David Hoy Field against Dartmouth since the park opened on April 22, 1922, and 6-5 since FieldTurf was added before the 2007 campaign.
•   Dartmouth head coach Bob Whalen has a 34-24 mark in games against Cornell, splitting the two games each of the last three seasons.
•   The first games in the series took place on April 10-11, 1906, with Cornell winning both games.\

Scouting the Big Red
•   Cornell began the season winning six of its first 10, but has since lost five straight at UCF and Rollins down in Florida.
•   The offense is averaging about four runs a game with a slash line of .241/.337/.365. Tommy Wagner leads the team with a .377 average with Dale Wickham right behind at .375, but only one other player is hitting better than .234.
•   Cole Rutherford provides the most power with four of the team's 12 home runs to go with 11 RBIs to lead the Big Red as well.
•   The pitching staff has a combined 6.64 ERA, seventh in the Ivy League, and all four starters have an ERA of at least 4.50. The bullpen is led by Justin Lewis (2-0, 5.65, 2 saves) and Jamie Flynn (0-0, 5.40).
•   In the field, the Big Red have committed 21 errors for a .960 fielding percentage, also seventh in the league. But they have been the most successful at shutting down the running game, throwing out eight of 18 would-be base stealers.

Probable Starting Pitchers
• RHP Michael Danielak (1-2, 2.21) is scheduled to face Cornell in game one. He has a nine-inning complete-game, 4-2 victory to his credit against Maine on March 20, and struck out nine batters in each of his last two starts. He will match up against LHP Michael Byrne (1-1, 4.50), who was roughed up his last start versus Bucknell on March 19, but has thrown a pair of scoreless innings in relief outings since.
• The finale is a bit up in the air, though RHP Beau Sulser (1-0, 2.84) is slated to toe the slab for Dartmouth following a no-decision in a 2-1, 10-inning win at Stetson and a solid relief outing on Wednesday. Cornell has not listed its starter, though Peter Lannoo (1-2, 9.00) has started three times this year. But he has not survived the second inning in either of his last two appearances.

What's Up Next
Dartmouth returns to Hanover in earnest for a non-conference game against Holy Cross on Wednesday, April 6, before entertaining Penn and Columbia the weekend of April 9-10. The twinbill against the Quakers will be part of the 150th anniversary celebration for the varsity baseball program.

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.

Hitting in Bad Luck
If you're someone who believes in BABIP (Batting Average on Balls In Play), there is good news ahead for many of the Dartmouth hitters. Some of those low averages can be attributed to simply hitting into bad luck, particularly Dustin Shirley and Nick Ruppert who enters the weekend with averages of .183 and .170, respectively. Normally a hitter will have a BABIP of around .300 at the MLB level (a little higher in college), but these two are both below .230. And freshmen Rob Emery and Steffen Torgersen are at .237 and .235, respectively. Here's to looking forward to their luck changing.

Feinstein on the Flip Side
While a number of hitters have had bad luck at the plate thus far, Matt Feinstein has not as the freshman has hit .385 on the season thus far. In all 11 games that he has stepped to the plate, he has reached base at least once, plus has five multi-hit games to his credit to lead the team.

Home Opening Loss
For the second straight year, Dartmouth lost its home opener as Quinnipiac dealt the Big Green a 5-4 defeat. What makes that so strange is that Dartmouth was 24-2 in games against non-Ivy teams at home since the renovation to Red Rolfe Field to include Biondi Park in 2009, but has now lost three straight to fall to 24-5. Overall, the Green are 84-20 (.808) on the FieldTurf venue in Hanover.

Purritano Triples Again
Well, it was his first this year, but his two-run triple in the first against Quinnipiac on March 30 was the 10th of his career, tying him for eighth on the all-time Dartmouth list. Another three-bagger will put him in a tie for fifth, but he's really going to have to hit the gaps more often to catch Joe Sclafani '12, who hit 19 in his four seasons with the Big Green.

Ivy Pitcher of the Week
Senior Duncan Robinson dominated the South Florida lineup on March 26, shutting out the Bulls on four hits for a 1-0 victory to earn Ivy League Pitcher of the Week honors for the second time in his career. He is the first pitcher to throw a nine-inning complete game for Dartmouth since Cole Sulser in 2011, first to record two nine-inning complete games in a season since Jeff Wilkerson in 2007, and first to throw consecutive nine-inning complete games since Josh Faiola had four in a row in 2006. In addition, Robinson is the first Big Green pitcher to throw a nine-inning, complete-game shutout since Conor Brooks did so against Brown on April 15, 2000.

Just One Hit
Ben Socher hit a single in the sixth inning of the series finale at USF on March 27, and it turned out to be the only hit for Dartmouth in the 4-0 loss. No team had held the Green to one hit or less since Cornell threw a seven-inning no-hitter on April 1, 2012. No foolin'!

Going Yard Twice
Dartmouth was beaten by North Florida on March 24, 8-6, but junior Michael Ketchmark hit two home runs in the game, driving in three runs. He is the first Big Green player with a multi-homer game since Nick Lombardi '15 drove two over the fence in an 8-2 win over Yale on April 12 two years ago. As a team, Dartmouth has seven homers — three fewer than all of last year — and Ketchmark has three, which is tied for third in the Ivy League.

Extra-Inning Victory
Dartmouth's first foray into extra innings this year ended up in a walk-off loss as top-ranked Florida hit a homer in the 12th on March 5 to subdue the Big Green, 4-3. But against Stetson on March 22, Dartmouth entered the 10th tied at one and emerged 2-1 victors thanks to a Ben Socher RBI double. The pitching deserves a lot of credit as well as relievers Chris Burkholder and Patrick Peterson produced five scoreless stanzas while yielding a solitary hit with seven strikeouts. The Big Green were 1-2 in extras last year, 3-1 the year prior.

Ivy Rookie of the Week
The first weekly award from the conference this season was earned by freshman Rob Emery, who was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week on March 22 for his performance at the Russ Matt Invitational in Florida. The catcher from San Francisco hit .273 with a triple and a homer for a .500 slugging percentage, driving in six runs without committing an error behind the plate as Dartmouth went 3-3 in the six games. He was one of just two players on the team to start all six contests as well.

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