PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Dartmouth nearly doubled its season-best run output in the first game of a doubleheader at Brown on Sunday, blanking the Bears by a final of 15-0 before Brown (11-18, 5-7 Ivy) answered with a shutout of its own to beat the Big Green (11-20, 5-5 Ivy) in the series finale, 2-0. The two teams split twinbills on both days to split the series two games apiece.
Senior
Beau Sulser (3-1) was the beneficiary of the run support in the seven-inning opener, but all he needed was one run to work with as the right-hander twirled a four-hit shutout on 86 pitches while striking out five. He did run into some trouble early in the game, stranding two runners on base in three of the first four innings. But after Brown put runners on first and third with one in the fourth, Sulser struck out the next two hitters and retired the side in order for the final three frames to complete his first career shutout.
Dartmouth took the lead in the second when senior
Michael Ketchmark walked, stole second and scored on freshman
Rob Emery's two-out single through the hole on the left side of the infield. On the throw to the plate, Emery was able to take second, which allowed the Big Green to score a second run when sophomore
Justin Fowler poked a single between first and second.
The following inning, Dartmouth doubled its advantage on a two-run double off the bat of Ketchmark. A wild pitch in the fifth allowed Ketchmark, who had drawn one of his three walks in the game, to race home from third to give the Green a 5-0 lead.
When the Bears went to the bullpen to start the sixth, that's when Dartmouth blew open the game. Sophomore
Dustin Shirley produced an RBI single and Ketchmark walked with the bases full to force in another run. Back-to-back sacrifice flies by seniors
Thomas Roulis and
Nick Ruppert plated two more, and Emery capped the five-run outburst with an RBI single of his own.
The Big Green put five more runs on the board in the seventh, all after two were out. Senior
Joe Purritano rapped a single with the bases loaded to bring home one run, and freshman
Nate Ostmo brought home two more with another single. The final two scored on a single by freshman
Mike Brown and a double by Emery.
Shirley and Emery each had three of the 14 Big Green hits while the latter and Ketchmark both drove in three runs. Freshman
Matt Feinstein, Shirley and Ketchmark also scored three times in the offensive explosion.
Austin French (2-4) took the loss for the Bears, yielding five runs in five innings on six hits and four walks, but did strike out seven.
Dartmouth would have preferred to save some of those runs for game two as three Brown pitchers combined to shut out the Big Green on four hits. Max Ritchie (1-2) picked up the win, allowing just three base runners in five innings of work. J.J. Sliepka pitched a scoreless sixth before Dante Bosnic tossed the final three frames for his third save as Dartmouth did not advance a runner past second base the entire game.
Brown scored its first run in the second inning against sophomore right-hander
Clay Chatham (0-4). Josh Huntley and Noah Shulman started the stanza with singles and advanced to second and third on a sacrifice bunt. When Brian Ginsberg chopped a ball to second, Huntley crossed the plate for a 1-0 Bear lead.
Kevin Guthrie doubled home Rob Henry in the third with the game's other run. Brown threatened to score again in the fourth by starting the inning with back-to-back singles. But sophomore southpaw
Marc Bachman trotted in from the bullpen and stranded the runners.
After Bachman got the first out in the fifth, junior
Chris Burkholder took the mound and held the Bears scoreless on one hit for the next 3.2 innings while striking out five.
Dartmouth had its best scoring opportunity in the ninth as sophomore
Kyle Holbrook led off with a single and Roulis rapped a base hit one out later to put the tying runs on first and second. Bosnic managed to induce a foul pop on the next pitch, then got the final out on strikes to end the game in a tidy two hours even.
Next up for the Big Green is a rescheduled Ivy League doubleheader at Cornell (12-14, 5-5 Ivy) on Wednesday at noon, which was postponed due to wintry weather back on April 3.