Pair of Walk-Offs Ruin Ivy-Opening Twinbill at Princeton

Saturday, April 2

Princeton, N.J.

12:00 PM

Dartmouth College

5-15, 0-1

Princeton

8-10, 1-0

Dartmouth

Princeton

Pair of Walk-Offs Ruin Ivy-Opening Twinbill at Princeton

4/2/2016 6:07:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Dartmouth

PRINCETON, N.J. — Princeton swept a doubleheader from the visiting Dartmouth Big Green on Saturday thanks to a pair of walk-off victories at Clarke Field. Billy Arendt stroked an RBI double in the seventh and final frame for a 2-1 win in the opener, while Joseph Flynn capped a three-run, 10th-inning rally in the nightcap to steal a 9-8 triumph for the Tigers (9-10, 2-0 Ivy).

Dartmouth (5-16, 0-2 Ivy) had scored two runs in the top of the 10th to break a 6-6 deadlock in game two as junior Michael Ketchmark ripped an RBI double, and senior Thomas Roulis followed with a single to plate the second run.

But in the bottom half, sophomore reliever Patrick Peterson issued a leadoff walk and fell behind 2-0 to the next hitter when head coach Bob Whalen summoned senior Beau Sulser (1-1) from the bullpen. A walk and a single loaded the bases with nobody out, and Nick Hernandez belted a shot over the center fielder's head for a two-run double to tie the game at eight. After an intentional walk, Flynn sent a pitch into the left-center gap for the game-winning single.

That the Big Green made it to extra innings was an accomplishment of itself as the Tigers held a 6-0 lead after six innings. But Dartmouth got to the Princeton bullpen in the seventh with the help of three errors in the inning. The Green loaded the bases with one out on a pair of walks and a hit batter before Ketchmark drove in the first run with a single, and a fielding error allowed another run to score while the bases remained full. Sophomore Dustin Shirley, who collected a career-high five hits in the nightcap, stroked a two-run single, cutting the deficit to two.

The Tigers brought in Nick Brady to stem the tide, and he got the second out on an infield pop. But with runners on first and second, Brady tried to catch Dartmouth napping by attempting a pickoff at first, only to have the throw sail high allowing Roulis to score from second and Shirley to scamper to third. A walk brought senior Adam Gauthier to the plate, and he delivered an RBI single through the left side to complete the rally with the score all even at six.

The second game was a pitchers' duel like the first one until the bottom of the sixth. Princeton had touched Big Green freshman Cole O'Connor for a solitary run in the first, but nothing more when he issued a leadoff walk to Jesper Horsted in the sixth to end his afternoon. Horsted was immediately gunned down trying to steal, but the Tigers went on to hit three home runs in the stanza, including a three-run blast by Zack Belski for a 6-0 lead.

Reliever Danny Thomson (1-1) picked up the victory for Princeton by hurling the final three frames, though he did allow the two runs in the 10th. Hernandez and Belski both drove in three runs while Flynn collected three of the Tigers' 13 hits in the game, helping them overcome five miscues in the field.

Dartmouth had a season-high eight runs and 15 hits, five by Shirley and three more by Roulis as the two along with Ketchmark each drove in a pair of runs.

In the seven-inning opener, the two teams entered the final frame tied at one with both starters still going strong. Princeton right-hander Luke Strieber (2-2) set down the Big Green in order, and Dartmouth senior Duncan Robinson (2-3) began the bottom half on a tapper back to the mound. But Horsted hit a gapper in right-center for a two-bagger, and Arendt followed with a shot over the left fielder's head for the game-winning double.

Princeton took a 1-0 lead in the fourth on consecutive singles by Hernandez and Belski, followed by an RBI double off the bat of Flynn. But the Big Green answered right back thanks to a triple by freshman Rob Emery that scored Roulis, who had led off the fifth with a single.

Dartmouth had a chance to take the lead in the sixth, but junior Ben Socher was gunned down at the plate by Horsted in left as he tried to score from second base on a Ketchmark single.

Strieber (2-2) earned the complete-game victory having yielded the one run on five hits without walking a batter and striking out six. Robinson (2-3) was stuck with the loss as he surrendered the two runs on eight safeties and one walk — his first in 23.2 innings — while striking out seven.

Princeton out-hit the Big Green, 8-5, with Horsted and Belski each rapping out a pair.

Dartmouth's scheduled doubleheader at Cornell on Sunday has been postponed due to predicted cold weather and snow. A make-up date has not been announced.

Notes: Shirley is the first Dartmouth player to have five hits in a game in nearly three years (Matt Parisi vs. Brown on April 13, 2013) … this is just the second time in the last 11 seasons that the Big Green have started league play with two losses (2013).