Dartmouth Defeated by Bethune-Cookman, 9-2

Wednesday, March 22

Daytona Beach, Fla.

6:00 PM

Dartmouth College

7-5

Bethune-Cookman

15-7

Dartmouth

Bethune-Cookman

3/22/2017 9:11:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Dartmouth

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Tyler Krull threw six innings of one-run ball and Bethune-Cookman (15-7) bunched together its 10 hits to defeat the visiting Dartmouth Big Green (7-5) on Wednesday evening at Jackie Robinson Ballpark, 9-2.

Danny Rodriguez went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a run and an RBI to pace the Wildcats offense, while Adonis Lao, Jameel Edney and Jordan Stacy each drove in two runs.

Krull (2-1) retired the side just once in his six stanzas of work, but he never let the Big Green bunch together their offensive efforts. The right-hander allowed the one run on five singles, issued three walks and hit a batter to go with just a pair of strikeouts.

Even so, it was Dartmouth that struck first by manufacturing a run in the second inning against Krull. Sophomore Mike Brown opened the frame with a base hit up the middle and strolled to second when freshman Blake Crossing walked. A fly ball to right sent Brown scampering to third, and senior Adam Gauthier brought him home with a squeeze bunt for an early 1-0 lead.

In the third, Bethune-Cookman took advantage of a pair of Big Green errors that put the first two batters on base. After a sacrifice bunt, Edney rapped a grounder to short to drive home a run, and Rodriguez followed with a clean single to left, plating Demetrius Sims with the go-ahead run.

The Wildcats got to Big Green starter Cole O'Connor (1-1) in earnest in the fifth, starting with a leadoff walk. A bunt and a single put runners on the corners with one out, then Edney lofted a sacrifice fly to center. The third out was difficult to come by, however, as Rodriguez laced a double to left and Stacy followed with a clutch two-run single for a 5-1 Wildcat lead.

The game was put out of reach in the eighth as Bethune-Cookman tacked on four more runs against a pair of Dartmouth pitchers making their collegiate debuts. Two of the first three batters to face freshman Eric Stolt reached base, and Lao hit a booming triple into the left-center gap to bring both home. A wild pitch allowed Lao to score, and when Edney yanked a single between third and short, Big Green head coach Bob Whalen summoned another rookie in Alec Vaules to the mound. Rodriguez greeted him with his second two-bagger of the night, and two batters later Michael Deeb hit a sacrifice fly to complete the Wildcats' scoring.

Sophomore Nate Ostmo began the top of the ninth by drawing a walk and was replaced by pinch runner Steffen Torgersen. A wild pitch sent Torgersen to second, and senior Ben Socher sent him to third with a base hit. Another wild pitch and Dartmouth had its second and final run.

O'Connor hurled 5.2 innings, surrendering five runs, three earned, on six hits and a walk to go with a pair of punchouts. Sophomore Zac Bygum also made his first collegiate appearance on the mound for the Big Green, pitching a scoreless seventh.

Dartmouth returns to action on Thursday afternoon when it plays against Southern Maine (4-2), which swept a doubleheader from Wisconsin-Stevens Point today by identical 6-4 scores.

Notes: Senior Michael Ketchmark extended his hitting streak to eight games with a base hit to lead off the sixth. He is hitting .486 (17-for-35) during his streak ... both Ketchmark and freshman Trevor Johnson, who singled and was hit by a pitch, have reached base in all 12 games this season ... in all four of O'Connor's starts this year, he has issued one walk and struck out two batters exactly.