Dartmouth Receives Ivy Pitcher, Rookie of the Week Honors

HANOVER, N.H. — The Ivy League announced its weekly baseball award winners this afternoon, and Dartmouth boasted two of the three winners. Senior Michael Danielak was chosen as the Pitcher of the Week, while freshman Michael Parsons was selected as the Rookie of the Week as the Big Green won four of their six games to complete their spring-break trip.

Both pitchers garnered their awards for what they did at then-26th-ranked UCF over the weekend as Dartmouth won the three-game series. Danielak, a 6-4, 230-pound right-hander from Mt. Prospect, Illinois, won for the fourth time in as many starts this season, holding the Knights in check for eight innings while surrendering just one run on six hits without a walk to go with eight strikeouts, matching a season high. The lone run was scored in his final inning on the mound as he departed with a 4-1 lead, which was also the final score as the Big Green clinched the series. A 28th-round selection of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the MLB Draft last summer, Danielak has a 1.98 ERA this spring in 27.1 innings with 28 strikeouts and only three walks, while opponents have hit just .210 against him.

The night before, Parsons was summoned from the bullpen in the fifth and provided three scoreless stanzas to preserve a 3-3 tie. The 6-1, 180-pound left-hander from Norfolk, Virginia, gave up just a pair of singles and struck out three during his stint on the mound, and although he did not get a decision as Dartmouth scored the go-ahead run in the ninth to defeat the Knights, 4-3, he played an integral role in the victory. Earlier in the week, he also made a short appearance against Bethune-Cookman, retiring the only batter he faced. Parsons sports an ERA of 3.55 for the season over 12.2 innings and six relief appearances with one walk and 10 strikeouts.

The pitching duo join two others that have earned weekly honors this season for the Big Green. Senior right-hander Beau Sulser was named the Pitcher of the Week three weeks ago, and freshman outfielder Trevor Johnson took home the rookie honor last week.

Dartmouth (10-6) is next scheduled to play at Quinnipiac (7-13) on Wednesday, March 29 at 3 p.m. before opening up the Ivy League slate on Saturday with a noon doubleheader at Penn.

Notes: Parsons and Johnson make up the first back-to-back Rookie of the Week winners for Dartmouth since shortstop Joe Sclafani '12 won the award on consecutive weeks in 2009 … the last time two different Big Green freshmen won the rookie award back-to-back was in 2004 — outfielder Will Bashelor '07 and Stephen Perry '07.

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