CSU Bakersfield Takes Series Opener Against Big Green, 4-1

Thursday, March 15

Bakersfield, Calif.

9:00 PM

Dartmouth College

2-6

CSU Bakersfield

7-11

Dartmouth

CSU Bakersfield

CSU Bakersfield Takes Series Opener Against Big Green, 4-1

3/15/2018 11:43:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Michael Danielak Matt Feinstein Nate Ostmo Cole O’Connor Jack Fossand Sean Sullivan Blake Crossing Hayden Rappoport Box Score: Cal State Bakersfield 4, Dartmouth 1 Box Score (PDF)

By: Dartmouth

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Dartmouth junior Cole O'Connor tossed his first career complete game, but it came without a victory as he was outdueled by three Cal State Bakersfield pitchers in a 4-1 loss at Hardt Field on Thursday evening. Ben Cutting allowed one run over 6.2 innings to earn the victory for the Roadrunners (7-11) in the opener of the four-game series with the Big Green (2-6).

Cutting (1-3), a junior college transfer from Southern Nevada, picked up his first victory for Bakersfield by keeping Dartmouth off the board for the first six innings. The left-hander was nursing a 2-0 lead before tiring in the seventh, walking junior Nate Ostmo to start the stanza. A strikeout and a fielder's choice had him one out from making it seven scoreless innings, but a walk to sophomore Blake Crossing put senior Hayden Rappoport in scoring position, and junior Matt Feinstein drove him home with a single.

Both Crossing and Feinstein advanced on the throw to the plate, putting the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position, ending Cutting's evening. Bakersfield called upon another southpaw in Kyle King to face Dartmouth's hottest hitter, lefty-swinging junior Sean Sullivan, owner of a .469 average with two hits already on the night. King worked around Sullivan, walking him to load the bases, then coaxed a fly to left to end the threat.

In the bottom half, Alec Daily stroked the first pitch from O'Connor for a single, and was still there after a failed bunt and a called third strike, one of two punchouts for the right-hander. Daniel Carrizosa then beat out a bunt with two outs, and a wild throw to first allowed the runners to move into scoring position. Pinch hitter Jared Toothman took a strike before dropping an O'Connor offering in front of the left fielder for a two-run single, providing some insurance for the Roadrunner bullpen.

The runs proved to be unnecessary as King stranded a runner at third in the eighth, and Naithen Dewsnap erased a hit batter with one out by inducing a double play to end the game for his third save of the season.

O'Connor (1-2) allowed the four runs, three earned, on nine hits without walking a batter over his eight frames in the first complete game for a Dartmouth pitcher in a nine-inning game in almost two full years. But CSUB touched him for a pair of runs in the first on a two-run triple off the bat of catcher Ryan Koch that provided the hosts all the runs they would need.

The Big Green will look to even the series on Friday at 6 p.m. (PDT) by sending senior Jack Fossand (0-1, 7.71) to the mound.

Notes: This was the first meeting between the two schools on the diamond … the last Dartmouth pitcher to throw a nine-inning complete game was Duncan Robinson in a 1-0 gem to beat South Florida on March 24, 2016 … O'Connor is the the second Big Green pitcher to throw eight innings in a game this year, joining Clay Chatham who matched that total against Georgetown on March 3 … the only Dartmouth pitcher to throw eight frames last year was Michael Danielak in a 4-1 victory over 26th-ranked UCF on March 25 … Sullivan has had two or more hits in six of the eight games this season and leads the Ivy League in both batting average and on-base percentage (.514).