Big Green Battle Boston College at Eagles' New Digs

	DARTMOUTH BIG GREEN (9-16-1) Notes \| Stats \| Twitter	BOSTON COLLEGE EAGLES (12-22) Stats \| Twitter
April 18 • Brighton Field • Brighton, Mass.

THE GAME
April 18 • 4 p.m.
Audio • Live Stats
Starting Pitchers
Dartmouth: TBA
BC: RHP Matt Gill (1-3, 3.90)

Mid-Week at Boston College
Dartmouth continues its seven-game road swing at Boston College of the ACC, its first trip there in four years due a rainout two years ago. It is also the Big Green's first game at the brand-spanking-new Brighton Field, where the Eagles have gone 5-9 so far and are in the midst of a 12-game homestand (it would be 14 but BC is hosting Florida State at Fenway Park on Saturday for the seventh annual ALS Awareness game).

The Overall Record vs. BC
• This is the 70th game between the two schools on the diamond with the Eagles holding a 39-30 advantage.
• Dartmouth has had more success of late, however, winning four of the last six meetings.
• Dartmouth head coach Bob Whalen has a record of 6-12 against Boston College.
• The first game in the series dates back 132 years to April 13, 1886, when the Big Green handed the Eagles a 10-2 defeat.

Scouting the Eagles
• Boston College has struggled of late, dropping 11 of its last 14 games, including an eight-game skid and being swept by Clemson and Wake Forest.
• The Demon Deacons shut the Eagles out for 23 straight innings this past weekend, and surrendered just one run in the three games combined.
• Although the team is hitting just .247 overall, three regulars are above .300 in Chris Galland (.339), Jake Palomaki (.324) and Brian Dempsey (.311). Palomaki is the most dangerous of the trio, leading the squad with 10 doubles, three homers and a .472 slugging percentage.
• Expect to see runners on the move as BC has stolen 69 bases with Galland a perfect 25-of-25, Dante Baldelli 16-of-17 and Palomaki 14-of-15.
• The pitching staff has posted an ERA of 5.28, which ranks next-to-last in the conference.
• All three of the Eagles' weekend starters average at least one strikeout an inning, as do relievers Sean Hughes (1.98 ERA) and Zach Stromberg (2.50).
• The defense has 39 errors in 34 games (.971) and thrown out about 28 percent of base stealers.

Last Time Against BC
Exactly one year prior to this year's showdown, Dartmouth handed the Eagles an 8-3 defeat at Red Rolfe Field at Biondi Park. Both Dustin Shirley and Michael Ketchmark had three hits and two RBIs, while Nate Ostmo drove in three, two with a second-inning triple to give the Green a lead they would not relinquish. But it was a five-run sixth that blew the game open, making a winner out of reliever Jackson Bubala, who allowed one unearned run in 2.2 innings of work with four strikeouts.

Probable Starting Pitchers
• Should Dartmouth stay true to form on its mid-week contests since returning to the Northeast, it will send sophomore RHP Tyler Fagler (0-1, 7.71) to the mound for the start. Last week he tossed three innings of two-run ball, walking two and striking out two as well in a 12-8 loss to UMass Lowell.
• Boston College has announced that 6-5, 240-pound RHP Matt Gill (1-1, 3.90) will toe the slab against the Big Green. He won his first start of the year at UNC Asheville with 4.1 shutout innings, while his lone loss came in an 18-inning defeat against Northeastern.

What's Up Next
Dartmouth has a big conference series at the Ivy League leader, Yale, this weekend. The third-place Big Green could use a series victory in their attempt to be one of the top two teams in the league to qualify for the Ivy League Championship Series on May 19-20.

Last Week in Review
• Dartmouth won its second straight Ivy series by taking two of three from the Cornell Big Red on the road this past weekend.
• Sophomore Austen Michel picked up saves in both victories, giving him five on the season (four in league play) to lead the Ancient Eight.
• The Big Green won the opener, 4-2, behind seven strong innings by junior Cole O'Connor. The right-hander allowed two runs on five hits and four walks to go with four strikeouts, giving him his third victory in as many Ivy starts.
• Senior Jack Fossand matched O'Connor with seven two-run innings in the finale, allowing Dartmouth to claim the series with a 5-3 triumph.
• With temperatures in the mid- to upper-30s, it is no surprise the offense was a little cold, hitting just .216/.287/.294 in the three games, though Blake Crossing was 4-for-11 and Steffen Torgersen was 3-for-10, while Kyle Holbrook hit the lone long ball for the Big Green, his team-leading third of the season.

Error Free in Ithaca
Dartmouth played the three games at Cornell without an error, its second error-free weekend in three Ivy League series so far. The team's .994 fielding percentage in conference play is easily the best among Anicent Eight teams, and at .972 on the season, Dartmouth has moved up to the top third in the country after committing at least one miscue in 15 of the first 16 contests.

Sullivan Finds His Stroke
Junior Sean Sullivan got off to an incredibly hot start to the season, hitting .540 over the first dozen games, rapping out at least two hits in 10 of those 12 contests. But in his next 10 games, he managed to go just 9-for-41 (.220), including missing three games with an injury. But in the series finale at Cornell, he had a single, double and a walk to boost his average back to an even .400 on the season, tied for 17th among Division I players. He still ranks among the top 10 in hits per game (1.65).

Fossand Mastery of Cornell
Senior RHP Jack Fossand won one game in 2017, a 5-0 blanking of Cornell in which he tossed seven one-hit innings, though he struck out just two. This year he tried to follow the same game plan it seems, pitching seven innings and striking out a pair once again, though he did allow two runs on four hits. But it was plenty good to pick up his second victory this year in the 5-3 finale.

Michel Mission
Twice at Cornell, sophomore RHP Austen Michel was summoned from the bullpen to get six outs with Dartmouth clinging to a two-run lead, and twice he succeeded. In the opener, he retired six of the seven batters he faced, striking out two. Then in the finale, he surrendered singles in the eighth and ninth innings but no more in earning his fourth and fifth saves of the season, tops in the Ivy League. Four of those saves have come in conference play.

League Leaders
Junior Sean Sullivan continues to top the Ivy league in batting with his .400 average, while sophomore Blake Crossing now qualifies with his recent playing time and is second at .371. The duo is also 1-2 in on-base percentage, though Crossing is atop that list (.500) with Sullivan second (.482). The only other offensive category in which a Big Green hitter leads is sacrifice flies as senior Kyle Holbrook has four. In the pitching department, junior Cole O'Connor is tied for the league lead with his four victories, as do sophomore Austen Michel's five saves.

Chatham Hit or Miss
Senior RHP Clay Chatham retired the side in order the first time through the Cornell lineup, then had trouble getting the third out as the Big Red scored five runs with two outs over the next two frames. But the right-hander did strike out a career-high eight batters without a walk during his six-inning stint in the 8-3 defeat.

Three Starts, Three Wins
Junior RHP Cole O'Connor has gotten the job done in league play thus far, winning all three of his starts to date. His most recent victory came at Cornell in which he threw seven stanzas and surrendered two runs on five hits with four walks and four strikeouts, all in just 80 pitches. O'Connor, who won his first three conference starts last year as well, is 6-2 with a 3.75 ERA, striking out 41 and walking 20 in 69.2 innings in 14 career starts against Ivy League teams. And in 24 starts for the Big Green, he has allowed more than three earned runs just four times, and more than four just once.

Schedules